Watch Chicago Marathon 2026: FREE streams and TV channels

Watch Chicago Marathon 2026 free on NBC Chicago (US) Unlock your stream with NordVPN (try 100% risk free) Chicago Marathon 2026: Sunday, October 11 Watch Chicago Marathon 2026 live streams as reigning champions Jacob Kiplimo and Hawi Feysa return to Illinois to defend their respective men's and women's titles.

The 48th edition of the race is packed with storylines, as more than 55,000 runners take to the streets of the Windy City.

Since winning in Chicago last year, Kiplimo has become the third-fastest marathoner in history – although the achievement was overshadowed by the fact that the only two men to run quicker did it in the same race, at April's London Marathon.

The Ugandan crossed the line in 2:00.28 in the English capital, so today could be the day he breaks the two-hour mark and challenges Sabastian Sawe's world record of 1:59.30.

Kiplimo should be pushed all the way by Kenya's Amos Kipruto and Ethiopian duo Milkesa Mengesha and Tadese Takele Bikila.

Further back, Americans Charles Hicks and Clayton Young may not be in contention to win, but they will both have their eyes on Conner Mantz’s American record, which stands at 2:04.43.

In the women's race, Ethiopia's Feysa will do battle with Kenyan star Brigid Kosgei, a two-time winner in Chicago who last ran here in 2019, when she set the then-world record.

Kosgei's Kenyan counterpart Sharon Lokedi is another one to watch as she makes her debut on this course, having won the Boston Marathon in each of the past two years and claimed victory in New York in 2022.

The course is famous for producing fast times, with seven world records set across the men's and women's races over the years, and this year should be no different.

More than a million people are expected to line the streets as the runners start and finish in Grant Park, with just the 26.2 miles in between.

Here's how to watch Chicago Marathon 2026 from anywhere in the world, including for FREE.

Can you watch Chicago Marathon 2026 for free? Yes! NBC Chicago and Telemundo Chicago (for Spanish-language coverage) are streaming the Chicago Marathon for FREE.

Just visit the NBC Chicago website and app in the US and away you go.

Outside the US? You can use a VPN to watch the Chicago Marathon 2026 for free as if you were right at home.