M25-29: Kiprop Claims Chicago 13.1 in a Sub-62 Showdown

• Patrick Kiprop won the M25-29 age group in 1:01:18 (4:41/mi), holding 2nd among men through most of the race before securing his age-group title.
• Peter Njeru pushed him every step of the way, finishing just 23 seconds back in 1:01:41 — the closest gap on the podium.
• Reed Fischer made the most decisive mid-race move, climbing from 8th to 4th among men between the start and the 5K–8K stretch — posting the 2nd-fastest split in the field on that segment — before settling into 3rd in M25-29 at 1:02:40.
• 969 men finished in M25-29, making it one of the deepest age groups on the course.

Patrick Kiprop ran a controlled, relentless race. Sitting 2nd among men from the opening kilometers, he never wavered — holding that spot through 10K before finishing 3rd among men overall. His 4:41/mi average over 13.1 miles in 60°F conditions produced a winning time of 1:01:18 that the rest of the M25-29 field couldn't touch. The 8K–10K segment was particularly sharp: Kiprop posted the 3rd-fastest split in the field on that stretch, a sign he was pressing rather than coasting.

Peter Njeru shadowed him nearly the entire way. Running 4th among men through 10K, Njeru crossed in 1:01:41 — 23 seconds behind Kiprop and just a tick off his own 4:42/mi pace. In a field of nearly a thousand men in this age group, that 23-second gap between first and second feels razor-thin. Reed Fischer was the race's most interesting story in motion: starting 8th among men, he surged through the 5K–8K corridor with the 2nd-fastest split in the entire field on that segment, vaulting up to 4th before finishing 3rd in M25-29 at 1:02:40 (4:47/mi).

Haftu Knight rounded out the podium in 4th at 1:02:46 — just six seconds behind Fischer — and closed with the 4th-fastest split in the field on the 15K-to-finish stretch, suggesting he had plenty left in the tank. Adam Moore was the clear leader of the next pack, finishing 5th in 1:05:20, more than two minutes clear of William Cadwell in 6th (1:06:57). From there, the field spread out across a wide range of finishing times, with Mauricio Galvan, Nolan McKenna, and Bret Greene filling out positions 7 through 9 in the 1:09–1:11 range.