Canadian distance runner Rory Linkletter achieved a personal best time to secure the ninth spot in the Chicago Marathon held on Sunday. Hailing from Calgary, Linkletter completed the 42.2-kilometer race in two hours, six minutes, and 49 seconds, just slightly over a minute away from Cam Levins’s Canadian record of 2 hours, 5 minutes, and 36 seconds.
Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda clinched victory in the men’s professional category with an impressive time of 2 hours, 2 minutes, and 23 seconds, setting a new personal best. He finished a significant one minute and 31 seconds ahead of Kenyan Amos Kipruto, the winner of the 2022 London Marathon, while Alex Masai, also from Kenya, secured third place with a time of 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 37 seconds.
Conner Mantz of the United States broke Levins’s North American record from the 2023 Tokyo Marathon by shaving off 53 seconds with a fourth-place finish at the event. Linkletter’s previous personal best was achieved earlier this year in Boston, where he finished sixth with a time of 2 hours, 7 minutes, and 2 seconds.
In August, the 29-year-old Linkletter outpaced Levins by a mere second to claim the Canadian half marathon title, ending Levins’s three-year reign. Linkletter, residing in Flagstaff, Arizona, placed 47th in his debut Olympic marathon in Paris in 2024, trailing Levins by 11 spots.
Kiplimo, who also holds the men’s half-marathon world record set in Barcelona last February, became the first runner to break the 57-minute barrier. Additionally, he secured a second-place finish in his marathon debut in London in April. Kiplimo boasts Olympic and world championship bronze medals in the 10,000-meter event.
Sunday marked the third of seven marathon majors for Linkletter, a father of two, who served as a pacesetter for the professional women’s group in Chicago over the past two years. Ethiopian runner Hawi Feysa emerged victorious in the professional women’s race with a time of 2 hours, 14 minutes, and 56 seconds, leading to a 1-2 finish for Ethiopia. Feysa finished 2 minutes and 22 seconds ahead of Megertu Alemu, with Magdalena Shauri of Tanzania securing the third position with a time of 2 hours, 18 minutes, and 3 seconds.
