Oct. 10--Lost in the chaos of the overheated LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon was a nice little lesson for competitors.
When defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory, it's often because the loser was busy celebrating. That's what happened Sunday, when Romanian Adriana Pirtea blew a 30-second lead with less than 2 miles to go in the marathon. One minute Pirtea was high-fiving fans along the final turn approaching the finish line; the next she was reeling in disbelief as Ethiopian Berhane Adere staged a stealth comeback to win by 3 seconds.
"It's hard to lose like that," Pirtea said later.
Yes, it is. Ask American Lindsey Jacobellis, who looked like a sure thing to ...