Young runs 2:05:23 in Chicago on a torn hamstring
Vinny Mauri was on American record pace through 20 miles before his hamstrings seized and he stopped to stretch.
Clayton Young was the first American across the line at the Chicago Marathon, running a personal best 2:05:23 for seventh place. Jonathan Gault says he did it with a 12 cm tear in his hamstring. CITIUS MAG described it as an injury-hampered training block, which matches what Young said earlier in the week about racing hurt.
The American race was the best part of the day. Young outdueled Charles Hicks, who took eighth in 2:05:35. Vinny Mauri was third American in tenth, 2:06:45.
Mauri went for it and paid for it
Mauri made a bold move around halfway and was on American record pace through 20 miles, per Gault. Then his hamstrings tensed up around 30k and he had to stop multiple times to stretch them out. CITIUS MAG was tracking it live, noting that after Mauri's second stop the top three Americans were suddenly all running together in seventh, eighth and ninth.
Chris Chavez posted Mauri's Strava write-up after the race. Mauri said he checked off his goal of having more fun than anyone out there for the first hour, then committed to the aggressive plan early. He credited short treadmill rests in training for being able to get going again after each stop. It was only his second career marathon.
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What it actually means. Two of the three fast Americans gambled, one on an aggressive early move and one on a torn hamstring, and the American record came through the day intact. Mauri's gamble is the one people will replay, because he was genuinely on record pace for 20 miles in his second ever marathon before the wheels came off. Young's is the one that paid, and a 2:05:23 personal best in that state is the number to hold onto.
Gault called the whole thing a fascinating Chicago Marathon. On the American side it was three men within 82 seconds of each other, decided in the last 10k by who could still run in a straight line.
Decided pretty early that I was going to go for it and be world class or die trying.
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