Susannah Scaroni returned to the top of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon podium, cruising her way to a comeback victory after a flat tire kept her out of contention last year.
Scaroni, who took an early lead and never looked back, finished just off course record time with an unofficial finish of 1:38:12. The course record in the women’s wheelchair event in Chicago was one hour and 38 minutes.
Scaroni was battling a trio of past Chicago winners, including 2024 champ Catherine Debrunner, two-time victor Manuela Schär and nine-time winner Tatyana McFadden of the United States. Debrunner set the world record for women’s wheelchair in 2023 with a time of 1:34:16 in Berlin.
Last year, Scaroni experienced a flat front tire three miles into the race, but fought her way back to finish in 12th place.
She won the TCS New York City Marathon later that year and, since then, has placed second in the Tokyo Marathon and won the 2025 Bank of America Boston Marathon. A week after that, she won second place in the London Marathon.
Scaroni had previously won the 2022 Chicago Marathon after returning from a frightening injury.
In 2021, Scaroni was on a training run at the University of Illinois when she was struck by a car.
The force of the impact caused a “burst fracture” in her T8 vertebrae, leaving her in a brace for four months, and completely destroyed her racing chair.
“It truly gave me a new perspective,” she said at the time. “I have a new appreciation to be alive, and so I think about that constantly now, and everything’s a celebration and an opportunity.”
Check back for more on this developing story.