Ivuti, Adere Win Chicago Marathon

One runner died and 312 others were taken to area hospitals or treated at medical stations set up throughout the marathon's course due to the hot, humid weather.

Photo courtesy: Chicago Marathon

CHICAGO - 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 Jaouad Gharib of Morocco at the finishing 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.

American Kate O’Neill, also making her marathon debut, finished third in 2:26:15, while Great Britain’s Liz Yelling was fourth in 2:37:14.

Ivuti and Adere each won $125,000 out of a total prize purse of $579,000.

Top American male finisher was Michael Cox of Princeton, W.Va., who finished eighth in 2:21:44.

Kurt Feamley of Australia won the men’s wheelchair race in 1:28:06, and Amanda McGrory of Champaign, Ill., won the women’s race in 1:45:27.

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.

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