Kenya's Ivuti wins Chicago Marathon in photo finish

07.10.2007 18:00 Sport and Travel - Source: USA Today

Ivuti, competing in only his second major marathon, leaned at the finish line for an unofficial time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, 11 seconds. Gharib, from Morocco, had the same unofficial time, finishing 0.05 seconds behind.

It was the hottest Chicago Marathon ever, with temperatures reaching 88 degrees when Ivuti finished.

In the women's race, Ethiopian Berhane Adere rallied to defend her title. She finish in 2:33:49 after passing a surprised Adriana Pirtea, who had a comfortable 30-second lead after 24.8 miles.

Ivuti and Gharib surged ahead of defending champion Robert Cheruiyot and Daniel Njenga at the 22-mile mark to make it a two-man race. Gharib led for much of the final four miles before Ivuti made a push on the final mile.

The duo traded leads on the stretch run down Columbus Avenue before Ivuti's final push at the line. The race was so close that it took organizers several minutes to determine the official winner.

Njenga finished third, and Cheruiyot was fourth.

Cheruiyot was in position to defend his title, but stomach craps forced him to drop back at the 22-mile mark. Cheruiyot, who last year slipped on the finish line and banged his head on the pavement as he raised his hands to celebrate, finished in 2:16:13.

Ivuti was the fifth straight Kenyan to win the title.

Pirtea, of Romanian, waved to the crowd as she listlessly approached the finish line. But a final push on the last mile by Adere caught Pirtea on the final stretch.

Pirtea tried to sprint toward the finish line, but finished three seconds behind.

American Kate O'Neill finished third, and Liz Yelling was fourth.

Almost 10,000 of the 45,000 registered runners opted to not race in the heat despite more mist stations, cooling buses and water-soaked sponges.

The previous record of 84 degrees was set in 1979.

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