The highly anticipated 2023 Chicago Marathon is expected to attract thousands of runners today. Ten athletes have personal bests of under 2 hours and 10 minutes, including the second-fastest marathoner. At the age of 18, the record-setter was already winning local half-marathons in Kenya, which is a testament to his prowess on the track. He is self-coached and doesn’t boast an engineered career like many on the marathoning scene. However, he quickly distinguished himself as one of the top distance runners in the world.

Apart from eliminating the defending champion on American soil today, he has grander goals for the future. In talks about the upcoming Olympic Games, one may expect his presence, which he revealed is in the line.

Marathon star announces future track career

The Chicago Marathon, the fourth-largest marathon by number of finishers globally, is held on October 8 this year. In the men’s circuit, two serious challengers for the champion title this year are Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum, the 2023 London Marathon dominator, and reigning champion Benson Kipruto. While the race results load, Kelvin Kiptum joined in on an exclusive interview with Olympics.com about his target tracks saying, “I want to run Chicago and then maybe next year go to Berlin.”

The Kenyan who ran two fastest marathon second halves in history turned down an offer to compete for the national team in the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. He said that he has greater ideas in the works, but his aspirations begin with the Chicago race, on which he is betting.

“Valencia was a perfect race,” he says about his first marathon last year which crowned him the fastest debutant in history and 3rd fastest time in history. Making it to the main events was the major stepping stone, and since then he showed off his immense potential on the tracks.

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He also explained how adding Berlin to the participation list was last minute and Chicago was his main goal all along. He added, “But I am dreaming of the Paris Olympics. If I get a chance to be selected by the selectors. I’ll go there and try to win a medal.” Although he quickly adapted to the marathon atmosphere, he is still a lesser-known figure. Did you know about his spectacular performances?

Chicago Marathoner’s top track records

Kiptum has shown tremendous skill since making his marathon debut less than a year ago in Valencia. He achieved a spectacular triumph, completing the race in an impressive time of 2:01:53, making it the fastest debut in history. This put him on the radar of the marathon majors, and within five months he was back to claim another record.

He maintained his dominance at the 2023 London Marathon, breaking compatriot Eliud Kipchoge’s course record and coming within 16 seconds of the world record with a time of 2:01:25. What makes today’s Chicago Marathon even more fascinating is Kelvin Kiptum’s goal of breaking 38-year-old Kipchoge’s fastest marathoner world record of 2:01:09. Do you think he’ll take the triple win treat today?

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