Winners of record-breaking 2024 Bank of America Chicago Marathon
CHICAGO (CBS) — Thousands of runners from across the world gathered in Chicago's Grant Park on Sunday for the 2024 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
The 26.2-mile marathon kicked off at 7 a.m. Sunday at Grant Park.
This year's race was a record-breaking event, with 50,000 people entering—all raising money for various charities. During the race, the women's world record was also broken by a now three-time Chicago marathon winner.
Below, you'll find the winners of this year's race:
Men's wheelchair race
Marcel Hug of Switzerland wins his third-straight race after finishing at 01:25:54, just a few minutes from his record from last year of 01:22:37.
Women's wheelchair race
Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland with a course record of 01:36:12, beating last year's time of 01:38:44.
Men's race
John Korir of Kenya finished at 02:02:44. Korir was 2:09 shy of beating last year's record, held by the late Kelvin Kiptum, also of Kenya, with a time of 2:00:35.
Women's race
Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya set a world record, finishing at 02:09:56. She is making her way back on top after coming in second place last year to Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands.
Before this year's record-breaking win, Chepngetich previously won the marathon back-to-back in 2021 and 2022. She was the runner-up last year.
Non-binary race
David Eik from the U.S. finished the race at 02:34:01
An estimated 1.7 million spectators lined the route to cheer on the race participants. The event also brought a 42% economic boost to the city compared to last year's race.
Full results can be found on the Chicago Marathon's website.
"I think it's incredible and sometimes a little crazy"
Runners trekked across 29 of the city's neighborhoods, taking in some of the landmarks as they made their way toward the finish line.
"It feels so good. My legs hurt a little bit, but I got my beer," said Meg, from Boston.
Runners said the weather played a big role in them finishing the marathon, but Daniel Mangum from Durham, North Carolina, said the support from his family motivated him to put one foot in front of the other.
"I think they probably set the record for, like, most points on a course seeing me. I think I saw them six or seven times throughout," he said.
His wife, Katie, shared how hard the family worked to watch him at multiple spots during the race.
"We were like moving through the city. We used the Riverwalk to cross the race, got on the Red Line at one point, got all the way to Chinatown, and I think we missed it him there because he was going so fast," she said.
More than a million spectators lined city streets to cheer on athletes taking on the 46th annual Chicago Marathon.
George Mueller was there to support his dad, who is 77 years old and has run every single Chicago Marathon.
"I think it's incredible and sometimes a little crazy, but it's awesome to watch and see – just the whole atmosphere," Mueller said.
Jovana Midiz, from Siberia, Russia, was supporting her mother who has run 188 marathons.
"I'm not a runner at all. I hate running, actually, but now walking through Chicago and watching all those people run and how fun it is," she said.
The marathon wasn't without incident. A Chicago marathon spokesperson said a 72-year-old man suffered a cardiac event near LaSalle Street and North Avenue, between mile markers four and five on Sunday morning. Medics responded immediately, applied life-saving measures and revived him, stabilized him, and transported him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
