Chicago Marathon 2011: Course Record Another Step Forward for Moses Mosop

In only his second-ever marathon, Moses Mosop set the Bank of America Chicago Marathon course record by all of four seconds.

The 26-year-old Kenyan middle and long-distance competitor beat Sammy Wanjiru's 2009 record.

Wanjiru, a fellow Kenyan runner and Olympic gold medalist at the Beijing games in 2008, tragically died in May of 2011 after falling from the balcony of his home at the age of 24.

Mosop was on pace to break the record by even more, but he eased up a bit in the final miles.

The race record holder was quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times as saying, "I knew I would get the record."

He ended up cutting it awfully close to a record he knew he'd break. Regardless, this is just another step forward for the bright young star.

In April 2011, he ran the Boston Marathon, finishing in second place just four seconds behind countryman Geoffrey Mutai. The pair shattered the previous course record by three minutes and beat the world record by one minute as well.

However, the IAAF, because of the nature of the course, does not ratify the times recorded by either runner in Boston. The Federation requires marathons to be looped courses rather than point-to-point.

Thus, the world record is still held by Patrick Makau of Kenya. His 2:03:38 time was set at the Berlin Marathon in 2011.

For Mosop, this newfound success and record setting could become habit.

In the two marathons he's run, he has set records. Although the times from Boston aren't recognized, he has certainly shown that he has the speed, talent and endurance to push Makau's world record.

The Chicago Marathon time was impressive, and it is just another step for Mosop as he continues his distance career.