Adriana Nelson, née Pirtea (born January 31, 1980) is a Romanian American

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who competes in distances up to the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

. She competed at the

2005 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 14th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships were held in Edmonton, Canada on 1 October 2005. The competition was replaced by the World Road Running Championships in 2006 and 2007, but revived as IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2008. ...

and

2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships The 1st IAAF World Road Running Championships were held in Debrecen, Hungary on 8 October 2006, the women's race starting at 11:00 and the men's race at 13:00. This was the first time the title of World Road Running Champion had been competed for ...

for Romania, then at the

2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held in Kavarna, Bulgaria on 6 October 2012. Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results were given. Complete results were published for the men's race, for the wome ...

for the United States. At national level, she won six long-distance track titles at the

Romanian Athletics Championships The Romanian Athletics Championships is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Romanian Athletics Federation, which serves as the national championship for the sport in Romania.USA Half Marathon Championships The USA Half Marathon Championships is the annual national championships for half marathon running in the United States. The race serves as a way of designating the American national champion for the half marathon. The men's race was first conteste ...

. In the marathon she was runner-up at the

2007 Chicago Marathon The 2007 Chicago Marathon was the 30th running of the annual marathon race in Chicago, United States and was held on October 7. The elite men's race was won by Kenya's Patrick Ivuti in a time of 2:11:11 hours and the women's race was won by Ethiop ...

, pipped after celebrating too early.

Career

She made her

debut in the

held on October 7, 2007, with a second-place finish. She led by a few dozen meters in the final 300 meter stretch run down Columbus Drive on a day of record-setting temperatures, but she was caught just before the tape by the defending Chicago Marathon women's champion, Berhane Adere. Pirtea had held a 30-second lead with 600 meters remaining but never looked back as Adere slipped down the right side of the final straightaway under the shield of male runners. Adere was so far to the right that as she crossed the finish line she did not take the tape which was being held at the left side of the finish line. The 2007 Chicago Marathon was the slowest women's Chicago finish since 1992 due to the heat. Pirtea had been a

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...

at the January 28, 2007, running of the Osaka Ladies Marathon, and an injury prevented her from making her marathon debut at the London Marathon on April 22, 2007. She became the Romanian national champion in both the 5K (2006 & 2007) and 10K (2007). She graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2005. Pirtea has run the half marathon in 1:09:57 and placed 10th at the World Half Marathon Championships held on October 1, 2005, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This tenth-place finish contributed to the Romanian team gold medal at the World Half Marathon Championships in which 2004 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon Women's Champion

Constantina Tomescu-Diță Flavia Valeria Constantina (also sometimes called ''Constantia'' and ''Constantiana''; el, Κωνσταντίνα; b. after 307/before 317 – d. 354), later known as Saint Constance, was the eldest daughter of Roman emperor Constantine the Great ...

placed first for the Romanians, Mihaela Botezan placed 5th and Nuța Olaru placed 8th. Pirtea had been the silver medalist in the 3,000-meter run at the NCAA Championships. At the NCAA Championships, she had been the #2 seed, but was run down in the final lap by #4 seed Renee Metivier. Like the 2007 Chicago Marathon, the 2005 NCAA 3000 was run at a relatively slow pace. Pirtea had finished 16th in the event as a junior in 2004. On September 29, 2009, Adriana and her husband, Jeremy Nelson, finished second and first, respectively, in the 13.1 Mini-Marathon in Calumet City, Illinois, with times of 1:12.28 and 1:12.29. Adriana Pirtea won a

Suzuki Splash The Suzuki Splash is a city car that was introduced to the market in 2008. It was jointly developed by Suzuki Motor Corporation and Opel GmbH, which market their version under the name of Agila. Its debut as a concept car took place at the 20 ...

car at the XIVth edition of the Romanian Lottery Cross. The competition took place in Bucharest on October 3, 2011. On June 22, 2013, Adriana Nelson won the

USA Half Marathon Championships The USA Half Marathon Championships is the annual national championships for half marathon running in the United States. The race serves as a way of designating the American national champion for the half marathon. The men's race was first conteste ...

hosted by the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1:11:19. She reverted her internationally eligibility back to her native Romania in 2020, have previously represented the United States at the

Personal life

Adriana Nelson resides in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

. She was married on November 1, 2008, to Jeremy Nelson.

Personal bests

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

– 15:36.01 (2005) *

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

– 32:38.95 (2012) *

5K run The 5K run is a long-distance road running competition over a distance of . Also referred to as the 5K road race, 5 km, or simply 5K, it is the shortest of the most common road running distances. It is usually distinguished from the 5000 met ...

– 16:21 (2010) *

10K run 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

– 33:21 (2007) * 15K run – 51:37 (2012) *

20K run The 20K run (20 kilometres, or approximately 12.4 miles) is a long distance foot race. It is a rarely held race that is not recognized as an Olympic event. The event held IAAF world championship status in 2006 only, when the existing IAAF World ...

– 1:09:06 (2012) * Half marathon – 1:09:59 (2005) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

– 2:28:52 (2008)

International competitions

National titles

: 2013

Marathons

* 2007 Osaka Women's Marathon: *

: 2nd (2:33:52) *

2008 London Marathon The 2008 London Marathon was the 28th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 13 April. The elite men's race was won by Kenya's Martin Lel in a time of 2:05:15 hours and the women's race was won by Ger ...

: 10th (2:28:52) * 2008 Chicago Marathon: 12th (2:35:39) *

2009 Chicago Marathon The 2009 Chicago Marathon was the 32nd running of the annual marathon race in Chicago, United States and was held on October 11. The elite men's race was won by Kenya's Samuel Wanjiru in a time of 2:05:41 hours and the women's race was won by Germ ...

: 8th (2:34:07) * 2009 Rotterdam Marathon: 3rd (2:36:36) *

2010 Berlin Marathon The 37th Berlin Marathon took place on Sunday 26 September 2010 on the streets of Berlin, Germany. The competition was sponsored by German retailer ''real,-'' and it was the third World Marathon Major of the year, as well as being an IAAF Gold Labe ...

: 6th (2:30:15) * 2011 Yokohama Women's Marathon: * 2011 Osaka Women's Marathon: 7th (2:32:44) * 2012 United States Olympic Trials: * 2012 Yokohama Women's Marathon: *

2013 New York City Marathon The 2013 New York City Marathon was the 43rd running of the annual marathon race in New York City, United States, which took place on Sunday, November 3. It followed a one-year hiatus after the 2012 event was canceled due to Hurricane Sandy. Geof ...

: 13th (2:35:05) *

2014 Frankfurt Marathon Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrele ...

: 9th (2:33:54) *

2014 Boston Marathon The 2014 Boston Marathon took place in Boston, Massachusetts, on Monday, April 21 (Patriots' Day). It was the 118th edition of the mass-participation marathon. The race is organized by the Boston Athletic Association. On account of the 2013 Bo ...

: 13th (2:31:15) *

2015 Boston Marathon The 2015 Boston Marathon was the 119th running of the Boston Athletic Association's mass-participation marathon. It took place on Monday, April 20 (Patriots' Day in Massachusetts). The men's race was won by Lelisa Desisa from Ethiopia in a time o ...

: 15th (2:38:47) * 2016 United States Olympic Trials: 12th (2:38:56)

Notes

References

*
marathoninfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Adriana 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Bucharest Romanian female long-distance runners Romanian female marathon runners American female long-distance runners American female marathon runners UTEP Miners women's track and field athletes 21st-century American women