Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland broke the women's wheelchair marathon world record at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on 11 October, winning in 1:33:16. The time takes a full minute off her own T54 mark of 1:34:16, which she set at the 2023 Berlin Marathon. Debrunner led by 48 seconds at 5km and continued to stretch her advantage on a fast, flat course, reaching halfway in 45:42 with a lead of more than four minutes. By the finish she was 8 minutes 45 seconds clear of the field.
It was her third Chicago title, adding to those from 2023 and 2024, and it came in a season that has already brought her victories in Tokyo, London and Berlin. Tatyana McFadden of the United States and Switzerland's Manuela Schär were credited with the same time of 1:42:01 behind her, with Hannah Dederick fourth in 1:47:12. Debrunner admitted the result had surprised her. “I did not expect to break the women's record here because it's quite a technical course for us,” she said, adding that she could not believe she had done it in Chicago.
In the men's race Marcel Hug won his seventh Chicago title in 1:21:34, a course record that lowered his own previous mark of 1:22:37 from 2023 by 63 seconds. David Weir of Great Britain made an early push, but Hug soon began racing the clock rather than his rivals. Lito Anker of the Netherlands and Weir were both given 1:30:11 for second and third, with Tomoki Suzuki of Japan and Aaron Pike of the United States a few seconds back in fourth and fifth. Daniel Romanchuk left the course early; the reason was not immediately clear.
Both champions collected $40,000 for winning and a further $50,000 for setting a course record, a total of $90,000 each. Hug described the performance as “one of the best performances in my career” and said he felt really amazing on the day. His five consecutive wins in Chicago extend a record that also includes ten titles in Berlin and eight in London, underlining how completely the Swiss pair have come to dominate the major marathons in their divisions.
Conditions were sunny and humid, though reports suggested the weather was kinder to the wheelchair racers than to the able-bodied field that followed them down the course. The results arrive as wheelchair racing becomes more technical, with equipment and aerodynamics playing a growing part in how times fall, a trend Running Lookout has examined in recent weeks. With the World Marathon Majors series still to conclude in New York on 1 November, Debrunner and Hug have once again set the standard that the rest of the field must chase.