World records in the marathon are ratified by World Athletics, the international governing body for the sport of athletics.
The Chicago Marathon is a marathon race held in October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest race by number of finishers worldwide.
Catherine Nyambura Ndereba is a retired Kenyan marathon runner. Between 2003 and 2008, she finished in the top two in five successive global championship marathons. Ndereba has twice won the marathon at the World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games in 2004 and 2008, becoming Kenya's first female multi-medalist. She is also a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon and a two-time winner of the Chicago Marathon. It was at the latter in 2001 that she broke the women's marathon world record with a time of 2:18:47.
Khalid Khannouchi is a Moroccan-born American retired long-distance runner. He is the former world record holder for the marathon and held the former road world best for the 20 km distance. He is one of only five men to break the marathon world record more than once, and one of only five to break their own marathon world record.
The World Marathon Majors (WMM) is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on six major marathon races recognised as the most high-profile on the calendar, the series comprises annual races for the cities of Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York.
Liliya Bulatovna Shobukhova, née Shagbalova, Divorced name Volkova, is a Russian long-distance runner who competed in marathon races. She previously specialized in the 3000 and 5000 metres track events. She served a doping ban until 23 August 2015.
Rita Jeptoo is a Kenyan marathon runner. Along with winning the Boston Marathon on two occasions, she has also won marathons in Chicago, Stockholm, and Milan. Jeptoo. Jeptoo was the bronze medalist at the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships representing Kenya.
Robert "Mwafrika" Kipkoech Cheruiyot, sometimes known as Omar Ahmed, is a Kenyan marathon runner and is the former record holder and four-time winner of the Boston Marathon.
Atsede Bayisa Tesema, also known as Atsede Bayisa, is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in road running events. She has won the Chicago Marathon, Boston Marathon and Paris Marathon twice. She has also won at the Xiamen International Marathon and the Istanbul Marathon.
Feyisa Lilesa is an Oromo long-distance runner from Ethiopia. He became the youngest man to run under 2:06 when he ran 2:05:23 in the men's marathon at the 2010 Rotterdam Marathon. He set his personal best of 2:04:52 in the marathon when he came in second place at the 2012 Chicago Marathon.
The 2010 Chicago Marathon was the 33rd running of the annual marathon race in Chicago, United States, held on Sunday, October 10. Over 38,000 runners took part, the most in the race's history.
The AIMS Best Marathon Runner Award is a running prize which is given annually by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) to the top male and female marathon runners of the year. Prior to 2013, the award was known as AIMS World Athlete of the Year Award.
The 2011 Chicago Marathon was the 34th edition of the annual marathon race in Chicago, Illinois which was held on Sunday, October 9. The men's race was won by Kenya's Moses Mosop in a time of 2:05:37 hours – a course record. Ejegayehu Dibaba, making her marathon distance debut, was the women's winner in 2:22:09. Some 37,400 runners started the event and the final total of 35,670 finishers was the second highest in its history.
The 2012 Chicago Marathon was the 35th edition of the annual marathon race in Chicago, Illinois and was held on Sunday, October 7. An IAAF Gold Label Road Race, it was the fourth and final World Marathon Majors 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. A total of 37455 runners finished the race.
Dorothy Doolittle is an American former marathon runner and athletics coach, who won the inaugural Chicago Marathon in 1977. She was an assistant coach of the US Women's team at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
The 2002 Chicago Marathon was the 25th running of the annual marathon race in Chicago, United States and was held on October 13. The elite men's race was won by Morocco's Khalid Khannouchi in a time of 2:05:56 hours and the women's race was won by British athlete Paula Radcliffe in 2:17:18. Radcliffe's time was a new marathon world best, knocking 89 seconds off the previous mark by Catherine Ndereba. The record only lasted six months, as Radcliffe improved it again at the 2003 London Marathon.
The 2000 Chicago Marathon was the 23rd running of the annual marathon race in Chicago, United States and was held on October 22. The elite men's race was won by Morocco's Khalid Khannouchi in a time of 2:07:01 hours and the women's race was won by Kenya's Catherine Ndereba in 2:21:33.
The 2002 London Marathon was the 22nd running of the annual marathon race in London, United Kingdom, which took place on Sunday, 14 April. The elite men's race was won by Khalid Khannouchi of the United States in a time of 2:05:38 hours and the women's race was won by home athlete Paula Radcliffe in 2:18:56. Khannouchi's time was a marathon world record, improving on his own record by four seconds. Radcliffe was also close to a world record, just nine seconds off the time set by Catherine Ndereba the previous year.
