BOSTON, April 20: Timothy Cherigat and Catherine Ndereba completed another Kenyan double as they overcame searing temperatures to win the men's and women's races at the 108th Boston Marathon on Monday.
Cherigat continued Kenya's dominance of the world's oldest annually contested marathon, winning in 2 hours 10 minutes 37 seconds to make it 13 Kenyan victories in the last 14 men's races.
There were six Kenyans in the first seven finishers on Monday, as compatriots Robert Cheboror finished second in 2:11.49, ahead of Martin Lel (2:13.38). In the women's race, Ndereba staggered over the finish line in 2:24.27 after dramatically pulling ahead of Elfenesh Alemu of Ethiopia in the final mile.
Alemu finished 16 seconds behind, tying a record for the closest finish in the history of the women's race. Olivera Jevtic of Serbia and Montenegro was third in 2:27.43. Ndereba, who nearly collapsed after her win, later complained of severe leg cramping which she attributed to the unseasonable heat which combined with the hilly course to take its toll on the field.
The temperature measured 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4 Celsius) at the finish line and several elite runners, including Mohamed Ouaadi of France and Grzegorz Gajdus of Poland, dropped out. Other top athletes had to stop, rest, and rejoin the field.
Typically the race is run in temperatures in the mid-50s Fahrenheit, but warm weather, while rare, is not unknown. In 1927, it got so hot that a newly-surfaced road melted under runners' shoes while in 1909 more than half the entrants failed to finish as the temperature soared to 97 F.
Cherigat's time was just over a minute slower than his personal best in a marathon, and it fell well short of the course record of 2:07.15 set by Cosmas Ndeti, also of Kenya, in 1994.
Nonetheless, Cherigat said he was pleased with his performance because he stuck to his strategy and because his hill training paid off. He attacked just before the steepest climb of the course - the infamous Heartbreak Hill - and proceeded to widen his lead by the finish. Sunday's rain-drenched London Marathon also featured a Kenyan double as Evans Rutto won the men's race and Margaret Okayo won the women's event. -Reuters
