2017 Chicago Marathon

A Brief History Of Top American Performances At The Chicago Marathon

A Brief History Of Top American Performances At The Chicago Marathon

A brief history of top American performances at the Chicago Marathon.

Oct 6, 2017 by Johanna Gretschel
A Brief History Of Top American Performances At The Chicago Marathon
The 40th edition of the Chicago Marathon is this Sunday, and the fields are as loaded as ever. The men's race features the world record holder Dennis Kimetto, defending champion Abel Kirui, plus Olympic silver medalist Feyisa Lelisa. And the women's field features 2:17 marathoner Tirunesh Dibaba, the third-fastest woman in world history, plus two-time defending champion Florence Kiplagat. But the success of the Nike Oregon Project's Galen Rupp and Jordan Hasay at this spring's Boston Marathon has us wondering -- is it time for an American to win this race again?

No American man or woman has won the Chicago Marathon in 12 years, since Deena Kastor crossed the tape first in 2005 with a time of 2:21:25. The last American man to win the race was Khalid Khannouchi in 2002, with a time of 2:05:56.

Read on for history on top historical American finishes at the Chicago Marathon, and make sure to check out the preview for this weekend's race here. Note that results beyond the top 10 individuals prior to the year 1996 are not available online, so some of the chart is incomplete.

Men's Historical Finishes At The Chicago Marathon


YEAR MEN'S CHAMPION TIME TOP AMERICAN MALE TIME/PLACE # OF AMERICANS IN TOP 10
1977 Dan Cloeter, USA 2:17:52 n/a n/a 10
1978 Mark Stanforth, USA 2:19:20 n/a n/a 10
1979 Dan Cloeter, USA 2:23:20 n/a n/a 10
1980 Frank Richardson, USA 2:14:04 n/a n/a 9
1981 Phil Coppess, USA 2:16:13 n/a n/a 10
1982 Greg Meyer, USA 2:10:59 n/a n/a 4
1983 Joseph Nzau, Kenya 2:09:44 Tom Raunig 2:12:55/7th 2
1984 Steve Jones, Great Britain 2:08:05 0
1985 Steve Jones, Great Britain 2:07:13 Don Janicki 2:11:16/7th 2
1986 Toshihiko Seko, Japan 2:08:27 0
1987 -- -- -- -- --
1988 Alejandro Cruz, Mexico 2:08:57 0
1989 Paul Davis-Hale, Great Britain 2:11:25 Ed Eyestone 2:14:57/4th 1
1990 Martin Pitayo, Mexico 2:09:41 Ed Eyestone 2:10:59/5th 1
1991 Joseildo Rocha, Brazil 2:14:33 David Mora 2:15:44/4th 3
1992 Jose Cesar De Souza, Brazil 2:16:14 0
1993 Luiz Antonio Dos Santos, Brazil 2:13:15 Jeff Jacobs 2:16/6th 1
1994 Luiz Antonio Dos Santos, Brazil 2:11:16 Ed Eyestone 2:11:51/2nd 4
1995 Eamonn Martin, Great Britain 2:11:18 0
1996 Paul Evans, Great Britain 2:08:52 Jerry Lawson 2:10:04/2nd 1
1997 Khalid Khannouchi, Morroco 2:07:10 Jerry Lawson 2:09:35/7th 2
1998 Ondoro Osoro, Kenya 2:06:54 Rod DeHaven 2:13:01/15th 0
1999 Khalid Khannouchi, Morroco 2:05:42 David Morris 2:09:32/4th 1
2000 Khalid Khannouchi, USA 2:07:01 n/a n/a 4
2001 Ben Kimondiu, Kenya 2:08:52 Rod DeHaven 2:11:40/6th 1
2002 Khalid Khannouchi, USA 2:05:56 n/a n/a 2
2003 Evans Rutto, Kenya 2:05:50 Meb Keflezighi 2:10:03/7th 1
2004 Evans Rutto, Kenya 2:06:16 Khalid Khannouchi 2:08:44/5th 1
2005 Felix Limo, Kenya 2:07:02 Alan Culpepper 2:13:20/12th 0
2006 Robert Kipchoech Cheruiyot, Kenya 2:07:35 Abdi Abdirahman 2:08:56/4th 2
2007 Patrick Ivuti, Kenya 2:11:11 Michael Cox 2:21:42/8th 3
2008 Evans Cheruiyot, Kenya 2:06:25 Mike Reneau 2:16:20/7th 1
2009 Sammy Wanjiru, Kenya 2:05:41 Sergio Reyes 2:15:30/8th 2
2010 Sammy Wanjiru, Kenya 2:06:24 Jason Hartmann 2:11:06/8th 2
2011 Moses Mosop, Kenya 2:05:37 Ryan Hall 2:08:04/5th 1
2012 Tsegaye Kebede, Ethiopia 2:04:38 Dathan Ritzenhein 2:07:47/9th 1
2013 Dennis Kimetto, Kenya 2:03:45 Dathan Ritzenhein 2:09:45/5th 2
2014 Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya 2:04:11 Bobby Curtis 2:11:20/9th 1
2015 Dickson Chumba, Kenya 2:09:25 Luke Puskedra 2:10:24/5th 3
2016 Abel Kirui, Kenya 2:11:23 Diego Estrada 2:13:56/8th 2

​Watch Khalid Khannouchi break the world record at the 1999 Chicago Marathon:



