CHICAGO - (October 7, 2007) - Patrick Ivuti of Kenya and Berhane Adere of Ethiopia emerged victorious in dramatic fashion on Sunday at the 30th LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.
Ivuti edged two-time world marathon champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco at the finish tape after the two had staged an all-out sprint over the final 400 meters. Ivuti won in 2:11:11.00 to Gharib's 2:11:11.05. The two had broken away from Kenyan Daniel Njenga and defending champion Robert K. Cheruiyot, also of Kenya, on the 23rd mile of the tactical race run in oppressive heat. Ivuti and Gharib then ran elbow-to-elbow unable to break each other the rest of the way. Njenga finished third in 2:12:45 and Cheruiyot fourth in 2:16:13.
In the women's race, Adriana Pirtea of Romania, making her marathon debut, had a 30-second lead on defending champion Adere with two kilometers to go. Adere, seemingly coming out of nowhere, made it all up in less than 600 meters, sprinting down the right side of the final straightaway and going by Pirtea, who was unaware Adere was coming. Adere ended up so far to the right side of Columbus Drive, shielded from Pirtea by male runners, she missed the finish tape but won over the startled Romanian, 2:33:49 to 2:33:52. Team Running USA's Kate O'Neill of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., also making her marathon debut, finished third in 2:36:15, while Great Britain's Liz Yelling was fourth (2:37:14).
Ivuti and Adere each won $125,000 out of a total prize purse of $579,000.
Top U.S. male finisher was Michael Cox of Princeton, W.Va., who finished eighth in 2:21:42.
The race had nearly 36,000 starters from all 50 states and 120 countries. Temperatures were in the low 70s when the race began, but already had climbed into the 80s when the top runners were finishing. It was the hottest weather ever for the Chicago Marathon.
According to the Chicago Tribune, due to the heat, race officials closed the course for runners not past the halfway point at about 11:30am - three and a half hours after the start. Nearly 25,000 runners finished the race. Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said 302 runners were hospitalized with what he described as heat-related conditions. One death was reported.
More race results at: ChicagoMarathon.com
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Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Services Director.
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