Emma Grace Hurley, an Asics-sponsored runner based in Indianapolis, ran the fastest American marathon debut in history in Chicago on Sunday, finishing in 2:20:47 for seventh place overall and first among Americans. Her time—a 5:22 pace—betters the 2:22:10 record set by Fiona O’Keeffe en route to winning the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials by nearly a minute and a half. It also makes her the sixth-fastest American ever at the distance.
Dakotah Popehn, 31, a 2024 Olympian in the marathon, placed 12th overall and second American in 2:24:00, a four-second personal best, while Elena Hayday, 26, was 13th overall and third American in 2:24:57. Hurley earns $15,000 for the top American spot, while Popehn earns $12,000 for second American and Hayday $10,00 for third. Running with her personal pacer, Caleb Kerr, Hurley, 28, started quickly—the pair covered the first 5K in 16:24, a 5:17 pace, hoping for a sub-2:20 finish.
From there, she settled into a steady rhythm, hitting the halfway point in 1:09:50. At the post-race press conference, Hurley said she attempted to pick up the pace at mile 19, running a 5:15 mile. But whether it was the bright sun and heat or the new-to-her distance—the farthest she’d run in training was 22 miles—she slowed afterward.
I lost it a bit,” she said. She covered the last 10K at a 5:28 pace and the final mile in 5:20 to finish strong, buoyed in part, she said, by the roar of the crowd and chasing the women in front of her. I’m very happy with it.” Hurley’s debut has been hotly anticipated for years, beginning when she won the 2024 USATF Running Circuit, then ran 1:08:26 in her first half marathon, the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon, a race she decided to run just six days beforehand.
That’s when Hurley herself started to shift her perspective and consider the possibility she might one day be world-class at longer distances, she told Runner’s World in late September. The buzz around her intensified this year, when she nearly placed second in the USATF Half Marathon Championships in Atlanta before being led off course, then bounced back by setting a new American 8K record of 24:29 at the Shamrock Shuffle in March, then placing second at the USA 5K Road Running Championships in May. That race played a key role in her choice to debut in Chicago, she said.
And then, when she ran a personal best 1:06:23 to place at the USATF Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen in late September, the noise reached nearly a fever pitch. Hurley—who lives and trains in Indianapolis—handled the pressure with grace. Begley told Runner’s World in late September he thought Hurley was capable of running a 2:20 marathon, or even faster, in ideal conditions.
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