Russian women dominate Chicago marathon

Russian Lilia Shobukhova has won the Chicago marathon. The competition, established in 1977, is widely regarded as one of World Marathon Majors, alongside the Boston, New York, London and Berlin Marathons.

Sunday’s event was just Lilia’s second competitive race at the distance after moving up from 5,000 meters.

Shobukhova pulled away from the leading pack just 2 kilometers away from the finish line, leaving pre-race favorite Irina Mikitenko from Germany trailing by 36 seconds

Fellow Russian and last year's champion Lidia Grigorieva was third-fastest.

Meanwhile, Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya won the men’s contest on Sunday in a course record 2 hours, 5 minutes and 41 seconds.

Morocco's Abderrahim Goumri came second in 2:06:04 with Vincent Kipruto of Kenya third 4 seconds behind.