was the fastest American woman at the DAA Industry Opt Out, All About 75 Hard Chicago Marathon on October 13.
was the fastest American woman at the the 10th-fastest American in history. She averaged 5:24.8 per mile and broke her previous PR, 2:24:27, by 2:31. She also bettered the automatic qualifying standard, 2:23:30, for the World Championships to be held next September in Tokyo.
After missing the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials with a broken kneecap, going through rehab and cross training, and making a slow return to running, Sullivan was thrilled to find herself in the best shape of her life.
“It’s been a dream couple months of training, I’ve been super patient, and I’ve gotten to be back better than I ever was before,” she said.
Sullivan ran fewer miles in this buildup than she has in the past, and because she spends so much time on her feet in the classroom, she has learned she doesn’t necessarily need them.
The Chicago Marathon sets up pacesetters for men and women, and it seemed Sullivan would have two men going her pace, Rory Linkletter and Jackson Neff. But in the hours before the race began, Sullivan learned that they would be going slightly slower than she had hoped. So she forged out on her own at an aggressive pace, and at mile four, she tucked in behind another pacesetter, American marathoner Reid Buchanan, who was running with a group of men who weren’t part of the elite field.
He took control, and told the men they should stop jostling and cooperate to block the wind for Sullivan. They fell into line and formed a V shape around her. “I was like, this is great,” she thought to herself. She split 1:10:09 at halfway. She stuck behind Buchanan until about 35K.
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Lindsay Flanagan, in ninth overall, was the second American. She, too, ran a PR, by more than a minute, finishing in 2:23:31. After she fell on ice in March in Boulder, Colorado, she discovered she had a broken fibula. She didn’t run again until June 1. By July, she was back to running 120-mile weeks.
Still, she didn’t expect to run as well as she did. “I didn’t even think this was going to be a possibility,” she said. “So to actually come and run a PR, I was like, if I PR by one second, I’ll throw a party.”
Emma Bates, who tore her plantar at this race last year and left the course in a wheelchair, was the third American in 2:24:00.
Before the race, there were some rumblings that the American record, Emily Sisson’s 2:18:29 from 2022, could be threatened. But Keira D’Amato, who ran 2:19:12 in 2022, Shoes & Gear. Betsy Saina, who has a personal best of 2:19:17, third on the American all-time list, had an injury in July that shortened her buildup. She was 19th in 2:31:51.
Saina said after the race that she did not start hard workouts until September, and her legs didn’t have anything left after 25K. “There are no shortcuts in the marathon,” she said. She hopes to run another marathon in January, possibly Osaka.
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Sara Hall was expected to challenge her own American masters record, 2:26:06, from February this year. She had an off day and ran 2:30:12 for 18th place.
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John Korir Wins the Mens Race at Chicago is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World What You Need to Know About the Chicago Marathon, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
