Chicago 13.1 Women: Chemutai Commands from Wire to Wire

• Joyline Chemutai wins in 1:11:45 (5:28/mi), leading the women's race at every checkpoint — start to finish.
• Mao Kiyota's closing surge — the fastest women's split on the 15K-to-finish stretch — lifted her from 4th to 3rd (1:13:00), edging out Betty Sigei's fade from 2nd to 4th (1:14:48).
• Jackie Gaughan ran the 2nd-fastest women's split on the 8K–10K segment, moving from 3rd to 2nd by the end and holding it for a 1:12:41 runner-up finish.
• Rachel Dadamio (8th, 1:17:43) improved on her 5th-place finish here in 2022 (1:18:29); Camille Blackman (10th, 1:18:35) likewise bettered her 5th-place result from 2023 (1:20:35).

Joyline Chemutai made the women's race look simple in 79°F heat with a 20 mph wind cutting across Chicago. She sat at the front from the opening step, clocked the fastest women's split on the 5K–8K segment, and never surrendered the lead — crossing in 1:11:45 at a 5:28/mi clip. In a field of 3,877 women, that kind of wire-to-wire dominance in those conditions is a statement.

Behind her, the real drama unfolded in the final miles. Betty Sigei had held 2nd from the gun through 10K, but Kiyota and Gaughan were hunting her down. Gaughan — just 20 years old — posted the 2nd-fastest women's split on the 8K–10K stretch and moved into 2nd by the finish (1:12:41), a place she'd hold. Kiyota was even more relentless late: her fastest women's split on the 15K-to-finish leg carried her from 4th all the way to 3rd in 1:13:00, while Sigei slipped to 4th in 1:14:48. Kaylee Flanagan (5th, 1:14:53) was the only top-five finisher whose position never changed — steady all day.

Further back, the veterans told their own story. Flannery Davis Love, 4th here in 2023, slipped one spot to 11th (1:19:22), while Blackman turned her 2023 5th place into a 10th this year — but 1:18:35 versus last year's 1:20:35 means she ran nearly two minutes faster. Dadamio, 8th in 1:17:43, improved on both her 2022 place and time. Katie Sherron (12th, 1:19:40) was the top 40-year-old in the field, running 6:05/mi in the heat.