Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo Triumphs in Chicago Marathon as Amos Kipruto Takes Brave Second Place

Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo produced a spectacular display of endurance and tactical brilliance to win the 2025 Chicago Marathon on Sunday. Kenya’s Amos Kipruto finished a commendable second in a race that unfolded against a politically charged atmosphere in the city

At the 18-mile point Kiplimo shot ahead, and the reigning champion, John Korir, was out of the race first to run across the finish line in 2 hours, 2 minutes, and 23 seconds, winning his first major marathon. The victory was a career turning point in the life of Kiplimo, who ran in the second place at the London Marathon in the first half of the year.

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Hawi Feysa of Ethiopia won the women race with a time of 2:14:56, beating other compatriot Megertu Alemu who was 2:17:18.

The 2015 world marathon major which is the Chicago marathon was attended by more than 53,000 runners amid the increased political tension on the streets of Chicago. This race was accompanied by protests across the country and immigration deportations associated with the crackdown on illegal immigrants in the administration of President Donald Trump – a move that caused panic among the representatives of the multicultural community in Chicago.

Before the race, several local Latino running clubs had voiced concerns that they feared being enforced in immigration in the course of the race. Nevertheless, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson had encouraged people to turn the marathon into a unity and protest symbol.

According to Johnson, the strongest method to react towards the situation was through resilience, whereby defiance was possible by refusing to submit to the policies that were threatening the diversity of Chicago. He further stated that the activities by the administration were undermining the economic power of cities such as Chicago, which urged the people to unite and cheer their community spirit.

Irrespective of the political history, the marathon was conducted without incident and there were no incidents and news of unrest. The free skies saw crowds along the streets as the runners went through the iconic course behind which some of the most memorable performances in the sport have taken place.

Kiplimo, who had been racing at the world record pace a good part of the race, seemed like he would contribute to the record of 2:00:35, set in Chicago in 2023 by Kelvin Kiptum, who had passed him. But he slowed down a touch in the last few miles and still failed to set the record but gave one of the fastest times in the history of the marathon.

At the conclusion of the race, Kiplimo said that he was happy about his win and he was not obsessed with the idea of breaking the record. He said that his primary objective had been to make a personal best and he was able to do it with a high sense of accuracy.

He was also very happy about his win as he said, I am very happy about the result. I had an aim of running a personal best of approximately two hours and two minutes, and I am happy about what I accomplished on this day.

Kenya Amos Kipruto was second in 2:03:54 and this clearly shows he possessed great determination, pace to the point that he stayed in the closely competitive competition. Kenya was again guaranteed of its dominance in the top finishers as compatriot Alex Masai was in the third position in 2:04:37.

Hawi Feysa showed a dominating performance in the women race that she led the way to the end. Through her translator, she talked about her victory as one that was significant, given that this was her first time in the Chicago Marathon.

She told us that it was a dream to win on her first debut and she owed the victory to months of hard work and sacrifices. Feysa said that she had been working so hard to get the win and was so happy to have done it on this big stage.

The 2025 Chicago Marathon came to an end not only as a sporting event, but as a day of togetherness, strength, and pride to a city that is still finding its way in political turmoil – with Kiplimo and Feysa becoming symbols of quality and determination.