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2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon - Women's Race
by John Elliott
photo: Sean Hartnett
Rita Jeptoo enroute to Victory
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Rita Jeptoo
In women's marathoning, there is - in each period of a few years - a dominant runner. Grete Waitz, Paula Radcliffe, Catherine Ndereba, Liliya Shobukhova (later banned for doping) were unbeatable in their day. The woman who currently dominates the sport is Rita Jeptoo. Jeptoo won the 2013 Boston Marathon, 2013 Chicago Marathon and 2014 Boston Marathon, all in progressively improving times. Her previous two marathons were run in times faster than 2:20 and only two other women in the Chicago Marathon field had ever run a time under 2:20, and those performances were more than two years old. Jeptoo was on a roll and she was better than all others in the field on this day - it was expected to be her day. There are significant bonuses tied with winning a marathon, but with a win at the Chicago Marathon, Jeptoo was also guaranteed to clinch the World Marathon Majors series title and an additional bonus of $500,000. With those abilities and that incentive, how could she not win?
photo: Sean Hartnett
The Women at Halfway
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The Race
Jeptoo's times had been improving in each outing and she usually seemed to starting and running a marathon at a fast pace. With her history and preference, we were surprised to watch the 2014 Chicago Marathon begin at a lackluster pace, suggesting a 2:25 winning time. With a pack of women running around Jeptoo and keying off her as the favorite most followed her lead to not push the pace. But one woman did run to the front and move away from the pack: American Amy Hastings. Hastings, with a 2:27:03 personal best, was not expecting that she could win the race, but was hoping to shoot for a new best time in the range of 2:24 - she was just running her own race. For the first eight miles, Hastings ran ahead of the others in what seemed a strange scenario: the leading lady not leading because she planned to win and the main pack running behind in their own slowish race.
By mile eight, the pack had caught Hastings, but the pace was still leading toward a 2:25 finish time. We wondered if Jeptoo was injured or having problems, the most likely reason for not pushing the pace. The risk of this would be that all could be fresh toward the end and the race come down to a sprint finish, where anything could happen.
Through mile 23, four women remained together: Jeptoo, Florence Kiplagat, Mare Dibaba and Birhane Dibaba... But at mile 23, Jeptoo threw down the hammer and while the women had been averaging a 5:33 pace through that point, Jeptoo ran the next mile in 5:02 and followed that with a 5:11 - no other woman could keep up with that pace and Jeptoo won the race going away - and by more than a minute - in 2:24:35. For Jeptoo and for Chicago this was not a fast time - and missed all of the available time bonuses which ended at a sub 2:24 result. But Jeptoo was going for the win and the Marathon Majors victory and she easily accomplished that result.
The Rest of the Field and Americans
The women's field for the 2014 Chicago Marathon was relatively small - and the other international favorites continued on to finish in the top four: Mare Dibaba (2:25:37), Florence Kiplagat (2:25:57) and Birhane Dibaba (2:27:02) taking the next spots.
photo: Sean Hartnett
Amy Hastings pushing through the last mile of the Marathon
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Amy Hastings did not meet her goal of running 2:24, but she was charging at the end and nearly caught the fourth place finisher, ending just a second behind in 2:27:03 - tying her personal best. Hastings was happy with the result, as her previous best time was from the 2011 Los Angeles Marathon, more than 3-1/2 years earlier, and she would tell us that she felt the result showed that she "was back."
After Hastings, there was a five minute gap before the next runner - the second best American in the field, Clara Santucci (nee Grandt) crossed the finish line in sixth place in 2:32:21. With major time bonuses for Americans who would beat the Olympic Trials standard of 2:43, the remaining finishers in the top 28 - with the exception of Gelete Bruka in 8th place, were Americans seeking an OT qualifying time - and in total, 20 Americans would surpass that time at Chicago.
In all, the women's race at the 2014 Chicago Marathon was not as inspiring as past races in Chicago - but it stood to further demonstrate Jeptoo's domination and did provide a good opportunity for American women to compete on a fast course and seek good times as the sport moves into the Olympic selection cycle.
The Chicago Marathon has been a good course for women - with Paula Radcliffe having run some of her best times on the course and both Liliya Shobukhova and Catherine Ndereba having set their best times on the course. And while there were no women who could compete to better the times of those legends, the Chicago Marathon had put together a strong field with four or five women who could compete well for the win and another four or five who could be expected to perform well in the top ten.
Rita: Last 15 windy...
2014 Finishers
The top 10 finishers:
1. Rita Jeptoo (KEN) 2:24:35 - $100,000
2. Mare Dibaba (ETH) 2:25:37 - $50,000
3. Florence Kiplagat (KEN) 2:25:57 - $25,000
4. Birhane Dibaba (ETH) 2:27:02 - $15,000
5. Amy Hastings (USA) 2:27:03 - $10,000 + $10,000 + $2,500
6. Clara Santucci (USA) 2:32:21 - $7,500 + $2,500
7. Sarah Crouch (USA) 2:32:44 - $5,000 + $2,500
8. Gelete Burka (ETH) 2:34:17
9. Melissa White (USA) 2:34:19 - $2,500 + $2,500
10. Lauren Jimison (USA) 2:34:38 - $1,000 + $2,500
Other Top Americans (Trials Qualifiers)
11. Sarah Cummings (USA) 2:34:47 - $2,500
12. Lindsey Scherf (USA) 2:37:26 - $2,500
13. Wendy Thomas (USA) 2:37:38 - $2,500
14. Laura Portis (USA) 2:38:06 - $2,500
15. Allison Maxson (USA) 2:39:16 - $2,500
16. Whitney Bevins-Lazzara (USA) 2:40:12 - $2,500
17. Jane Vongvorachoti (USA) 2:40:40 - $2,500
18. Lisa Uhl (USA) 2:40:51 - $2,500
19. Andrea Duke (USA) 2:41:05 - $2,500
20. Loring Crowley (USA) 2:41:39 - $2,500
21. Merrilee Blackham (USA) 2:41:59 - $2,500
22. Heidi Greenwood (USA) 2:42:22 - $2,500
23. Jeanna Composti (USA) 2:42:34 - $2,500
24. Caitlin Phillips (USA) 2:42:45 - $2,500
25. Faith Stephan (USA) 2:42:54 - $2,500
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