The Chicago Marathon is one of the biggest races in the world, which makes Dennis Kimetto the star of the day as the 2013 champion.

With a time of two hours, three minutes and 45 seconds, the Kenyan won the men's race thanks to an outstanding and consistent performance from start to finish. This time broke the previous course record of 2:04:38, which was set at last year's race.

Although he was short of Wilson Kipsang's world-record mark of 2:03:23 set at the Berlin Marathon, Kimetto still put together one of the best performances ever. Per the NBC broadcast, he earns $100,000 for the win, plus another $75,000 for setting the course record.

Emmanuel Mutai remained step for step with Kimetto through most of the race, but he fell back late and finished in second place, seven seconds behind the winner.

Sammy Kitwara gave Kenya a clean sweep with his third-place finish, while Dathan Ritzenhein was the top American finisher in fifth place.

On the women's side, Rita Jeptoo stood above the rest with a time of 2:19:57. This is her second major marathon of the year after also winning the Boston Marathon.

Jeptoo lost last year's Chicago Marathon by one second, but she made sure this one was nowhere close with a 53-second victory over Jemima Jelagat Sumgong.

Here is a look at the top finishers at this year's race.

This prestigious event is one of the biggest races in distance running. The relatively flat course leads to low times and often record-breaking performances, while the scenic views of the city give every competitor something to enjoy.

It is no surprise that 1.7 million people made their way to the course just to watch, according to NBC Chicago:

The real crowd, however, was on the course with thousands of competitors. Craig Newman of the Chicago Sun-Times captured an image of the runners at the starting line:

Newman also provided a look at the run into the city, part of what makes this race so great:

While just finishing the race is an accomplishment for a majority of runners, this was not quite enough to satisfy Kimetto. He pulled away from his competition despite overcoming some serious obstacles to win, according to NBC Chicago's Dick Johnson:

This win also gives Kenya 10 victories at this event in the last 11 years. Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia broke an impressive streak by the African nation last year with his win.

On the other hand, Jeptoo became the first Kenyan woman to win the marathon since Catherine Ndereba in 2001.

These runners put together an outstanding performance throughout the race, accomplishing something only a small number of people on Earth can do. Every finisher deserves credit for his or her achievement, but the winners should certainly be satisfied with such a dominant marathon performance.

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