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This had not been a kind year for Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya, the reigning Olympic marathon champion. He did not finish the London Marathon in the spring, complaining of an aching knee, then left a road race in Italy this summer, feeling tightness in his chest.
Three weeks ago, Wanjiru contracted a stomach virus and missed several vital days of training. At one point, he did not know if he would be able to run Chicago Marathon on Sunday. He did, and with remarkable stamina and determination, subdued Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia in the final half mile of the 26.2-mile race to repeat as champion in 2 hours 6 minutes 24 seconds.
In a searing, desperate kick, Kebede (2:06:43) and Wanjiru kept exchanging the lead, two East Africans turning the marathon into a stirring sprint toward the tape.
Wanjiru surged three times and twice Kebede answered to move ahead, before the Olympic champion finally drew in front to stay. Given that he was not in top form, the victory was “the greatest surprise in a race I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Federico Rosa, Wanjiru’s manager.
The time did not lower the course record of 2:05:41 that Wanjiru set here last year, but the victory was financially bountiful. Wanjiru collected $115,000 in time and prize bonuses and positioned himself to collect another $500,000 as the likely winner of the 2009-10 World Marathon Majors competition, which includes marathons in Chicago, New York, Boston, London and Berlin.
Liliya Shobukhova set a Russian record with her repeat victory in the women’s race in 2:20:25, the world’s fastest time in the past two years. For her victory, she won the same $115,000 as Wanjiru and earned another $500,000 for the marathon majors women’s prize.
At one point, Shobukhova was 24 seconds behind Astede Baysa of Ethiopia before moving ahead in the 21st mile and winning by more than three minutes. Baysa took second in 2:23:40.
Joan Benoit Samuelson, 53, the 1984 women’s Olympic champion, became the first woman to run a sub-3 hour marathon over five decades, finishing in 2:47:50. The time was a record for women 52 and older but fell short of the sub-2:46 needed to qualify for the 2012 Olympic trials.
The men’s field in Chicago was one of the deepest ever, with five runners who had personal bests under 2:06. Sunday was warm for a marathon — 67 degrees at the start and 73 at the finish for the elite runners — but Wanjiru is not a man who wilts in the heat. Instead, he thrives.
He won the 2008 Beijing Olympics in 2:06:32 on a blistering day that reached 86 degrees. His time set an Olympic record, and, given the conditions, some consider it the greatest marathon ever, even though Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia holds the world record of 2:03:59.
“My shape was not very good,” Wanjiru said of Sunday’s race. “I used a lot of power in the body. But the weather favored me. I like the hot weather.”
The lead pack of eight Kenyans and Ethiopians went through 13.1 miles in 62:35. Wanjiru seemed impatient early, briefly moving ahead of the pacemakers in the 10th mile. That is his style, always pushing. The pace then slowed before quickening again as the pack winnowed to Wanjiru, Kebede and another Ethiopian, 20-year-old Feyisa Lilesa.
At Mile 23, Kebede made a move around a corner, then Lilesa began to drop back. He caught up briefly then faded again, to eventually finish third in 2:08:10. Meanwhile, Wanjiru and Kebede shouldered on.
Kebede, who won the London marathon in April and was the bronze medalist in Beijing, had a three-second lead after 25 miles. At one point, Wanjiru said, he began to lose hope. Second or third would have been considered a big success, given his troubled year, according to Rosa, his manager.
But Kebede was not fully confident, either. He kept looking over his shoulder, wondering whether Wanjiru had anything left in his legs. Finally, Kebede seemed to grow vulnerable, his form beginning to wobble, his arms swinging high on his chest, his feet splaying slightly.
Inside the final half mile, Wanjiru moved ahead, but Kebede countered. Then Wanjiru answered with a furtive attack. Running near the curb on Kebede’s right, Wanjiru circled from behind and passed on the Ethiopian’s left.
“He didn’t know where I was,” Wanjiru said later with a laugh at his tactic. “You must think. You go to war; you are fighting.”
Kebede regained a slight lead, but Wanjiru had one final gear. He knew from last year’s race that the only real rise on the flat course — perhaps 20 feet or so — was near the end, and he accelerated. This time Kebede had no response.
“I was very tired,” Kebede said. “It was a little hot. The finish was high. I finished my power and he passed me.”
At 23, Wanjiru became the youngest man to win four major marathons — Chicago in 2009 and 2010, the Olympics in 2008 and London in 2009.
“Sammy proved his heart today,” said Carey Pinkowski, Chicago’s race director.
Given Wanjiru’s uncertain conditioning and the depth of the field, Sunday’s victory in some ways exceeded the Olympic victory, Rosa said. In any case, Wanjiru will collect the $500,000 World Marathon Majors prize unless Kebede can recover and somehow win the New York City Marathon on Nov. 7 — a prospect considered highly unlikely.
Heartened by Sunday’s victory, Wanjiru said he felt that now he could challenge Gebrselassie’s world record.
“The body is coming,” he said.
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