The 2012

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a marathon (long-distance foot race) held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Races, World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago ...

was the 35th edition of the annual

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair di ...

race in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

and was held on Sunday, October 7. An IAAF Gold Label Road Race, it was the fourth and final

World Marathon Majors The World Marathon Majors (WMM) (known for sponsorship reasons as the Abbott World Marathon Majors) is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on six major marathon races recog ...

event to be held that year. Tsegaye Kebede won the men's race in a course record of 2:04:38 hours and Atsede Baysa was the women's winner in a personal best of 2:22:03.Gugala, Jon (2012-10-07)
Course record for Kebede, Baysa dethrones Shobukhova - Chicago Marathon report
IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-02. A total of 37455 runners finished the race (20688 men, 16767 women).

Summary

The focus of the women's race was

Liliya Shobukhova Liliya Bulatovna Shobukhova, née Shagbalova, Divorced name Volkova, (russian: Лилия Булатoвнa Шoбухова (Шагбaлова) (Волкова); born 13 November 1977) is a Russian long-distance runner who competed in marathon rac ...

, who had won the race three times consecutively but had dropped out of the Olympic marathon. Kenya's Lucy Wangui Kabuu was the second-fastest entrant with a best of 2:19:34 hours. Other prominent entrants included Ethiopians Atsede Baysa and

Merima Mohammed Merima Mohammed Hasen (born 10 June 1992) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner who competes in road running events, including the marathon. Her personal best of 2:23:06 hours for the distance makes her the second fastest teenager ev ...

. Tsegaye Kebede and

Wesley Korir Wesley Kipchumba Korir (15 November 1982) is a Kenyan athlete who specializes in long distance running competitions, as well as a politician who served as an elected member of Parliament for Cherangany Constituency. On 16 April 2012, he won th ...

, runners-up in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and 2011 respectively, were the principal contenders for the men's race.Gugala, Jon (2012-10-05)
Three-time winner Shobukhova poised for a fourth in Chicago - PREVIEW
IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-02. Demonstrating the depth of the field, the men's race had thirteen runners in the pack by the halfway point (timing 1:02:54) – all of them Kenyan or Ethiopian. By the time the two

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart ei ...

s (Shadrack Kosgei and Merkabu Birke) had dropped out around the 30 km mark, Tsegaye had assumed the head of the pack. Laban Korir and

Michael Kipyego Michael Kipkorir Kipyego (born 2 October 1983) is a Kenyan runner who competes in marathon races. He was initially a specialist in the 3000 metres steeplechase and was the 2002 World Junior Champion in the event. He represented Kenya in the stee ...

had fallen away at that point. Tsegaye accelerated and a succession of four sub-4:40 miles reduced the lead pack to himself, Tilahun Regassa, Sammy Kitwara and Feyisa Lilesa. Wesley Korir was twenty seconds behind after 35 km. With one mile left, only Feyisa remained alongside Tsegaye, but the latter steadily pulled away in the final section of the race to win by a margin of fourteen seconds with a course record 2:04:38 hours. Feyisa took the runner-up spot and Tilahun completed the podium half a minute later. Kitwara and Wesley Korir were next to finish.

Dathan Ritzenhein Dathan James Ritzenhein (born December 30, 1982) is a retired American long-distance runner, and current head coach of On Athletics Club. He held the American record in the 5,000 metres (12:56.27) from 2009-2010, when it was broken by Bernard ...

closed his race quickly to place ninth, the first non-East African to finish, with a personal record 2:07:47.2012 Chicago Marathon Leaderboard
Chicago Marathon. Retrieved on 2013-02-03. The women's race also had a number of contenders left as the race reached the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

mark in 1:11:15 hours, with two Russians, three Kenyans and four Ethiopians in the pack of nine. Kabuu seized the lead after this point and by 30 km she had divided the pack in two, with

Fatuma Sado Fatuma Sado Dergo (born 11 October 1991) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. She has a personal best of 2:26:09 hours and has won marathons in Hamburg, Los Angeles and Xiamen. Fatuma signed up with athletics agent ...

Caroline Rotich Caroline Rotich (born 13 May 1984) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in half marathon and marathon races. She has won the Las Vegas Marathon, New York Half Marathon and the Boston Marathon. She represented Kenya at the World Championsh ...

and Rita Jeptoo all five seconds ahead of Atsede, Shobukhova and Werknesh Kidane. Merima Mohammed was the first prominent race drop-out. Over the next 5 km Fatuma faded away and Atsede had pushed her way back to the front. Rotich soon fell behind and the final mile stretch became a hotly contested duel between Atsede and Jeptoo. Atsede was the one to reach the line first by a very narrow margin – 2:22:03 to Jeptoo's 2:22:04. Kabuu took third while Shobukhova finished quickly for fourth place.

Renee Metivier Baillie Renee Metivier Baillie (born December 25, 1981 in Highland Village, Texas) is an American long-distance runner who competed at multiple IAAF World Cross Country Championships and finished eighth at the 2012 Chicago Marathon. High school and colleg ...

was the first American home in a personal record run of 2:27:17 for eighth.2012 Chicago Marathon Leaderboard
Chicago Marathon. Retrieved on 2013-02-03. The men's wheelchair race was won by

Josh Cassidy Josh Cassidy (born November 15, 1984, in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian wheelchair racer. In 2010, Cassidy won the 2010 London Marathon with a time of 1:35:21 seconds. In 2012, he won the 2012 Boston Marathon wheelchair race with a time of 1:18 ...

and

Tatyana McFadden Tatyana McFadden (russian: Татьяна Макфадден; born April 21, 1989) is an American Paralympic athlete of Russian descent competing in the category T54. McFadden has won twenty Paralympic medals in multiple Summer Paralympic Gam ...

defended her women's title.

Results

Elite men

2012 Chicago Marathon - lead men cropped

Elite women

2012 Chicago Marathon - lead women cropped

Wheelchair

;Men ;Women

References

;Race results
2012 Chicago Marathon results
Chicago Marathon. Retrieved on 2013-02-02.

External links

Official websiteKebede wins Chicago Marathon in course-record 2:04:38
{{World Marathon Majors 2012 Chicago Marathon 2010s in Chicago 2012 in Illinois