document: Mother Nature conspired against this struggling marathon Sunday , serving up balmy , windy weather and wilting both the men 's and women 's fields . Temperatures during the Old Style/Chicago marathon hovered in the mid-60s , with 53 % humidity . The heat sapped the strength of most runners , giving the patient and steady runners a distinct advantage . Among the men , Paul Davies-Hale of England proved the most patient , winning in a rather pedestrian 2 hours 11 minutes 25 seconds , in his first marathon ever . It was the slowest winning time in this race since 1982 . Among the women , Lisa Weidenbach of Issaquah , Wash. , repeated as champion , with a personal best of 2:28:15 , impressive under the circumstances . It was the second-hottest race in Chicago history , only 1978 was worse . By comparison , last year 's race was 30 degrees cooler at the start . Most distance runners prefer temperatures in the 40s , with cloud cover . The race conditions were simply more bad luck for the 12th running of Chicago 's marathon , which has been fighting for respectability since losing its sponsor in 1986 and staging no race in 1987 . After a week of summer-like weather , race organizers hoped to be salvaged by a good race ; to have , if not impressive times on this flat and fast course , at least a memorable race . That developed , at points , Sunday , as about 8,000 runners started at Daley Plaza downtown and wended their way through city streets . A pack of five men took off fast , maintaining a 2:09 pace at nine miles . Those early leaders : El-Mostafa Nechchadi of Morocco , Don Janicki of Colorado , Gerardo Alcala of Mexico , Carlos Montero of Spain and Gabriel Kamau of Kenya . They did the early work against the wind , while a second pack hovered 20 seconds behind . The lead pack went through the half-marathon at 1:04:50 , a pace that would wither in the second half . No one who was in the lead pack at the halfway point , with the exception of Montero , finished in the top five . Davies-Hale had been among those who had cagily stayed back , going with a more conservative approach . `` I was concentrating on running five-minute miles , '' he said . He accomplished that , almost exactly . His time works out to 5:00.8 mile splits . Davies-Hale caught the second pack at 13 miles and met up with pre-race favorite Steve Binns , who lives 30 miles from Davies-Hale in England 's West Midlands . The two quickly went in different directions -- Binns falling back -LRB- he eventually dropped out -RRB- and Davies-Hale moving up . `` I asked Binnsie who was in the first group , he told me , and I went , '' Davies-Hale said . At 22 miles , Davies-Hale was in the lead and in control , running smoothly and not appearing to labor under the bright sun . Following him , and likewise picking off the fading runners in the first pack , were Ravil Kashapov of the Soviet Union , who was second in 2:13:19 , and David Long , also from the British Midlands , who was third in 2:13:37 . Ed Eyestone was the first U.S. finisher in fourth , 2:14:57 . In the women 's race , Weidenbach had not been the favorite and she agreed with that handicapping . `` To be honest with you , I was afraid of Cathy -LRB- O'Brien -RRB- , '' she said . With reason . O'Brien , a 22-year-old from Boston , has been on the verge of a breakthrough for a long time . She took off in Sunday 's race with authority and ran with a 20-30-second cushion for 15 miles . Then , the heat from the sun and the perceptible heat of Weidenbach constantly gaining did her in . At 18 miles , Weidenbach came up on O'Brien , her New Balance teammate . They shared some water , then Weidenbach tossed aside the water bottle and put on a surge that left O'Brien flat . It was the same spot , the corner of Wells and North Avenue , that Weidenbach had taken the lead in last year 's race . It was also where dozens of her family members and friends were posted . Carla Beurskens of the Netherlands , at 37 still an amazing runner , eventually passed the struggling O'Brien and placed second 2:30:24 . O'Brien was third in 2:31:19 . Given the heat , the humidity and the wind , Weidenbach 's time might have been as much as two minutes faster . Even the 2:28 is respectable -- only five U.S. women have run under 2:30 . `` I guess when you are having a good day , nothing is going to get you down , '' she said . Davies-Hale , a former plumber from Rugeley , Straffordshire , seemed bemused by the attention and nonplussed that he had just won $ 50,000 in prize money . About as far as he seemed willing to go , on the celebrity scale , was to say he had pitched the plumbing job . `` I 'll still do the odd washing machine ... good rates , '' he said . Davies-Hale , 27 , came to the United States in 1985 and settled in Boulder , Colo. , the nation 's unofficial running center . Davies-Hale may have shown a liking for running in heat when he won the Boulder Bolder that year in terrific heat . He was a 1984 Olympian in the steeplechase and , on the advice of others , moved up to 5,000 and 10,000 meters . Still , Davies-Hale is unsure what his future in the marathon is . Like his fellow countrymen , he 's low-key and practical and not interested in speculating . `` I 've already had a great track season , '' Davies-Hale said . `` I may run another marathon next year ... but I really want to get back on the track . '' Marathon Notes Race organizers insist that this race is at a world-class level , especially pointing to the world 's richest purse . That may be so , but all major marathons have drug testing and Chicago has none . Race director Tim Murphy said the race was not selected by The Athletics Congress , which governs the sport , to conduct testing ... . Men 's and women 's winners won $ 50,000 , second place won $ 30,000 and third place $ 20,000 ... . Scot Hellebuyck won the men 's wheelchair race in 1:45:30 . Ann Cody Morris won the women 's wheelchair race in 1:58:51 .
extractive_keyphrases: windy weather distance runners patient steady runners race conditions
abstractive_keyphrases: chicago marathon second-hottest race