The record Ebenyo is tipped to break at Chicago 13.1 Half Marathon
Reading Time: 2min | Sun. 31.05.26. | 19:01
The women's race will be headlined by Mexico's Laura Galvan, a two-time Olympian who ran her PB in Texas earlier this year
Kenya's long distance runner Daniel Ebenyo is the star headliner for the elite men's field at the 2026 Bank of America Chicago 13.1 half-marathon, taking place on Sunday, 7 June.
The fifth edition of the half marathon is set to feature fierce competition racing through Chicago's West Side with Ebenyo said to be "the most competitive entrant in event history."
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He brings a stellar pedigree to the Chicago course, boasting a half-marathon personal best (PB) of 59:04.
The silver medalist in the half-marathon at the 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships, who made a highly impressive marathon debut in Chicago in 2024, finishing fifth, goes up against a field of nine athletes who have run under 1:01:08, the course record set by Zouhair Talbi in 2025.
A medalist in the 10000m at both the 2023 World Athletics Championships and the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Ebenyo is expected to set the pace early.
Other Kenyans joining in the chase for the course record include Peter Njeru who holds a 1:00:29 PB, Kipchirchir Sosten (1:00:57) and Athanas Kioko (1:01:01).
However, Ebenyo's toughest competition is likely to come from American Isai Rodriguez, a 2023 Pan American Games gold medalist at 10000m who ran his PB of 59:57 at the Houston Half Marathon earlier this year.
Joining Rodriguez is Reed Fischer, the 2023 Bank of America Chicago 13.1 champion, Sam Chelanga (1:00:37) and Nathan Martin, 2026 Los Angeles Marathon champion.
Meanwhile the women's race will be headlined by Mexico's Laura Galvan, a two-time Olympian who ran her PB in Texas earlier this year and could threaten the course record on the women's side.
Galvan arrives in peak form after posting a PB of 1:07:31 at the Houston Half Marathon in January, a National Record setting performance that establishes her as the clear favorite and a threat to the women’s course record of 1:09:36 set by Meseret Belete last year.
Alongside Galvan are five women with sub-1:10 PB's including Lindsay Flanagan and rising star Molly Born. Flanagan, who has top 10 finishes at both the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and Boston Marathon, joins the field with a 1:09:17 PB set in Houston in 2025.
Born made her marathon debut in December 2025, winning the USA Marathon Championships at the California International Marathon in 2:24:09. She has a half marathon PB of 1:09:43 set in Atlanta earlier this year.
On the international side, Joyline Chemutai, a Kenyan 1:09:44 runner, will also be competing for the top spot.