Canadian long-distance runner Rory Linkletter achieved a personal best time to secure the ninth position in the Chicago Marathon on Sunday. Hailing from Calgary, he completed the 42.2-kilometer race in two hours, six minutes, and 49 seconds, just slightly over a minute away from the Canadian record set by Cam Levins at 2:05:36.
In the professional men’s category, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo clinched victory with a significant lead, setting a personal best time of 2:02:23. Kiplimo finished one minute and 31 seconds ahead of Kenyan Amos Kipruto, the winner of the 2022 London Marathon, while Alex Masai of Kenya secured the third position with a time of 2:04:37.
Conner Mantz of the United States broke Levins’s North American record with a fourth-place finish, surpassing the previous mark by 53 seconds. Linkletter’s previous personal best was achieved earlier this year in Boston, where he finished in sixth place with a time of 2:07:02.
In a recent event, the 29-year-old Linkletter outpaced Levins by a mere second to claim the Canadian half marathon title, ending Levins’s three-year reign. Kiplimo, on the other hand, has a remarkable track record, having set a men’s half-marathon world record under 57 minutes in Barcelona and finishing second in his marathon debut in London. Additionally, Kiplimo is an Olympic and world championship bronze medalist in the 10,000 meters.
The Chicago Marathon marked the third out of seven marathon majors for Linkletter, who also served as a pacesetter for the professional women’s group in the previous two editions. Ethiopian Hawi Feysa secured victory in the professional women’s race with a time of 2:14:56, leading to a 1-2 finish for Ethiopia. She finished 2:22 ahead of Megertu Alemu, with Magdalena Shauri from Tanzania securing the third spot in 2:18:03.
