The 47th Chicago Marathon kicked off in style with a plethora of elite athletes from about 100 nations gracing the occasion. The marathoners, energized and hopeful to set a new world record set pace at the Grant park, but Jacob Kiplimo was the first to return to the finishing line at 2 hours, 2 minutes, 23 seconds, beating his Kenyan counterpart to the finish by 9 seconds, making him the 7th fastest marathoner in history.
Amos Kipruto emerged second, followed by his fellow country man, Alex Masai. Conner Mantz, a native of Utah broke the American record at 2 hours, 4 minutes, 43 seconds, despite finishing fourth.
The first half of the men's race proved desperately competitive, a group of world class athletes including the Chicago marathon defending champion John Korir kept pace at 5 kilometers. However, the race took a different turn when Korir took control with Kiplimo and Amos Kipruto keeping pace behind his heels; the two matched each other stride for stride for a couple of minutes.
At the 18-mile mark, Kiplimo increased momentum, creating a gap on Kipruto and Korir. He maintained pace to the finishing line, beating Kipruto.
