The results of yesterday's Pittsburgh Marathon will forever denote Jess Tambellini, 22, of Mt. Lebanon.

He finished as nearly the last man -- he was 2,147th out of 2,155 men who crossed the finish line.

But, if this race was measured on persistence, he would have been the undeniable champion.

A recent Pitt graduate competing in his second marathon, Jess was churning along, on pace to run in the neighborhood of 3 hours, 40 minutes and had about 1/10 of a mile to go when ...

"I started to feel my legs slow down," he said. "I just passed the 26-mile mark and then I went down. I don't remember falling down, I was delirious. But I remember the medical staff wheeling me past the finish line, I was so embarrassed I came that close."

Unbeknownst to his father, mother and two older sisters -- all running the marathon a considerable distance behind Jess -- an ambulance whisked him to UPMC Mercy to treat his low blood sugar and dehydration.

When the rest of his family finished, they were made aware that he was taken to the hospital and immediately went to check on him.

It was there -- as he was now feeling much better after intravenous fluids -- that an idea was hatched.

"My mom was the one who was really pushing it, and I was thinking that we all got in this together and I wanted us to all finish the race," Jess said. "So we hurried up."

His timing chip still attached to his shoe, Jess Tambellini was driven by the family to the point where he had fallen.

And, in the ultimate measure of perseverance, he gingerly completed the final stretch of the race, just before marathon officials were taking down the finish line.

His official time -- 6:22:28.

"When you start something," he said, "you might as well finish it."