In only her second marathon, Liliya is now the 2009 Chicago Marathon Champion after making a decisive surge in the final kilometers of the race. Her time of 2:25:56 bested Irina Mikitenko of Germany, winner of the 2009 World Marathon Majors, by almost a minute. Fellow Russian Lidiya Grigoryeva, who was the 2008 Chicago champion, finished third in 2:26:47.