Kenyans extend amazing streak
For the sixth consecutive year, a Kenyan won the men's competition of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon as Evans Cheruiyot kept the streak going Sunday.
The Kenyans have dominated marathon running for a number of years. At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, a Kenyan - Samuel Wanjiru - won what is perhaps the most prestigious marathon in the world when he took gold. This marked the first time a Kenyan won the Olympic Marathon.
When asked after the race about the what kind of runners are coming up the ranks in Kenya, the 31-year-old Cheruiyot noted that there is a lot of young talent.
While the Kenyans will likely continue to dominate, American runners have made a lot of strides in the last 10 years and have runners who can battle the best in the world thanks to strong developmental programs such as the Hanson-Brooks project in Michigan. Runners such as Brian Sell and Ryan Hall are definitely in the mix.
Mike Reneau, the top U.S. runner on Sunday with a seventh-place finish in 2:16:20, feels American runners are proving to be formidable competitors.
"I think we have come a long way," said Reneau, who finished sixth overall with a personal best time 2:16:20.
Reneau finished ahead of highly-regarded Kenyans such as William Kipsang, Daniel Njenga and Richard Limo. He said he took a conservative approach to the race given the weather conditions and had a fair amount left in the tank as he was able to pick off runners in the final stretches of the race.
"I am very pleased, Reneau said. "Any time you can get a top 10 finish in a race like the Chicago Marathon is a great day."
Giving back: After taking home six-figure paydays in Sunday's Chicago Marathon, don't expect men's winner Evans Cheruiyot or women's winner Lidiya Grigoryeva to buy any luxury items for themselves. They will be contributing to their respective homelands, Kenya and Russia.
Grigoryeva said she would be giving part of her $100,000 prize to a children's hospital and a Russian Orthodox church.
Cheruiyot said he was unsure what he would do with his winnings ($140,000 total), although he said he may start a business. He is trained as a mechanic to work on vehicles but has something else in mind.
"I'm going to do some business in Kenya, maybe like a supermarket," he said.
No regrets: Sunday marked the fourth marathon for Romanian Constantina Tomescu-Dita in the last 8 months, including winning the Olympic Marathon in Beijing on Aug. 17, 2008. At age 38, she became the oldest Olympic marathon gold medalist and the oldest women's marathon medalist.
In her fifth appearance in Chicago, Tomescu-Dita - the 2004 Chicago Marathon champion - hoped to be one of the front runners, but she was not able to compete with the fresh legs of Russians Lidiya Grigoryeva and Alevtina Biktimirova. Grigoryeva won it all. Neither Grigoryeva or Biktimirova ran in the Olympics.
"I am not disappointed," Tomescu-Dita said. "I tried many times going faster. It was hot today, much more than Beijing."
Tomescu-Dita will get to rest her legs for a bit as she doesn't plan to run another marathon until the London Marathon in April 2008.
Hot wheels: Kurt Feamley of Australia won the men's wheelchair competition for the second straight year, finishing the course in 1:30:16. For the women, American Amanda McGrory won it in 1:55:12.
Area leaders: Robert Wiley of Gurnee the top local male finisher. Wiley finished in 2:30:16, good for 25th place overall. Amanda Domich of Algonquin was the top local female finisher, cruising the course in 3:03:04, good for 41st overall.
By the numbers: Of the 45,000 runners who registered for the race, 12,111 decided not to run. Of those 32,889 runners, 31,041 actually finished the race