Prize Money: double dipping allowed
Course Records: Open Men, new (see below); Open Women, 2:20:43, Margaret Okayo (KEN), 2002; Masters Men, 2:11:04, John Campbell (NZL), 1990; Masters Women, 2:27:58, Firaya Sultanova-Zhdanova (RUS), 2002
Executive Race Director: Guy Morse
BOSTON (19-Apr) -- At the end of today's 114th Boston Marathon, a man named Cheruiyot still holds the course record. But it was not four-time winner Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, who had run 2:07:14 in 2006, who broke the finish tape on Boylston Street today. Instead, it was 21 year-old Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot who ran ran a sensational 2:05:52, the fastest marathon ever without pacemakers, a performance which was all the more remarkable because of unfavorable winds during at least some stages of the race, including the last five kilometers.
"I was trying to improve my time of last year," a smiling Cheruiyot told reporters after the race. "I run here position five. I was trying to push down my time of two hours ten of last year."
Cheruiyot, who had made a notable marathon debut in Frankfurt in 2007 when he ran a course record 2:07:21, dedided his best strategy today was to key off of defending champion, Deriba Merga of Ethiopia. That turned out to be a good idea. When Merga zipped through the tenth mile in 4:35, the big pack of 19 men was chopped down to size, leaving a dozen men still in contention through the halfway point (1:03:27).
Amongst the leaders were Americans Meb Keflezighi, last November's ING New York City Marathon champion, and Ryan Hall, the 2008 USA Olympic Trials Marathon champion. Hall had been the race's early leader, while Keflezighi chose to remain tucked in the pack.
"The wind was a factor," said Keflezighi. "I was trying to tuck in and stay relaxed. We ran 1:03:30 or so, and I was feeling great."
Merga kept up the pressure, and by 25-K Hall had fallen 15 seconds back leaving six still in contention: Cheruiyot, Merga, Keflezighi, Ethiopian Tekeste Kebede, Moroccan Abderrahim Goumri, and Kenyan Moses Kigen Kipkosgei. Cheruiyot was feeling even more positive about his race plan.
"When I came with my friend here," he said turning to Merga at the post race press conference, "if somebody's champion, you try to go with him. I try to come with Merga."
But it was Merga who could not come with Cheruiyot. Past 30-K, Cheruiyot stepped on the gas, and Merga had no answer. Cheruiyot's lead ballooned to 64 seconds by 40-K, and the only question which remained was by how much would he break the elder Cheruiyot's course record. Despite running into headwinds in the last 5 kilometers, which Keflezighi said made Ryan Hall's long blond hair stand up, Cheruiyot rocketed to the finish, running even faster than Samuel Wanjiru's 2:06:34 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the previous fastest marathon ever without pacemaking.
"I talked to Robert and he ran a phenomenal race," Keflezighi said, clearly impressed by Cheruiyot's time. "Wow," he added.
Well behind, Hall had regathered himself and was now gaining on the leaders. About 25 miles into the race he passed Keflezighi to move into fourth place, rubbing Keflezighi's shaved head affectionately, a gesture the two Olympians had shared before. Keflezighi shouted encouragement to Hall who was chasing Merga for the final spot on the podium. Kebede had already locked up second place and would finish in a personal best 2:07:23. Hall, wearing a bright read USA uniform, was spriting after the tiring Merga in the final meters, but could not quite catch him. Merga clocked 2:08:39 to Hall's 2:08:41, which was the fastest ever by an American at Boston.
"I was just running my own race," Hall explained. "I don't know if you guys noticed but I was checking my watch quite a bit. I was trying to see what kind of pace I was running."
Hall said that he was maintaining a steady 4:50 to 4:55 per mile pace, and decided not to follow the race's many surges.
"I was looking at my splits and I was plenty happy with how I was running," Hall said.
Cheruiyot, who said he owned a 50 acre farm in the Eldoret area, said he had at least some plans for his $150,000 first place prize.
"Yes, maybe," he said haltingly. "When I return to home, I'm going (to get) some cows."
BOSTON (19-Apr) -- Teyba Erkesso ran just as she had hoped here Monday to win the 114th running of the Boston Marathon. The 27 year-old Ethiopian surged away the from the field early, yet had to fight for the win at the end of the world's oldest marathon.
With near perfect conditions for racing --a mostly sunny day with temperatures hovering around 50°F and varying winds-- 55 elite women took off from Hopkinton running in a large pack at a middling pace. The pack continued to stay together through the nine mile mark, when a group of three Ethiopians broke away, led by 2008 Boston champion Dire Tune. Tune, Erkesso, and Koren Yal threw in a surge just before the half way point, breaking up the field.
"I knew I was in very good shape, so I pushed the race from the beginning." said Erkesso, who trains with Tune under coach Haji Adillo.
