The 2024 Bank of America Chicago Marathon streams live nationwide on Sunday at 8 a.m. ET on the NBC Chicago News channel on Peacock and NBCChicago.com.
The Chicago Marathon, one of six annual World Marathon Majors, features some of the top marathoners in the world and in the U.S. who didn’t compete in the Paris Olympics.
The women’s field is headlined by Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich, who won the 2022 Chicago Marathon in 2:14:18, which was then the second-fastest time in history and is now the fourth-fastest time in history.
Ethiopian Sutume Kebede, who won the Tokyo Marathon in March, and Kenyan Joyciline Jepkosgei, who won the New York City Marathon in 2019 and the London Marathon in 2021, are also entered.
So are the second-, third and fifth-fastest American women in history: Keira D’Amato and Betsy Saina, who each dropped out late in the Olympic Trials in February, and Sara Hall, who was fifth at trials, just missing the three-woman team for Paris.
Plus Emma Bates, the top American woman at the Boston Marathon the last two years who missed the Olympic Trials due to injury.
They could challenge the American record of 2:18:29 set by Emily Sisson at the 2022 Chicago Marathon.
The men’s field pits Ethiopian Birhanu Legese, the sixth-fastest man in history with a personal best of 2:02:48, and Kenyan Amos Kipruto, the 2022 London Marathon winner.
The U.S. men’s contingent is led by CJ Albertson, who was fifth at the Olympic Trials.
In 2023, Kelvin Kiptum broke the men’s world record by winning the Chicago Marathon in 2:00:35. Kiptum died in a car crash in his native Kenya on Feb. 11 at age 24.
Also last year, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands ran the second-fastest women’s time in history to win Chicago — 2:13:44. Hassan went on to win three medals at the Paris Olympics: gold in the marathon and bronze in the 5000m and 10,000m.
2024 Chicago Marathon Schedule, Start Times
8:20 a.m. ET — Men’s wheelchair start
8:21 a.m. — Women’s wheelchair start
8:30 a.m. — Men’s, women’s elite start
8:30 a.m. — Wave 1 start
9 a.m. — Wave 2 start
9:35 a.m. — Wave 3 start