The Chicago Marathon 2026 is shaping up to be one of the deepest fields the race has ever seen, and three defending champions are walking straight back into the fire to defend what they won last year. Jacob Kiplimo, Hawi Feysa, and wheelchair great Marcel Hug all return to Grant Park on Sunday, October 11, and none of them will have an easy path to a repeat.
Who’s Defending a Title at the Chicago Marathon 2026?
Last October, Jacob Kiplimo announced himself as a marathon force by winning in 2:02:23 the second-fastest time in the race’s history. Ethiopia’s Hawi Feysa took the women’s crown, and Switzerland’s Marcel Hug once again showed why he’s the standard in wheelchair racing. All three are back for the 48th Bank of America Chicago Marathon, but this year’s field isn’t rolling out the red carpet for anyone.
On the men’s side alone, six athletes have already broken 2:04 for the marathon distance. The women’s field has gotten a serious jolt too, with former world record holder Brigid Kosgei making her first Chicago start since 2019 and Sharon Lokedi lining up in the city for the first time. Rising American Charles Hicks, fresh off the second-fastest marathon ever run by a U.S. athlete at Boston, adds even more firepower to a stacked October 11 start line.
Jacob Kiplimo’s Road to Chicago Marathon Glory
To understand why Kiplimo is the man to beat at the Chicago Marathon 2026, it helps to look at the ground he covered just to get here.
The Ugandan built his reputation long before he ever raced 26.2 miles. He’s an Olympic bronze medalist in the 10,000m from Tokyo 2020 and, per World Athletics’ official rankings, one of the sport’s most decorated cross country runners, with a run of world titles to his name. His speed over shorter distances was never in question what remained to be seen was whether it would translate to the marathon.
His full-distance debut came at the 2025 London Marathon, where he crossed in 2:03:37 for a runner-up finish behind Sebastian Sawe, setting a Ugandan national record along the way. It was an emphatic first answer to the question of whether a track-and-half-marathon star could hold up over 26.2 miles.
Six months later came his first Chicago Marathon start. Kiplimo sat on world-record pace through roughly 22 miles before easing back slightly in the final stretch, but he still crossed in 2:02:23 good enough to beat Kenya’s Amos Kipruto by 91 seconds and claim his maiden marathon title. It stands as the second-fastest performance in Chicago Marathon history.
He hasn’t slowed down since. Kiplimo opened 2026 by winning a third straight World Cross Country title, then reclaimed the world half-marathon record in Lisbon with a time of 57:20. At the 2026 London Marathon, he ran 2:00:28 for third place currently the third-fastest marathon ever recorded, on a day that saw both Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha break the two-hour barrier.
In short: the man who nearly broke the world record in Chicago last year has only gotten faster heading into this year’s race.
Will We See a Back-to-Back Champion in Chicago?
Kiplimo will have to get past familiar faces to repeat at the Chicago Marathon 2026. Amos Kipruto, who finished second behind him last year, arrives in career-best form after running a personal best of 2:01:29 for second place in London this year. Alex Masai, Chicago’s third-place finisher in 2025, is back as well. New entrants like 2024 Berlin champion Milkesa Mengesha and two-time Tokyo champion Tedese Tekele Bikila deepen the field even further.
Kiplimo, for his part, sounds like a man who wants the repeat more than he wanted the first win. “Winning Chicago was a special moment, but defending the title means even more,” he said. “Right now, I believe I’m capable of competing with anyone in the world.”
Given his trajectory a debut runner-up finish, a near-world-record victory in Chicago, and now the third-fastest marathon ever run it’s hard to bet against him repeating at the Chicago Marathon 2026. But with six sub-2:04 men on the start line and a course built for fast times, this year’s race may need every bit of that confidence to come true.
