As tens of thousands of runners ran through the streets of Chicago, the world's best marathon runners were at the forefront of the hunt for history.

On a beautiful morning after a 26.2-mile run, two Kenyan heavyweights added to their legacy by winning the 2024 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

A year after the late Kelvin Kiptum broke the world record, expectations were high for the men who followed in his legendary footsteps.

In typical marathon style, there was a large group of participants at the halfway point, led by eventual winner John Korir from Kenya. With a time of 1:02:19, Ethiopian Dawit Wode Arega and Korir's compatriots Amos Kipruto and Daniel Ebenyo simultaneously achieved a time of 13.1, all on pace for fast times.

Between the 25km and 30km marks, Korir finally managed to leave the rest of the field behind, creating a gap of almost 30 seconds. By the time Korir reached the home straight, he had left just over two minutes of space between Huseydin Mohamed Esa and Amos Kipruto, who finished second and third respectively.

Korir broke the tape in 2:02:44, while Esa and Kipruto clocked 2:04:39 and 2:04:50, making Korir the sixth fastest man in world history and the second fastest performance ever in Chicago.

In the women's race, Kenyan star Ruth Chepngetich won her third Chicago Marathon in record-breaking fashion, with the 30-year-old breaking the previous world record of 2:11:53.

Chepngetich picked up the pace at full speed and completed the 5km and 10km in 15:00 and 30:20 minutes, which put her well below the world record very early on.

By the time Chepngetich reached the half-marathon mark, she was all alone at 1:04:16 and remained on pace at 2:08:32, which would still have broken the world record.

Sutume Asefa Kebede of Ethiopia and Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya had their own gaps as Kebede was just 14 seconds behind Chepngetich while Jepkosgei was 1:07:30 apart.

After Ruth Chepngetich did all the work and pushed herself from the start, she was rewarded with the fastest marathon performance in world history: she became the first woman to beat 2:10:00, running 2:09:56.

Although Kebede slowed considerably in the second half of the race, she achieved a time of 2:17:32, about two minutes shy of her lifetime best. The final spot on the podium went to Irine Cheptai of Kenya, who ran 2:17:51 after overcoming Jepkosgei's 49-second deficit.

After Chepngetich's historic run, the five fastest marathon times in world history all come from the Chicago Marathon.

The American marathon runners also had a good day, as CJ Albertson and Zach Panning posted big PBs of 2:08:17 and 2:09:16, placing 7th and 9th overall, respectively. Reed Fischer was the third American to cross the finish line, setting another best time of 2:10:14.

Susanna Sullivan was the top American on the day, followed by Lindsay Flanagan and Emma Bates, who finished 10th, 57th and 60th overall, respectively. The trio ran 2:21:56, 2:23:31 and 2:24:00.

Sullivan, a full-time teacher, shaved more than two minutes off her previous best.

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