Florence Kiplagat, winner of the 2015 and 2016 Chicago Marathons, returned to the streets of Chicago last fall to make it a three-peat, but she dropped out of the race after the 25K mark, citing a muscular injury that ultimately prevented her from defending her Barcelona Half Marathon title this winter. She has not competed in 2018, so this year’s race marks her return to competition. 

Name: Florence Kiplagat

Country of origin: Kenya

Standout races: Kiplagat is the 19th fastest woman in history over the marathon distance with a personal best of 2:19:44. Prior to 2017, she dazzled fans in Chicago with an aggressive front-running style that saw her put in 26.2 miles of hard work; her winning time from 2016, 2:21:32, was the thirteenth fastest female time in Chicago Marathon history (now the 16th fastest time) and the fifth fastest time run in 2016.

More about Florence Kiplagat: The 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon champion held the half marathon world record until 2017 (her personal record of 1:05:09 now ranks her seventh on the all-time list). Her accolades include wins in Berlin in 2011 and 2013, and an IAAF World Cross Country title in 2009.