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As if the men's photo finish was not dramatic enough for one marathon, Berhane Adere produced the most amazing sprint over the last half-mile to come from some 80 meters behind to win the Chicago Marathon right at the finish line. Berhane won last year's race in what I thought was as gutsy performance as one can ever expect to see, but she has outdone herself this year in what is sure to become a classic come-from-behind marathon victory story. Ivuti and Adere clinch Chicago Marathon
victories with dramatic sprints
Sunday 7 October 2007
Chicago, USA - The 30th running of the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon turned into a sprint as both the men's and women's winners won in dramatic, but very different ways... Defending women's champion Berhane Adere of Ethiopia made up 30 seconds in the last two kilometres, most of it down the 385 yard finishing straight to blow past a shocked Adriana Pirtea of Romania in the final 50 metres to win by three seconds in 2:33:49... Pirtea seemed to be on her way to a comfortable victory in her debut marathon, waving to the crowd and oblivious to the fact that Adere was sprinting at top speed down the homestretch. On her toes and in full flight, Adere, flashed past the celebrating Pirtea, passing several men in the process and missing the finish tape that had been stretched out for Pirtea. By the time the Romanian, who had attended the University of Texas, El Paso in the US, realized that Adere was anywhere near her, it was too late... more
Tight finishes highlight 2007 marathon, By Shannon Ryan,Tribune staff reporter
October 7, 2007, 11:09 AM CDT
...Ethiopian Berhane Adere recorded one of the greatest race comebacks, repeating as women's champion in 2:33:49. Adere fell behind by about 25 seconds late in the race but managed to sprint to the finish and overtake unsuspecting Romanian Adriana Pirtea. Pirtea learned a quick lesson in her marathon debut -- do not relax until it's over. She waved to the crowd in celebration of what she thought was a clear-cut victory after pulling ahead of Adere around the 22d mile. In a wise move, Adere ran to the outside of the course out of Pirtea's vision. Pirtea appeared unaware that she was being passed and was shocked to learn the news after finishing in 2:33:52... more
6 comments:
Wow,
That was an amazing race. The announcers were saying brehane is done.. but the women that was following the race on the truck said ... adere was looking better as the romanian pritea was approaching the line.
Brilliant tactic by brehane.. she swung to the other side of the road so that the romanian doesn;t see her and she started to sprint like the devil.
She caught her at the line and collapsed.
This was the second time she collapsed after a race.
Big payday for brehane. She had a hip injury from london last year and run a ginger 1:10 in the build up to this race.
Well .. Ethiopia will bring a strong marathon team.. if Gete and adere stay healthy.
I have always liked Berhane Adere. Although a late bloomer, she has proven herself as one of the all time bests on track and now on the road. The finish in Chicago is just breath taking. It resembles one of her fast finishing speeds on 10k. We should not forget that she is also the 10k African record holder.
That was some beautiful race under brutal conditions. An hour and half later, upon crossing the finishline, I was delighted to hear from an Ethiopian supporter that our countrywoman had won the women's race in a fatanstic sprint.
Kudos, Berhane for not giving up.
i wanted to contact the writer of this blog. what is your email address?
Anonymous @ 2:15PM:
You can reach me at roocha2@gmail.com
That was one gutsy performance! Thanks for the video link.
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