Reigning London Marathon champion Kelvin Kiptum was in a class of his own as he completely obliterated Eliud Kipchoge's world record time of 2:01:09 at the Chicago Marathon.
The 23-year-old clocked 2:00:35 to cut the tape first ahead of the defending champion Benson Kipruto who clocked 2:04:02 to finish second. Bashir Abdi of Belgium completed the podium after clocking 2:04:32. With his time, Kiptum lowered Kipchoge's time by 34 seconds.
Kiptum was only competing in his third marathon after making his debut at the Valencia Marathon last year where he ran the fastest marathon debut ever. Earlier this year, he competed at the London Marathon where he won the race in the second-fastest time and now he has the world record to his name. The men’s race had attracted one of the deepest fields ever assembled in the streets of Chicago with 31 men taking to the start line including Kiptum and defending champion Kipruto.
As the pack passed the 10km mark, everyone looked comfortable as Kiptum led the pack, crossing the mark in 28:42. He was closely followed by Daniel Mateiko and Dawit Wolde who were running in second and third place respectively
