Kenyan Kosgei shatters women's marathon record
Kenyan runner Brigid Kosgei crossed the finish line of the Chicago Marathon Sunday and stepped into sports history by becoming the fastest woman to ever run a marathon.
And she not only broke the prior record, she smashed it.
Her time - 2 hours, 14 minutes and 4 seconds - was more than a minute faster than the record set by British runner Paula Radcliffe back in 2003.
Twenty-five year-old Kosgei - who also won the Chicago marathon in 2018 - said this year’s cheering crowd gave her the energy to run even faster.
Radcliffe, now 45, was on hand at the event and told reporters, “When I saw how fast Brigid was running in the first half of the race, I knew she had a good chance of getting the record.”
Kosgei’s achievement came a day after Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge became the first man to run a marathon in under two hours but the race, which took place in Vienna, will not count for record purposes because it did not adhere to certain official marathon rules.
