One Start Line. Different Pursuits.
On the morning of Sunday, October 11, more than 55,000 runners lined up in Grant Park for the 48th Chicago Marathon. Suunto athletes were there, each with different reasons and goals. Clayton Young came for a record. Charles Hicks came to find out how far his speed could carry him on a course that counts. Emma Grace Hurley came to run 26.2 miles for the first time. CJ Albertson came back to the course that gave him the best day of his career.
Different pursuits, one start line. Here is how each of them got there, and what Chicago gave them in return.
The Pursuit
Clayton Young: The Record Chase
One number defined Clayton's year: 2:04:43, the American marathon record set in Chicago in 2025 by his longtime training partner, Conner Mantz. Clayton arrived with momentum. His 2:05:41 in Boston this spring was the fastest he had ever run, but Boston's point-to-point course doesn't count for records. Chicago does. So he announced his intentions early and built his entire autumn around one goal.
Charles Hicks: The Young Challenger
Charles came in as the fastest American in the field on paper, carrying a 2:04:35 from Boston that, like Clayton's, came on a course that isn't record-eligible. Chicago offered him something different: flat, fast streets and the chance to show what his speed could do over the full distance on a stage that counts.
Emma Grace Hurley: The Debut
Emma had never raced a marathon. She had already made Chicago her city this year, though, setting the American 8K record on its streets in the spring. Three weeks before race day, she finished fifth at the World Half Marathon Championships as the top American. The question heading into October was simple: how would all that speed translate over 26.2 miles?
CJ Albertson: The Return
In 2024, CJ ran 2:08:17 in Chicago to finish seventh and lead the American men home. Two years later, he returned to the course that gave him his best day, ready to write the next chapter on familiar streets.
The Build
A marathon is decided long before the start gun. For all of our athletes, the months before Chicago were about turning ambition into fitness, one long run, one key session and one recovery day at a time.
For Clayton, that meant a highly specific block with a single purpose: arriving in Chicago ready to hold record pace. Charles faced a different task, adapting the strength he built on the track and in cross-country to the volume the marathon demands, so his endurance could finally match his speed. Emma's build was about layering volume, strength and consistency week after week, turning the speed she had shown at shorter distances into a body ready for the full distance.
Their training looked different from the outside. Underneath, the principle was the same: trust the process, respect the distance, and build patiently toward one morning in October.
Race Week
By race week, the hard work is done and the job changes. Training gives way to taper, nerves and small rituals: the final shakeout, the last easy miles, race kit laid out the night before.
For Clayton, the lead-up brought an unwelcome complication. A hamstring injury put the record attempt in doubt in the days before the race. He chose to line up anyway.
Race Day
Chicago served up a warmer morning than marathoners hope for and one of the deepest fields in the race's history. Amos Kipruto won the men's race in 2:01:09, and Hawi Feysa defended her women's title. Behind them, the Suunto athletes wrote stories of their own.
Clayton Young: 2:05:23 on a Torn Hamstring
Clayton finished seventh in 2:05:23 as the top American man, racing the full distance on a torn hamstring. The record stayed 40 seconds out of reach, but his time is the second fastest ever run by an American on a record-eligible course, behind only Mantz's mark. It also made 2026 the fourth straight year Clayton has finished seventh at a major marathon, a run of consistency few at this level can match. After the race, he made it clear the chase continues: he plans to take another swing at the record soon.
Charles Hicks: Two Americans in the Top Eight
Charles crossed the line just 12 seconds behind Clayton, eighth in 2:05:35. On a warm day against an elite field, it was a strong statement on a record-eligible course, and it meant two Suunto athletes finished as the top two American men.
Emma Grace Hurley: The Fastest Debut in U.S. History
Emma's first marathon was a historic one. She finished seventh in 2:20:47 as the top American woman, running the fastest marathon debut ever by a U.S. woman and taking more than a minute off the previous mark of 2:22:10, set by Fiona O'Keeffe at the 2024 Olympic Trials. It was also the fastest marathon by an American woman since the Paris Olympics. All of this from a runner who admitted that stepping up to a distance she had never covered felt a little intimidating on the start line.
What Comes Next
Chicago closes one chapter and opens the next. Clayton still has a record to chase. Charles has shown what his speed can do over the full distance. Emma has put herself firmly in the conversation ahead of the U.S. Olympic Trials for the Los Angeles Games in March 2028.
Suunto has been building tools for people who go further since 1936, and stories like these are the reason why. We'll be following every one of them as their next chapters unfold.
