|
Post-Race Content:
Men's Race Writeups | Women's Race Writeups | Complete Results
2011 Bank of America Chicago Marathon - Women's Race
by John Elliott and Sharon Ekstrom
The Favorite
The 2011 Field
photo: Scott Winnier / MarathonGuide.com
Liliya Three-Peats
|
The 2011 Chicago Marathon had a clear race favorite with two-time winner Liliya Shobukhova returning to defend her title. Shobukhova had the fastest personal best of any of the other women in the race - in fact her three most recent marathons were all faster than any of the other women had ever run. She had won three of her four previous marathons and was already crowned the winner of the World Marathon Majors series for two years running. There were a number of other excellent experienced marathoners in the field: Christelle Daunay, Margasa Askale Tafa, and Yue Cao - but none seemed to have what it would take to beat Shobukhova. Two women with unknown potential could challenge: Kayoko Fukushi had tried the marathon once in 2008 but struggled after 18 miles and barely finished in 2:40:54, but she had some of the best half marathon credentials in the field and organizers thought well enough of her to give her the number 2 women's race number. Ejegayehu Dibaba was running her debut marathon, but her silver medal in the 10000m at the 2004 Olympics and bronze medals at the 5000m and 10000m in the 2005 World Championships showed she had the speed needed to compete. Despite all of this, Shobukhova believed she could win and her goal was not just the win, but to run sub-2:20 and join the rarified ranks of the 11 women who had ever broken that standard; and with that to also guarantee herself a spot on the Russian Olympic team.
One, Two and Three
The women's marathon started quickly from the start with the lead women hitting the first 5K split in 16:19 - putting the runners on pace to run 2:17:42, well under the 2:20 mark and nearly at Paula Radcliffe's course record of 2:17:18 set in 2002. Soon, the women's group was down to three: Shobukhova and the two women who could not know that this pace was faster than they could run: the marathon debutante Ejegayehu Dibaba and Japanese track star Kayoko Fukushi in her second career marathon.
The 2011 Field
photo: Scott Winnier / MarathonGuide.com
|
Through the Half Marathon in 1:09:25, the three women were more than 1-1/2 minutes ahead of any of the other women and on pace to run sub 2:19, if they could. Soon after crossing the halfway mark, Fukushi slowed and Shobukhova and Dibaba ran side-by-side trading the lead now and again.
By 25K, Dibaba was beginning to lose ground on Shobukhova - but it was impressive that she could last as long as she had in her major transition from the track to the roads.
A Perfect Race
Shobukhova sped to victory in 2:18:20, becoming the first athlete, male or female, to win the Chicago Marathon three times in a row. With her new personal best, Shobukhova became the second fastest woman ever to run a marathon behind only Paula Radcliffe who held three faster times, but edging out Catherine Ndereba.
Shobukhova had a goal and went about it with precision. What was most impressive about her run was the consistency of the splits throughout the race. The 5K splits were, in order: 16:19, 16:27, 16:33, 16:29, 16:20, 16:15, 16:26 and 16:39 - and with fuel still in the tank, Shobukhova picked up the pace in the final mile, running a sub-5:00 mile to finish the race.
Shobukhova was elated with the race and looks forward to representing Russia at the 2012 London Olympics: "I am so happy with my time and my results - the national record, the three-peat, the successful selection for the 2012 Olympics. I am overwhelmed right now. I am happy and I'm shocked. And for all the work I've done, I finally have the appreciation that I wanted from myself."
In her debut marathon, Ejegayehu Dibaba finished in an incredibly strong 2:22:09 to be runner-up to Shobukhova in a time that was significantly better than Shobukhova's debut marathon victory in Chicago in 2:25:56 - we should expect a lot more from Dibaba in the future. Kayoko Fukushi finished third in 2:24:38, a successful followup to her failed debut marathon in 2008.
The top 10 finishers:
1. Shobukhova, Liliya (RUS) - 2:18:20 ($140,000)
2. Dibaba, Ejegayehu (ETH) - 2:22:09 ($60,000)
3. Fukushi, Kayoko (JPN) - 2:24:38 ($25,000)
4. Gebre, Belainesh Zemedkun (ETH) - 2:26:17 ($15,000)
5. Daunay, Christelle (FRA) - 2:26:41 ($10,000)
6. Hallissey, Claire (GBR) - 2:29:27
7. Chao, Yue (CHN) - 2:32:57
8. Tafa, Askale (ETH) - 2:33:35
9. Nonata da Silva, Cruz (BRA) - 2:35:35
10. Faber, Jeannette (USA) - 2:36:58 ($12,500)
Additional USA Finishers beating Olympic Trials Qualifier Standard
12. Ardrey, Deanna (USA) - 2:43:12 ($8,500)
13. Farley, Laura (USA) - 2:43:40 ($6,000)
17. Rzepecki, Jacklyn (USA) - 2:44:49 ($3,500)
18. Thomas, Lisa (USA) - 2:45:02 ($2,000)
19. Blake, Alexandra (USA) - 2:45:26 ($1,000)
20. Cueno, Nicole (USA) - 2:45:31 ($1,000)
21. Chouinard, Adrian (USA) - 2:45:36 ($1,000)
22. LaBeaud, Natasha (USA) - 2:45:59 ($1,000)
|
