Heading into today’s Chicago Marathon, the hotly anticipated race-within-the-race How Gabi Rooker Ran a PR in Chicago.
On a near-perfect day on the flat, fast course, Sisson, 31, prevailed, crossing the line in 2:22:09 to place seventh overall and first American. But behind her, the leaderboard featured a number of significant surprises.
We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back Molly Seidel, 29, Master the Half 2:23:07 to take eighth overall in her first marathon finish since New York City in 2021. Sara Vaughn, 37, ran 2:23:24—a personal best by nearly 3 full minutes—to take 10th place.
Bates ran through the halfway mark in 69:31, as planned, with Sisson and pacer Matt Llano. Soon afterward, she said on Instagram, an odd step caused pain in her plantar. By 30K, she was nearly a minute behind Sisson; by the 40K mark, both Seidel and Vaughn had passed her. Bates finished 13th in 2:25:04.
Between Vaughn and Bates was Gabriella Rooker, whose 2:24:35 was a personal best by more than 3 minutes and good for 11th place. Dakotah Lindwurm, 28, also ran a personal best, taking 12th in 2:24:40.
After the race, Sisson told reporters she was feeling good until about the 18-mile mark, when she developed a side stitch. Llano, who was still with her, offered “some nice words of encouragement,” she said. “That really helped pull me along.” (She’d give him an A-plus for his pacing, she said.)
Though she fell short of her record-breaking time last year, Sisson said she was “pleased enough,” with her result.
And along the way, she gained more experience running in a pack, which she expects will help her heading into the Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando in February. Even after she left Bates, “there were a lot of men around, and so I did try to tuck in, especially during the windy parts,” she said. To further prepare for the Trials, Sisson will spend December in Phoenix and January somewhere in Florida.
Vaughn, meanwhile, started with a 2:25 pace group led by Ben Bruce and planned to stay there through 20 miles. She broke away a few miles early, she told Runner’s World afterward, both due to the wind at her back and the fact that men around her were clipping her heels.
Despite striking out on her own, she moved up from 15th place to ninth place between the halfway mark and 40K—after which she was passed by only one woman, her Puma teammate Rose Harvey of Great Britain. Vaughn’s cheering family kept her spirits high: All four of her children and her husband Brent, who rented bikes—including a tandem for 8-year-old Cassidy and a cart for the youngest, Davey—appeared multiple times along the course.
American Men Deliver at the 2023 Chicago Marathon Amy Cragg, who coach Puma’s elite team near Chapel Hill, North Carolina. They’ve switched up her training to focus more on 10K work, a piece Vaughn feels like she skipped over when she moved from the mile to the marathon in 2021.
The shift clearly paid off. “I thought on a really good day, I’d be 2:23, and I thought 2:24 to 2:25 would still be solid,” she said. “It’s just nice when it all comes together.” She’ll also line up in Orlando in February with eyes on the top three spots, she said.
Sisson earns $15,000 for placing first American; Seidel takes home $12,000 for second American, Vaughn $10,000 for third, Rooker $7,000 for fourth, and Lindwurm $5,000 for fifth.
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Cindy is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster who’s contributed regularly to Runner’s World since 2013. She’s the coauthor of both Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart and Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries, a book about the psychology of sports injury from Bloomsbury Sport. Cindy specializes in covering injury prevention and recovery, everyday athletes accomplishing extraordinary things, and the active community in her beloved Chicago, where winter forges deep bonds between those brave enough to train through it.
