CHICAGO -- Kengo Suzuki, Japan's national record holder in the marathon, finished fourth in Sunday's Chicago Marathon in 2 hours 8 minutes 50 seconds.
Seifu Tura Abdiwak of Ethiopia crossed the finish line first in 2:06:12 in the race, held for the first time in two years because of the pandemic, while Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich won the women's side in 2:22:31.
Suzuki, who wore an expression that said he had given it his all as he completed the race, came up just short of the podium.
"I pretty much had to push hard right from the start and was still far away from getting a medal," said Suzuki, who had to simply accept a result that was about 2 minutes behind the third-place finisher.
It was Suzuki's first race since the February Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, where he set the national record with a 2:04:56.
The Chicago course, which runs through the heart of the city, yields fast times, and runners from Africa jumped out to an early lead.
Suzuki was ahead of his Japan-record pace when he hit the midway point, and was looking for an opportunity to make a push to pass someone in the lead group.
But, Suzuki "didn't have the same kind of energy left in the tank, like when I set the national record," and said he couldn't stay with the three runners who shifted into a higher gear after 30 kilometers.
The Chicago Marathon was Suzuki's second overseas race, and he has his eyes on next year's world championships in Oregon. To compete with foreign runners and their tactics, Suzuki trained by running 40 kilometers and also did some speed work.
"I still feel like I can do it," said Suzuki, who also assessed his loss of stamina with the race on the line, and will now try to make up the gap that exists between himself and international runners during the time between national and world competitions.
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