Women's Historical Finishes At The Chicago Marathon


YEAR WOMEN'S CHAMPION TIME TOP AMERICAN FEMALE TIME/PLACE # OF AMERICANS IN TOP 10
1977 Dorothy Doolittle, USA 2:50:47 n/a n/a 9
1978 Lynae Larson, USA 2:59:25 n/a n/a 10
1979 Laura Michalek, USA 3:15:45 n/a n/a 10
1980 Sue Peterson, USA 2:45:03 n/a n/a 9
1981 Tina Gandy, USA 2:49:39 n/a n/a 10
1982 Nancy Conz, USA 2:33:23 n/a n/a 9
1983 Rosa Mota, Portugal 2:31:12 Karen Dunn 2:34:24/5th 4
1984 Rosa Mota, Portugal 2:26:01 Lisa Weidenbach 2:31:31/5th 1
1985 Joan Benoit Samuelson, USA 2:21:21 n/a n/a 1
1986 Ingrid Kristiansen, Norway 2:27:08 Debbie Raunig 2:31:28/4th 3
1987 -- -- -- -- --
1988 Lisa Weidenbach, USA 2:29:17 n/a n/a 3
1989 Lisa Weidenbach, USA 2:28:15 n/a n/a 2
1990 Aurora Cunha, Portugal 2:30:11 Kellie Cathey 2:35:58/5th 5
1991 Midde Hamrin-Senorski, Sweden 2:36:21 Mary Pastillo 2:46:12/8th 2
1992 Linda Somers, USA 2:37:41 n/a n/a 5
1993 Ritva Lemettinen, Finland 2:33:18 Linda Somers 2:34:26/2nd 4
1994 Kristy Johnston, USA 2:31:34 n/a n/a 7
1995 Rita Lemettinen, Finland 2:28:27 Kim Jones 2:31:24/2nd 2
1996 Marian Sutton, Great Britain 2:30:41 Kristy Johnston 2:31:06/2nd 4
1997 Marian Sutton, Great Britain 2:29:03 Christine McNamara 2:33:08/4th 4
1998 Joyce Chepchumba, Kenya 2:23:57 Kristy Johnston 2:32:37/8th 2
1999 Joyce Chepchumba, Kenya 2:25:59 Libbie Hickman 2:28:34/6th 2
2000 Catherine Ndereba, Kenya 2:21:33 Libbie Hickman 2:32:09/6th 4
2001 Catherine Ndereba, Kenya 2:18:47 Kelly Keeler 2:43:06/10th 1
2002 Paula Radcliffe, Great Britain 2:17:18 Deena Drossin 2:26:53/6th 2
2003 Svetlana Zakharova, Russia 2:23:07 Colleen De Reuck 2:28:01/7th 2
2004 Constantina Tomescu-Dita, Russia 2:23:45 Marla Runyan 2:28:33/7th 3
2005 Deena Kastor, USA 2:21:25 n/a n/a 3
2006 Berhane Adere, Ethiopia 2:20:42 Elva Dryer 2:31:48/12th 0
2007 Berhane Adere, Ethiopia 2:33:49 Kate O'Neill 2:36:15/3rd 3
2008 Lidiya Grigoryeva, Russia 2:27:17 Desiree Davila 2:31:33/5th 4
2009 Irina Mikitenko, Germany* 2:26:31 Deena Kastor 2:28:50/5th 3
2010 Astede Baysa, Ethiopia* 2:23:40 Desiree Davila 2:26:20/3rd 3
2011 Ejegayehu Dibaba, Ethiopia* 2:22:09 Jeannette Faber 2:36:58/10th 1
2012 Atsede Baysa, Ethiopia 2:22:03 Renee Metivier Baillie 2:27:17/8th 3
2013 Rita Jeptoo, Kenya 2:19:57 Clara Santucci 2:31:41/9th 2
2014 Mare Dibaba, Ethiopia* 2:25:37 Amy Hastings 2:27:03/4th 6
2015 Florence Kiplagat, Kenya 2:23:33 Deena Kastor 2:27:47/7th 2
2016 Florence Kiplagat, Kenya 2:21:32 Serena Burla 2:30:40/7th 3

​Watch Deena Kastor win the 2005 Chicago Marathon:




Points of interest:

  • In 1987, the event held only a half-marathon due to a sponsorship dispute.
  • Khalid Khannouchi is the only four-time Chicago Marathon champion. He won twice -- in 1997 and 1999 -- for his native Morocco, then again in 2000 and 2002 for the United States after becoming a naturalized American citizen.
  • Laura Michalek's 3:15:45 in 1979 is the slowest winning time in event history, but she is also the youngest Chicago Marathon champion as she was just 15 years old on race day. For her efforts, she received a month-long ban from her high school cross country team for participating in a non-Illinois prep sanctioned event. She never ran another marathon again.
  • 1988 and 1989 champion Lisa Weidenbach is also the last American woman to win the Boston Marathon, per her victory in 1985. She later married and became Lisa Rainsberger; now, she's mom to Katie Rainsberger, an All-American runner for the University of Oregon.
  • Ed Eyestone was the top American male in Chicago three times, including a runner-up placement in 1994. The two-time Olympian is the head coach of the men's team at BYU, currently ranked No. 2 in the FloXC rankings.
  • *In years marked with an asterisk, the original champion was disqualified. Liliya Shobukhova of Russia won in 2009, 2010, and 2011, but all of her results were voided after a positive drug test in 2014. Two-time champion Rita Jeptoo was relieved of her 2014 title after her own positive drug test.
  • Ten years after she won the Chicago Marathon, Deena Kastor [neé Drossin] placed seventh in 2:27:47 at the age of 42 at the 2015 Chicago Marathon. The time took a minute off the American Master's Record.
  • Four world records have been set at the Chicago Marathon: Steve Jones' 2:08:05 in 1984, Khannouchi's 2:05:42 in 1999, Catherine Ndereba's 2:18:47 in 2001, and Paula Radcliffe's 2:17:18 in 2002.