After passing the famous Wellesley Fire Station at the seventeen and one-half mile mark, the pack was down to two, as Yal had fallen back. Tune was next to falter, quickly falling back and soon dropping out. It was now Erkesso against the clock, or so it seemed.
By 30 km, Erkesso had built up her largest lead of the day: 79 seconds. After cresting the final peak in Newton, Erkesso seemed to be slowing down; she had gone from running a 5:27 mile to a 5:48 in the span of a two-mile stretch. Turning her head at the top of the hill, her braids swinging, she checked to see who was behind her. Erkesso had seemed to be struggling and was grabbing her stomach.
Behind her, unheralded Russian Tatyana Pushkareva was coming closer bit by bit, and Erkesso knew it. The gap fell from 40 seconds to 20 seconds as the 24 year-old Pushkareva made her way into Boston. At one point, the former ballroom dancer even waved to one of the camera men as she was "feeling great," she later said.
"My plan was to stay in the back of the pack and run the second half faster than the first," said Pushkareva through a translator.
Pushkareva, who came in with a personal best of 2:30:30 from last November's Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon, a race she won, was charging fast. She covered the distance between the 30-K and 35-K marks in 16:46, nearly 45 seconds faster than Erkesso.
But Erkesso, who set a course record at the Chevron Houston Marathon just 92 days ago, had enough in the tank to get her to the finish line first. Pushkareva simply couldn't catch her.
"It is the tradition for the Russian to finish very close in second place," joked Pushkareva, referring to the 2007 race where Alevtina Biktimirova got out-kicked by Tune in the final meters. "So if I was second, probably next year I will be first."
Erkesso ended up crossing the tape in 2:26:11, just three seconds ahead of Pushkareva, earning her first win of a World Marathon Majors event and $150,000 in prize money. Third place was taken by Salina Kosgei in a sprint finish over Ethiopian Waynishet Girma, 2:28:35 to 2:28:36, despite complaining of a hamstring injury which was brought on by a fall in the ING New York City Marathon last November.
Erkesso credited her preparation for her victory.
"During the training I endured very hard training," she said through coach Adilo.
MEN (gun times/10:00 a.m. start) -
1. Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, 21, KEN 2:05:52 CR* $150,000 + 25,000*
2. Tekeste Kebede, 28, ETH 2:07:23 PB 75,000
3. Deriba Merga, 28, ETH 2:08:39 40,000
4. Ryan Hall, 27, Mammoth Lakes, CA 2:08:41 25,000
5. Meb Keflezighi, 34, Mammoth Lakes, CA 2:09:26 15,000
6. Gashaw Melese Asfaw, 31, ETH 2:10:53 12,000
7. John Komen, 32, KEN 2:11:48 9,000
8. Moses Kigen Kipkosgei, 27, KEN 2:12:04 7,400
9. Jason Lehmkuhle, 32, Minneapolis, MN 2:12:34 PB 5,700
10. Alejandro Suarez, 29, MEX 2:12:33 4,200
11. Cuthbert Nyasango, 27, ZIM 2:12:40 2,600
12. Antonio Vega, 26, St. Paul, MN 2:13:47 PB 2,100
13. Elijah Keitany, 27, KEN 2:14:48 1,800
14. Stephen Kiogora, 35, KEN 2:14:50 1,700
15. Chala Dechase, 25, ETH 2:14:57 1,500
16. Drew Polley, 24, Rochester Hills, MI 2:16:36 PB
17. Dmytro Baranovskyy, 30, UKR 2:17:15
18. James Koskei, 41, KEN 2:17:28 10,000m
19. Chad Johnson, 33, Lake Orion, MI 2:17:41
20. Jason Delaney, 30, Golden, CO 2:19:17
21. Seth Hutchinson, 26, Charlottesville, VA 2:20:56
22. Gilbert Yegon, 21, KEN 2:21:12 (1:03:27 1st half)
23. Reuben Chesang, 47, KEN 2:21:15 5,000m
24. Lucas Meyer, 26, Ridgefield, CT 2:21:29
25. Tomoyuki Kawakami, 29, JPN 2:21:44
