Chris D Fellowes

RACE DEBRIEF: Chicago Marathon 2026 ⭐
Still in two minds about this result.
Finishing with an official time of 3:15 was a great PB and over three minutes quicker than my London Marathon earlier this year.
Training was super consistent with higher mileage, ticking all the boxes is something I’m proud of with this one.
I would definitely have been delighted with 3:15 at the start of my training block. However, as things progressed, I really felt I could be pushing closer to 3:10 which is what I programmed ahead of race day.
What I couldn’t control though, was record October temperatures for Chicago, and whilst the race started coolish around 16 degrees, it soon got over 21 degrees mid race and things started to get hard for me.
Seeing my pace drop off is not something I’m delighted about, and I would love to have been able to hold on for closer to 3:10, but I have to take the positives that I’m definitely moving in the right direction. Being able to comfortably sustain such a good pace for me in the first 30km was a great feeling, like everything just clicked. Could I have handled it better as the sun came out? I don’t know.
Not to mention the challenges I experienced with sleep on this transatlantic event, my body was all over the place.
Either way, it was a pleasure to run around such a great city, Chicago was marathon crazy for the whole weekend and everyone made you feel like a hero. I’d run it again in a heartbeat.
As always, thanks to the dynamic duo from @teameliterunning for pushing me harder and believing in me.
Focus turns to NYC Half and London Marathon in 2027.✌🏼