bigchuck Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4228-2003Apr21.html Man the Kenyans have been dominating. Maybe we should send some of our guys over there to train. we need it.:laugh: Kenyan Cheruiyot Wins Boston Marathon By Jimmy Golen Associated Press Monday, April 21, 2003; 2:41 PM BOSTON - Robert Cheruiyot won the Boston Marathon on Monday, outracing his countrymen over the second half of the course to give Kenya its 12th victory in 13 years. Cheruiyot is the eighth Kenyan to win the race since that country began its domination in 1991. It was just his second career marathon, having won his debut in Milan in December. Cheruiyot (pronounced Cheh-REE'-yot) finished in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 10 minutes, 10 seconds to win by 23 seconds and earn $80,000, an olive wreath and a bowl of beef stew. Kenyans swept the first five spots in the race, with Benjamin Kimutai second and Martin Lel third; defending champion Rodgers Rop was seventh. Russia's Svetlana Zakharova won the women's race to prevent a second consecutive Kenyan sweep. Zakharova's biggest challenge was staying on the course when the television truck turned away before the Back Bay finish line. She is the first Russian to win since 1993. Zakharova finished in an unofficial 2:25:19 to beat fellow Russian Lyubov Denisova. American Marla Runyan was fifth - the best finish for a U.S. runner since 1993. Runyan, who is legally blind, trailed a bicyclist who provided her with her times at the checkpoints and guided her to her water bottles. She traded positions with defending champion Margaret Okayo of Kenya and the two Russians until Zakharova pulled ahead to pass the 13.1-mile mark with a time of 1 hour, 12 minutes and 39 seconds. Rop was in a pack of a dozen that trailed leader Vincent Kipsos through much of the early race before Kipsos dropped out by Mile 14. South African Ernst Van Dyk earned his third consecutive victory in the men's wheelchair race, finishing in 1:28:32 without a competitor in sight. Christina Ripp of Savoy, Ill., who finished second last year, won the women's wheelchair race in 1:54:57. A field of 20,260 left the starting line at noon after the traditional serenade of "Young at Heart" by 95-year-old Johnny "The Elder" Kelley, who started a record 61 races, winning twice. An F-15 flyover followed the national anthem to give the Patriots Day race a patriotic flavor. Rop won last year for Kenya's 11th victory in 12 years. Okayo set the women's course record of 2 hours, 20 minutes, 43 seconds last year. She led a women's field with an unusually strong group of Americans. Temperatures climbed to 70 and a slight breeze blew at the start, as runners filled Hopkinton Common, some stretching, others listening to music on earphones. Vendors offered everything from lemonade and fried dough to mutual funds. The race marked the 20th anniversary of "Joannie's record run," the 1983 race in which Joan Benoit shattered the world record and Greg Meyer took the men's race for an American sweep. No U.S. man has won since then and a sweep hasn't even been hinted at since 1985, when Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach won the women's division and Gary Tuttle finished second in the men's. This year, Kipsos went out to a record pace over the first 10 miles and still led at the halfway point before dropping out by the 14th mile. © 2003 The Associated Press Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarhog Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 How about the #5 and top US female finisher, Marla Runyan, who is blind. Thats just incredible. Its tough to beat the Kenyans, they've got that high altitude training advantage and some genetic ones as well. We'll have another Bill Rodgers at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Posted April 21, 2003 Share Posted April 21, 2003 I'm working on it. When I break four hours I'll let you know. http://www.khannouchi.com/ This guy could do it. He's became an American a year or so ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJWatson3 Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 i guess we'll need imports, kind of like free agents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted April 22, 2003 Share Posted April 22, 2003 Just need to be a little creative with the gatorade you hand out as they pass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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