26. Jason Flogel, 27, West Des Moines, IA 2:21:51
27. Jesse Davis, 28, Indianapolis, IN 2:22:59
28. Antonino Luizzo, 30, ITA 2:23:00
29. Jorge Real, 39, Brooklyn, NY (COL) 2:23:08
30. Marc Jeuland, 31, Carrboro, NC 2:23:33
31. Jakob Bradosky, 22, Centerville, OH 2:23:50
32. Tracy Lokken, 44, Marquette, MI 2:24:04 2,500m
33. Sage Canady, 24, Rochester Hills, MI 2:24:07
34. Gregory Mitchell, 36, McMinnville, OR 2:24:15
35. Scott Rowe, 35, Dover, NH 2:24:34
50+ Glen Guillemette, 50, Narragansett, RI 2:37:30
David Kipkorir Mandago, KEN DNF
Josh Rohatinsky, Portland, OR DNF
Abderrahim Goumri, MAR DNF
Brahim Lahlafi, MAR DNF
Abdellah Falil, MAR Scratch (flight canceled)
m = Earned masters prize money
*Course record; $25,000 bonus; previous 2:07:14, Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot (KEN), 2006
5 km Splits for Cheruiyot:
5 km 14:53
10 km 30:08 (15:15)
15 km 44:58 (14:50)
20 km 1:00:12 (15:14)
25 km 1:14:58 (14:46)
30 km 1:29:58 (15:00)
35 km 1:44:42 (14:44)
40 km 1:59:21 (14:39)
Halves 1:03:27 / 1:02:25
ELITE WOMEN (women only, gun times, 9:32 start) -
1. Teyba Erkesso, 27, ETH 2:26:11 $150,000
2. Tatyana Pushkareva, 24, RUS 2:26:14 PB 75,000
3. Salina Kosgei, 33, KEN 2:28:35 40,000
4. Waynishet Girma, 24, ETH 2:28:36 PB 25,000
5. Bruna Genovese, 33, ITA 2:29:12 15,000
6. Lidiya Grigoryeva, 36, RUS 2:30:31 12,000
7. Yurika Nakamura, 24, JPN 2:30:40 9,000
8. Sun Weiwei, 25, CHN 2:31:14 7,400
9. Nailya Yulamanova, 29, RUS 2:31:48 5,700
10. Albina Mayorova-Ivanova, 32, RUS 2:31:55 4,200
11. Agnes Kiprop, 30, KEN 2:33:21 2,600
12. Koren Yal, 23, ETH 2:33:48 2,100
13. Paige Higgins, 27, Flagstaff, AZ 2:36:00 1,800
14. Madai Perez, 30, MEX 2:36:04 1,700
15. Meseret Legese, 22, ETH 2:37:00 1,500
16. Mary Akor, 33, Lomita, CA 2:38:12
17. Jennifer Houck, 26, Duluth, MN 2:39:02
18. Heidi Westover, 29, Walpole, NH 2:39:14
19. Loretta Kilmer, 27, New York, NY 2:40:07
20. Catha Mullen, 25, New York, NY 2:40:16 PB
21. Jia Chaofeng, 21, CHN 2:40:33 DB
22. Sheri Piers, 38, Falmouth, ME 2:40:46
23. Michelle Frey, 28, Iowa City, IA 2:42:38
24. Denise Robson, 41, CAN 2:43:16 10,000m
25. Melisa Christian, 33, Dallas, TX 2:44:01
26. Laurel Burdick, 25, Manlius, NY 2:44:16 DB
27. Karen Barlow, 31, Newport Beach, CA(AUS) 2:44:19
28. Jeanne Cooper*, 32, Eagle, CO 2:45:20
29. Heidi Peoples, 30, Scranto, PA 2:45:51
30. Lori Kingsley, 44, Wysox, PA 2:46:45 5,000m
31. Julie Spencer, 33, Baraboo, WI 2:48:35
32. Christa Benton, 26, St. Petersburg, FL 2:48:41
33. Jill Boaz, 43, Los Osos, CA 2:49:15 2,500m
34. Cori Mooney, 36, Boise, ID 2:51:42
35. Tina Connelly, 39, CAN 2:52:08
36. Mari Pardi, 40, Falmouth, ME 2:53:39 1,500m
37. Simonetta Piergentili, 45, ITA 2:54:17 1,000m
38. Polly Campbell, 43, Tucson, AZ 2:54:25
39. Jody Dushay, 43, Newton, MA 2:55:11
40. Diane Dowd-Petruzzelli, 42, Lincroft, NJ 2:56:20
41. Claire Gadrow, 40, S. Kingston, RI 2:56:52
42. Christine Kennedy, 55, Los Gatos, CA 2:57:19
43. Heidy Lozano, 47, Houston, TX 2:59:01
Dire Tune, 24, ETH DNF
*Formerly "Jeanne Hennessy"
m = Earned masters prize money
OPEN WOMEN (gun times/10:00 a.m. start):
1. Kelly Flathers, 38, Huntington Bch, CA 2:46:53
2. Anne-Marie Byrne, 26, San Diego, CA 2:50:18
3. Ariella Gottfried, 22, Minneapolis, MN 2:50:32
4. Louise Knudson, 24, Charlottesville, VA 2:51:27
5. Michelle Sarney, 37, W. Bridgewater, MA 2:52:26
6. Sara Bard, 25, Leesburg, VA 2:53:09
7. Elizabeth Crank, 33, Austin, TX 2:53:29
8. Emily McGregor, 23, Philadelphia, PA 2:53:45
9. Laura O'Hara, 30, Alexandria, VA 2:54:35
10. Ariana Hilborn, 29, Scottsdale, AZ 2:54:57