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ANDREW SELIGMAN
Associated Press
CHICAGO - One moment, Robert Cheruiyot was about to celebrate his victory at the Chicago Marathon. The next, he was on the ground, bleeding from the head, and dazed.
"Did I win the race?" he asked his coach. "What happened?"
The Kenyan had every reason to ask. He had just held off countryman Daniel Njenga on Sunday when he slipped near the finish and banged his head. He was taken from the course on a golf cart.
Cheruiyot, this year's Boston Marathon winner, was treated for internal and external bleeding in his head and was expected to spend the night at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The runner's agent, Federico Rosa, said his client did not need stitches or surgery, but he was not sure if Cheruiyot had lost consciousness.
"They don't talk of any severe complications," Rosa said. "They just say he's stable. ... At the moment, it is nothing serious."
Although Cheruiyot slipped under the tape, he did cross the finish line. It was a painful ending to a race in which he sprinted away from Njenga in the final stretch and finished in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 35 seconds.
"He just slipped," race referee Pat Savage said. "Luckily for him, he slipped completely forward. The finish line is right at the beginning of the mat, and he ended up sliding right across it. ... There is no doubt about it; he's the winner."
Ethiopia's Berhane Adere won the women's race in 2:20:42 for her first marathon victory, followed by Russia's Galina Bogomolova (2:20:47), Australia's Benita Johnson (2:22:36) and Mexico's Madai Perez Carrillo (2:22:59).
Romania's Constantina Tomescu-Dita (2:24:25) dropped to fifth after leading the first 21 miles. The top American woman was Elva Dryer of Albuquerque, N.M., , a two-time Olympian.
Rosa said he wasn't sure what caused Cheruiyot to slip. There was a decal at the finish line, but Rosa wasn't pointing his finger at anyone.
"There was nobody to blame at all," he said, suggesting the surface may have been slick from rain.
Cheruiyot made a push as the leaders turned off Michigan Avenue near the end of the race. Njenga (2:07:40) drew even but couldn't keep pace and finished second in this race for the third time in five years. He was runner-up in 2002 and 2004 and placed third in 2003 and 2005. Jimmy Muindi of Kenya was third (2:07:51), and Abdi Abdirahman, a U.S. citizen born in Somalia, finished fourth in 2:08:56.
Cheruiyot made a move on the 21st mile, but couldn't pull away. Njenga, the 2004 Tokyo International winner, briefly moved to the front, with Cheruiyot and Muindi right with them. The three were close as they headed up Michigan Avenue, but it became a two-man race on the way to the finish line.
For a few seconds, Njenga thought he might be declared the winner, but Savage said there were "no ifs, ands or buts about it." Cheruiyot's torso crossed the finish line, and that made him the winner.
"I thought, maybe, I'm the one who won the race, but later, somebody told me I am No. 2," a teary Njenga said. "I'm not the luckiest man. But I'll do my best for upcoming races."
The field featured 34,698 runners on a misty, blustery day with temperatures of about 40 degrees.
The conditions seemed to suit Tomescu-Dita.
She had a good history in Chicago and had topped the world record while finishing second at the IAAF World Road Running Championship 20K on Oct. 8. She was hoping to finish in 2:20 - 90 seconds under her personal best - and had promised to jump ahead early.
She did just that.
Tomescu-Dita, last year's runner-up and the winner in 2004, was at 1:08:05 halfway through the 26-mile-plus race, more than two minutes ahead of Bogomolova. She spent the first half running with a group of men. She was feeling good, but realized she was going too fast. Fatigue set in at about 21 miles, and she said she "died."
Although Adere thought she was running for second place to that point, Bogomolova thought the field would catch up. That happened just past the 23-mile mark, when she and Adere moved to the front. Adere made a move along Michigan Avenue, before a hill, and was on her way.
"I wanted to push myself," she said.
Cheruiyot and Adere each earned $125,000 for their victories, and both took the lead in the World Marathon standings with 50 and 30 points, respectively. The two-year series, which runs through 2007, rewards the top male and female runner $500,000 based on performances at the Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City marathons.
