Downers Grove Woman Tops Chicago Marathon Charts, More Than 100 Residents Run

CHICAGO, IL — More than 100 Downers Grove residents ran in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon yesterday. The 26.2-mile course took runners through 29 Chicago neighborhoods that went all the way north to Wrigley Field and south to US Cellular Field.

Lauren Kersjes, 24, was the first Downers Grove runner to cross the finish line at 2:49:52, according to unofficial Chicago Marathon results. She finished 353rd overall, 33rd in her gender and came in third in her age division of 20-24.

Theodore Lockhart, 28, was the next-fastest in the bunch, finishing with a time of 3:01:01 and landing in 215th in his age division of 25-29.

Here are some of Downers Grove's other fastest finishers:

• Josh Williams, 24 (20-24 age division), 3:07:34
• Volker Rose, 47 (45-49 age division), 3:09:17
• Christopher Tung, 36 (35-39 age division), 3:23:03
• James Nuttall, 43 (40-44 age division), 3:24:57
• Todd Briggs, 36 (35-39 age division), 3:25:32

Elite runners from Kenya dominated the race. Kenyan Abel Kirui finished first with a time of 2:11:22, beating out last year’s champion and fellow Kenyan Dickson Chum in the final mile. Florence Kiplagat, 29, was the top female finisher clocking in at 2:22:31. Results are still unofficial.
Overall, 40,400 runners crossed the finish line in Chicago’s Grant Park. See how other runners did in Sunday’s race by searching on the Chicago Marathon website.

Congratulations to all who ran in the 26.2-mile race.