Former world record-holder Brigid Kosgei and two-time Boston champion Sharon Lokedi head to Sunday's, 11 October, Chicago Marathon as favourites, headlining a field that includes defending champion Hawi Feysa.While Feysa is the defending women’s champion, Kosgei has perhaps the strongest historical connection with the Chicago course.Download our MozzartSport App For More NewsThe Kenyan won there in 2018 before returning the following year to clock 2:14:04, taking 81 seconds off Paula Radcliffe’s long-standing world record. She has not raced in Chicago since that performance.Now 32, Kosgei has returned to some of her best form this year. She won the Tokyo Marathon in March in 2:14:29, the second-fastest time of her career and an Asian all-comers’ record.Feysa was third in that race in 2:17:39, having enjoyed the biggest victory of her career in Chicago five months earlier. The Ethiopian pulled away from the field to win the 2025 race in 2:14:57, more than two minutes ahead of compatriot Megertu Alemu.Zablon Chumba out to defend Lisbon title as Ruth Chebitok eyes course recordAlemu returns this year, as does Sutume Kebede, whose 2:15:55 PB makes her the third-fastest woman in the field. Both raced in Tokyo earlier this year, where Kebede and Alemu finished fourth and fifth respectively.Lokedi, meanwhile, will race in Chicago for the first time. The Kenyan has established herself as one of the world’s leading championship-style marathon racers, having won the New York Marathon in 2022 before taking back-to-back Boston titles in 2025 and 2026.##NAJAVA_MECA_10017180##She retained her Boston crown in April in 2:18:51, with two more Chicago entrants, Loice Chemnung and Mary Ngugi-Cooper, completing the podium. Chicago will provide Lokedi with her first opportunity to race one of the flatter, faster courses on the major marathon circuit.Elsewhere, Brillian Kipkoech is another Kenyan arriving on the back of a victory. She improved her PB to 2:17:05 to win in Hamburg in April and is one of seven women in the field with a best inside 2:18. Degitu Azimeraw, the 2021 London runner-up, is another member of that group. Chemnung, Joan Kilimo, Magdalyne Masai, Fantu Worku and Ngugi-Cooper have all broken 2:20.Kilimo, just 22, achieved her 2:18:40 best when finishing runner-up in Barcelona in March, while Worku ran 2:19:08 for third in Dubai at the start of February.Harambee Stars-eligible defender signs pro contract with Nottingham ForestLeading EntrantsBrigid Kosgei (KEN) 2:14:04Hawi Feysa (ETH) 2:14:57Sutume Kebede (ETH) 2:15:55Megertu Alemu (ETH) 2:16:34Brillian Kipkoech (KEN) 2:17:05Sharon Lokedi (KEN) 2:17:22Degitu Azimeraw (ETH) 2:17:58Loice Chemnung (KEN) 2:18:24Joan Kilimo (KEN) 2:18:40Magdalyne Masai (KEN) 2:18:58Fantu Worku (ETH) 2:19:08Mary Ngugi-Cooper (KEN) 2:19:26Sara Hall (USA) 2:20:32Yuka Akasaki (JPN) 2:21:33Susanna Sullivan (USA) 2:21:56Des Linden (USA) 2:22:38Isobel Batt-Doyle (AUS) 2:22:59Natosha Rogers (USA) 2:23:28Dakotah Popehn (USA) 2:24:20Jess Warner-Judd (GBR) 2:24:45Laura Galvan (MEX) debutEmma Grace Hurley (USA) debutAmy-Eloise Neale (GBR) debut
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