ANDREW SELIGMAN
Associated Press
CHICAGO - One moment, Robert Cheruiyot was about to celebrate his victory at the Chicago Marathon. The next, he was on the ground, bleeding from the head, and dazed.
"Did I win the race?" he asked his coach. "What happened?"
The Kenyan had every reason to ask. He had just held off countryman Daniel Njenga on Sunday when he slipped near the finish and banged his head. He was taken from the course on a golf cart.
Cheruiyot, this year's Boston Marathon winner, was treated for internal and external bleeding in his head and was expected to spend the night at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The runner's agent, Federico Rosa, said his client did not need stitches or surgery, but he was not sure if Cheruiyot had lost consciousness.
"They don't talk of any severe complications," Rosa said. "They just say he's stable. ... At the moment, it is nothing serious."
Although Cheruiyot slipped under the tape, he did cross the finish line. It was a painful ending to a race in which he sprinted away from Njenga in the final stretch and finished in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 35 seconds.
"He just slipped," race referee Pat Savage said. "Luckily for him, he slipped completely forward. The finish line is right at the beginning of the mat, and he ended up sliding right across it. ... There is no doubt about it; he's the winner."
Ethiopia's Berhane Adere won the women's race in 2:20:42 for her first marathon victory, followed by Russia's Galina Bogomolova (2:20:47), Australia's Benita Johnson (2:22:36) and Mexico's Madai Perez Carrillo (2:22:59).
Romania's Constantina Tomescu-Dita (2:24:25) dropped to fifth after leading the first 21 miles. The top American woman was Elva Dryer of Albuquerque, N.M., , a two-time Olympian.
Rosa said he wasn't sure what caused Cheruiyot to slip. There was a decal at the finish line, but Rosa wasn't pointing his finger at anyone.
"There was nobody to blame at all," he said, suggesting the surface may have been slick from rain.
Cheruiyot made a push as the leaders turned off Michigan Avenue near the end of the race. Njenga (2:07:40) drew even but couldn't keep pace and finished second in this race for the third time in five years. He was runner-up in 2002 and 2004 and placed third in 2003 and 2005. Jimmy Muindi of Kenya was third (2:07:51), and Abdi Abdirahman, a U.S. citizen born in Somalia, finished fourth in 2:08:56.
Cheruiyot made a move on the 21st mile, but couldn't pull away. Njenga, the 2004 Tokyo International winner, briefly moved to the front, with Cheruiyot and Muindi right with them. The three were close as they headed up Michigan Avenue, but it became a two-man race on the way to the finish line.
For a few seconds, Njenga thought he might be declared the winner, but Savage said there were "no ifs, ands or buts about it." Cheruiyot's torso crossed the finish line, and that made him the winner.
"I thought, maybe, I'm the one who won the race, but later, somebody told me I am No. 2," a teary Njenga said. "I'm not the luckiest man. But I'll do my best for upcoming races."
The field featured 34,698 runners on a misty, blustery day with temperatures of about 40 degrees.
The conditions seemed to suit Tomescu-Dita.
She had a good history in Chicago and had topped the world record while finishing second at the IAAF World Road Running Championship 20K on Oct. 8. She was hoping to finish in 2:20 - 90 seconds under her personal best - and had promised to jump ahead early.
She did just that.
Tomescu-Dita, last year's runner-up and the winner in 2004, was at 1:08:05 halfway through the 26-mile-plus race, more than two minutes ahead of Bogomolova. She spent the first half running with a group of men. She was feeling good, but realized she was going too fast. Fatigue set in at about 21 miles, and she said she "died."
Although Adere thought she was running for second place to that point, Bogomolova thought the field would catch up. That happened just past the 23-mile mark, when she and Adere moved to the front. Adere made a move along Michigan Avenue, before a hill, and was on her way.
"I wanted to push myself," she said.
Cheruiyot and Adere each earned $125,000 for their victories, and both took the lead in the World Marathon standings with 50 and 30 points, respectively. The two-year series, which runs through 2007, rewards the top male and female runner $500,000 based on performances at the Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City marathons.