Evans Rutto’s body language during his run for history Sunday defined the story of the sun-drenched 27th LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.
For miles he was as loose as pliably limbed cartoon character Gumby. Then with a single, long-legged surge of power, he left his Kenyan countrymen and other runners gulping for air. He accelerated like an Indy 500 car and brought his arms in tight, and with vigorous hand-jive motions appeared to be delivering short-range punches to a heavy bag.
But in the end, despite the setup for a world record, Rutto’s steps shortened, his strength wavered and he claimed the glory of a championship, but no record.
Coupled with the London Marathon title he won in the spring, Rutto’s second straight Chicago victory in 2 hours 6 minutes 16 seconds confirmed his status as one of the world’s greatest marathoners. His unexpected triumph in Chicago in his debut in the 26.2-mile event last year in 2:05:50 thrust him into the world spotlight, and the soft-spoken father of three has since emerged from the pack of superb Kenyan distance runners.
“For my results, I am very, very happy. I am very grateful,” Rutto said of going 3-for-3 in marathons. “Today I was trying to run closer to the world record.”
Constantina Tomescu-Dita, 34, of Romania overcame an illness and a deep field to take the women’s title with a dominating solo run in a time of 2:23:45. Tomescu-Dita was so sick with a fever and congestion that she had no idea how she could finish.
“[Saturday, I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe I can come in fifth place.”
Instead, after a career of runner-up finishes, Tomescu-Dita captured her first major marathon championship.
Joshua George, a University of Illinois junior from Virginia, won his second men’s wheelchair title in 1:36:13. The top woman was Miriam Nibley of Savoy, Ill., in 2:05:51.
Rutto and Tomescu-Dita each won $125,000 from a largest-ever marathon purse of $650,000. There were 33,125 finishers from the approximately 40,000 registered entrants, from 50 states and 121 countries, cheered by a crowd of what officials estimated at more than 1 million.
Chicago’s essentially flat course is regarded as one of the sport’s fastest, and race officials, who offer $300,000 bonuses for a men’s or women’s world record, hired pace-setters to prod the leaders into a swift pace. They hoped someone would break Kenyan Paul Tergat’s 2:04:50 world mark.
From the start in Grant Park, the Kenyan-flavored pack set a blistering pace. The first mile was covered in 4:33, and when the men strode through the half-marathon in 1:02:18, it seemed Tergat’s record was in jeopardy. However, the pace-setters’ determination might have sapped too much energy from the leaders.
“We thought we could take a stab at it,” race director Carey Pinkowski said. “Maybe it was a little fast.
“If you’ve got the guys and they’re in the right frame of mine, why not go for it?”
Rutto, who led six Kenyans into the top 10, spent 16 weeks training at mile-high altitude in Boulder, Colo., with seven other countrymen, and he came to Chicago with his mind on breaking the world record and Khalid Khannouchi’s course record of 2:05:42.
Approaching 19 miles, a half-dozen runners remained in contention, including Rutto, last year’s third-place finisher, Daniel Njenga, three more Kenyans and Japan’s Toshinari Takaoka. Four-time champ Khannouchi placed fifth as the top American in 2:08:44 but ran more conservatively and was out of sight.
Rounding a corner, Rutto surged, notching up the pace so suddenly and dramatically that he seized control of the race in a few steps. He ran the 20th mile in 4:39, and the others had no answer for that type of speed.
“I thought he raised the pace a little too much,” said a startled Takaoka, who finished third in 2:07:50. “I couldn’t go with him anyway.”
Njenga, 28, has placed second, third and second in the last three Chicago races, but once Rutto took off, he did not believe this race represented his turn to win.
“I was so tired,” said Njenga, who ran 2:07:44. “I’m happy to be No. 2.”
Rutto was moving so smoothly when he made the breakaway that Pinkowski still believed he could crack the course record, which carried a $200,000 payoff, or maybe the world record.
“But it’s tough to do it by yourself,” Pinkowski said. “I think you need to have guys racing each other.”
Rutto ran onto a portion of the course that was open to wind coming off Lake Michigan and lost his rhythm. He needed to run a 30:22 final 10K for the world record but ran the last five miles at 4:53 or slower. Between the 25th and 26th miles, Rutto ran 5:11. The slowdown cost him the course record.
“A guy was telling us it was under a world record,” Rutto said of the pace. “After 20 miles the wind was very strong. It changed everything.”
Not everything.
Rutto made sure his luminous stature in the race stayed the same as last year.
