Masters Women Chicago: Galimany Leads a Deep Field Through 29 Neighborhoods

• Marta Galimany won the Masters Women race in 2:28:24 (5:40/mi), posting the 10th-fastest women's split from the half to 25K.
• Maria Lindberg and Kristin Dailey, both from Elmhurst, finished 2nd and 3rd in 2:34:59 and 2:36:08 — separated by just 69 seconds, and both recorded top-14 women's splits on the 35K–40K segment.
• Heidi Peoples ran the 20th-fastest women's split from 10K–15K and climbed as high as 23rd among all women before fading to 29th by the finish — a tale of a blazing early move that cost her late.
• 9,409 Masters Women crossed the line in Chicago, one of the deepest fields in any World Marathon Major.

Marta Galimany turned in a commanding performance on a cool, humid October morning in Grant Park, winning the Masters Women race in 2:28:24 at 5:40 per mile — a pace that left the rest of the field more than six minutes behind. She tracked steadily through the women's field, moving from 14th among all women at the early checkpoints all the way up to 12th by the finish, and her 10th-fastest women's split from the half marathon to 25K showed she was still pressing hard well past the midpoint.

The battle for 2nd and 3rd produced one of the day's more compelling local storylines. Maria Lindberg and Kristin Dailey, both racing out of Elmhurst, Illinois, spent the back half of the race in close pursuit of each other. Lindberg, who ran 2:34:59 (5:55/mi), had been climbing steadily — moving from 29th among all women at the half to 17th by the finish — and her 12th-fastest women's split on the 35K–40K stretch was a genuine late surge. Dailey (2:36:08, 5:57/mi) matched her with the 14th-fastest women's split on that same segment, cutting the gap but not closing it entirely. The 69-second margin between them was earned in the closing miles, not gifted.

Bianca Premont of Montreal ran a patient, grinding race to 4th in 2:38:11, climbing from 41st among all women at the early checkpoints all the way to 25th — the most consistent mover in the top five. Heidi Peoples of South Abington Township told a different story: she fired out of the blocks, posting the 20th-fastest women's split from 10K to 15K and reaching as high as 23rd among all women, before settling back to finish 5th in 2:39:30. Behind them, Polly Cunes (6th, 2:41:27), Laura Pifer (7th, 2:42:55), and a tight cluster from 8th through 11th — Pamela Kirk (2:47:59), Kerin Hempel (2:48:11), Chirine Njeim (2:48:28), and Lauren Van Allen (2:48:36) — rounded out a top ten that spanned less than 12 minutes across 9,409 finishers.