I Think — The Chepngetich WR?

Correspondent Sean Hartnett has been on site to witness and report on the last 20 marathon World Records — 11 for men, and Ruth Chepngetich’s startling 2:09:56 at Chicago 2024 makes 9 for women.

A geographer by trade who 20-plus years ago provided detailed course maps and analysis to Paul Tergat as the XC and track great prepared for his successful assault on the men’s marathon WR in 2003, Hartnett has carried on his diligent study of “the geography of the marathon” ever since. No wonder that as he has consulted, gratis, with WR-setters and WMM- and major title winners (Haile Gebrselassie, the late Samuel Wanjiru and others) over the course of 2 decades, the 26-mile speedsters have come to know Sean as “Professor Marathon.”

What does the learned Prof make of the 2:09:56 time that, as we’ve all read, has elicited emphatic skepticism in some quarters? Sean’s opinions are his — T&FN takes no position — and you’ll learn what he thinks below.

It was not a complete surprise that Ruth Chepngetich broke the women’s World Record in the 2024 Chicago Marathon. Kelvin Kiptum proved that the Chicago route is World Record fast, and in her three previous races in Chicago Chepngetich had set off at World Record pace. This time, Chepngetich’s career-long penchant for ballistic pacing paid off — big time.

Chepngetich’s barrier-busting 2:09:56 performance was a huge surprise to most — such a surprise that there is a lot of processing still going on. A World Record run like this comes at the confluence of many contributing factors: good weather, fast course, a very talented and well-prepared athlete, and shoes, shoes, shoes.

Yes, PED suspicion has become part of the discussion. Here is what we have: An athlete who has been at the top of her sport for 7 years, a world champion in 2019, a World Record-setter in the half-marathon in 2021, and has consistently ranked among the world’s fastest women marathoners since 2017.

(She earned her first T&FN World Ranking in 2018 and has Ranked 1, 2 or 3 each year since 2019 save for ’21 — when she DNFed at the Tokyo Olympics and won Chicago, though against a field devoid of others in contention for Rankings spots.)

Chepngetich has been tested a lot, and training in Ngong, a half-hour commute from Nairobi, there was no ducking, no…