Constantina Tomescu-Dita blew a kiss to the crowd just before crossing the finish line Sunday in the 27th LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.
“Finally,” race director Carey Pinkowski said to her a second later. “Finally a champion.”
In past major marathons, Tomescu-Dita, 34, raced to imposing leads, only to lose them in the final stretches. It happened in last year’s Chicago Marathon, when Russian Svetlana Zakharova passed her in the 25th mile for the title.
With a considerable lead on Sunday, Tomescu-Dita, concerned that Zakharova might make a similar move, continually looked behind her in the final mile.
She won in 2 hours, 23 minutes, 45 seconds and beat fellow Romanian Nuta Olaru by 48 seconds. Zakharova finished third in 2:25:01.
Tomescu-Dita’s victory came when she least expected it. A week before, her government’s athletic federation compelled her to run the half-marathon in the IAAF world meet in New Delhi.
Her departing flight from India was delayed for a day, and by the time Tomescu-Dita arrived in Chicago on Wednesday, she was fighting flulike symptoms. She stayed in bed all day Friday and ran for just 18 minutes along the lakefront Saturday, she said.
She decided a fifth-place finish would be acceptable under the circumstances. Her husband and coach, Valeriu Tomescu-Dita, advised her to begin the race conservatively.
“My husband said, ‘See what you’re feeling at 10 kilometers,’ ” she said. ” ‘If you feel better, you can go faster.’ “
She started with the lead pack but made her trademark break by Mile 6. No woman dared to follow.
By her own standards, Tomescu-Dita started cautiously. She ran 1:10:40 for the first 13 miles, about a minute slower than in London last spring, when she led the race for a long stretch and ended up third.
Tomescu-Dita left with $125,000 for first place and an additional $10,000 for finishing under 2:24:45.
“All that front-running paid off,” Pinkowski said.
Finally.
The top 10
MEN
1. Evans Rutto, Kenya, 2:06:16.
2. Daniel Njenga, Kenya, 2:07:44.
3. Toshinari Takaoka, Japan, 2:07:50.
4. Jimmy Muindi, Kenya, 2:08:27.
5. Khalid Khannouchi, Ossining, N.Y., 2:08:44.
6. Marilson Dos Santos, Brazil, 2:08:48.
7. Stephen Kiogora, Kenya, 2:09:21.
8. Scott Wescott, Australia, 2:13:08.
9. Ben Maiyo, Kenya, 2:13:17.
10. Paul Koech, Kenya, 2:13:20.
WOMEN
1. Constantina Tomescu-Dita, Romania, 2:23:45.
2. Nuta Olaru, Romania, 2:24:33.
3. Svetlana Zakharova, Russia, 2:25:01.
4. Joyce Chepchumba, Kenya, 2:26:21.
5. Albina Ivanova, Russia, 2:28:22.
6. Shitaye Gemechu, Ethiopia, 2:28:28.
7. Marla Runyan, Gray, Tenn., 2:28:33.
8. Derartu Tulu, Ethiopia, 2:30:21.
9. Blake Russell, Gray, Tenn., 2:32:04.
10. Jenny Spangler, Lake Villa, Ill., 2:33:36.
