It was an improvement of nearly three minutes on the 2:45:47 that he had run in the Rotterdam Marathon in April.

The 33-year-old from Nottinghamshire, a congenital double amputee, finished a remarkable 211th overall in a field of 35,00 runners.

"To say I’m delighted is the understatement of the year," said Whitehead.

The performance took Whitehead closer to his long-term target of running 2:35:00, which is expected to be the qualifying time for the London 2012 Paralympics.

There is no marathon event for leg amputees in major international competition, including the Paralympics, so in order for Whitehead to compete at London 2012, he is going to have to qualify in the T46 disability category against arm amputees.

Whitehead was on target for that time at half-way in Chicago, passing 13.1 miles in 78min 44sec but faded slightly in the second-half of the race.

Neverthless it was still an impressive performance.

"It was a tough race as the conditions were really hot, but so pleased to have clocked the time," said Whitehead.


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March 2010: Whitehead smashes world half-marathon record again
March 2010: Richard Whitehead: Forget Oscar Pistorius - I'm the fastest man on no legs
February 2010: Whitehead breaks world record for half-marathon