Masters Women: Sara Hall Wins Chicago in 2:32:35

• Sara Hall took the Masters Women title in 2:32:35 (5:49/mi), five years after standing on the overall women's podium here in 2021.
• Maria Lindberg ran a strong negative-split chase, logging the 13th-fastest women's split on the 23M→24M segment, to finish 2nd in 2:34:18 — 1:43 behind Hall.
• Argentina Valdepenas Cerna claimed 3rd in 2:39:54, while the gap from 3rd to 5th spanned just over four and a half minutes across a genuinely international top five.
• Reka Demoulin (8th, 2:48:14) and Emily Kroshus (9th, 2:48:20) were separated by only 6 seconds at the line — the tightest finish in the top ten.

Sara Hall came to Grant Park with unfinished business. Five years ago she stood on the overall women's podium at Chicago, finishing 3rd among all women in 2021. On Sunday she returned to claim the Masters Women title outright, sustaining a 5:49/mi average across 26.2 miles in 61°F conditions. Hall wasn't just managing a lead — she was racing. Her half-to-25K stretch ranked as the 15th-fastest women's split on that segment in the entire field, a sign she was still pressing deep into the race before a slight drift back through the final miles.

Maria Lindberg of Elmhurst gave chase throughout and made her most emphatic statement late, posting the 13th-fastest women's split between miles 23 and 24 — a telling surge at the point most runners are simply trying to hold form. It wasn't enough to close a gap that had opened in the middle miles, but it earned her a convincing 2nd-place finish in 2:34:18. Argentina Valdepenas Cerna of Guadalupe rounded out the podium in 2:39:54 (6:06/mi), having produced the 23rd-fastest women's split on the 25K→30K segment — her strongest stretch of the race.

Behind the podium, the field spread across a broad and genuinely global roster. Solyenetzitl Selene Yanet Castro Aguilar of Zacatecas finished 4th in 2:41:02, and Dominika Stelmach of Warszawa was 5th in 2:44:24. The late-race drama belonged to 8th and 9th: Reka Demoulin (2:48:14) and Emily Kroshus (2:48:20) finished just six seconds apart after 26.2 miles. Lidiia Korsun and Antoinette Kyriacou were nearly as close, crossing in 2:48:46 and 2:48:49 respectively. In a field of 9,168 Masters Women — one of the largest sub-fields in any World Marathon Major — those margins are a reminder that the racing at the back of the top ten was every bit as fierce as at the front.