{"id":2142,"date":"2014-04-22T01:38:01","date_gmt":"2014-04-22T07:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/?p=2142"},"modified":"2014-04-22T01:38:01","modified_gmt":"2014-04-22T07:38:01","slug":"keflezighi-jeptoo-win-historic-118th-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/news\/keflezighi-jeptoo-win-historic-118th-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Keflezighi, Jeptoo Win Historic 118th Race"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rita<\/a><\/p>\n

BOSTON – April 21, 2014 – One year after an explosive attack rocked the Boylston Street finish line, Monday’s running of the Boston Marathon — the 118th edition of the world’s oldest modern 26.2-mile race – was all about redemption. An emotional day for runners, spectators, race organizers and especially for the bombing survivors, today’s race set out to define the #BostonStrong spirit.<\/p>\n

The intense emotion fueled competitive passion in the elite competition, where 2004 Olympic silver medalist and\u00a0 Meb Keflezighi became the first American man since Greg Meyer (1983) to win the men\u2019s race. The 38-year-old Keflezighi\u2019s winning time was 2 hours, 8 minutes, 37 seconds – a personal best for the 2009 ING New York City Marathon champion..<\/p>\n

In the women’s race, USA favorite and hometown hero Shalane Flanagan ran a gutsy race, pushing the pace and leading for more than 20 miles, but ultimtately it was Rita Jeptoo of Kenya who repeated as the women\u2019s champion. The 33-year-old won her third Boston title with a course record 2:18:57 and was more than 7 minutes faster than her 2013 victory last year.<\/p>\n

With near-perfect conditions at the start–54 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny, and calm winds\u2014the elite women\u2019s race kicked off first at 9:30 a.m.. Right from the beginning, Flanagan, a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in the 10,000m who lives and trains in Oregon, set a blistering opening pace, clocking a blazing 5:11 opening mile.<\/p>\n

Fired up thanks to the flag-waving crowds, Flanagan held the lead at 10K with a 32:32 split, and remained in the front through the half-marathon mark (1:09:25). However, things began to unravel for Flanagan at the 20-mile mark, when a chase pack comprised of Jeptoo, Jemima Sumgong (Kenya), and\u00a0 Ethiopians Mare Dibaba, Meselech Melkamu, and Buzunesh Deba reeled her in. Flanagan ended up placing seventh overall in 2:22:02,\u00a0 a personal best for her by more than three minutes. Desiree Linden, who was second here in 2011 and had been training in Kenya for this year\u2019s race, ended up in tenth, and the second American woman, in 2:23:54.<\/p>\n

After Flanagan faded, it became a footrace between the five East African runners. However, Jeptoo was the one with an extra gear. The Kenyan ace, who won in 2006 and last year, dropped the hammer between the 35 and 40K mark and none of her competitors could respond. Jeptoo cruised to the finish, breaking the tape in 2:18:57\u2014a new course record. The previous top mark, 2:20:43, had belonged to Kenya\u2019s Margaret Okayu who ran that time in 2002. The last American woman to win in Boston was Lisa Larsen Weidenbach in 1985.<\/p>\n

“I literally ran as hard as I could,\u201d Flanagan said afterwards. “I wanted to set the tone for the day and just give my all.”<\/p>\n

In the men’s race, from the sounding gun it was Keflezighi\u2019s race to lose. The 38-year-old, who emigrated to the U.S. from Eritrea when he was a child, made an aggressive opening move. He was at the front of a 22-strong pack through 5K (15:09), and as the race began to unfold, notched up the pace with only fellow American Josphat Bolt being able to stick with him. At the 8-mile mark, the pair had an 8-second lead over the rest of the field,<\/p>\n

The duo clocked 1:08:37 by mile 14 with a 33, and at that point Bolt faded. Incredibly, Keflezighi continued his assault without showing any signs of fatigue. With just over 3 miles left in the race, Keflezighi was 40 seconds ahead of his competitors, but then the dynamic began to change as Kenya\u2019s Wilson Chebet slowly began reeling in Keflezighi.<\/p>\n

But Keflezighi kept at it and came down Boylston Street in first place amid the deafening roar of the crowd. He broke the tape and immediately kissed the ground three times. Tears began to run down his cheeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s beyond words,\u201d Keflezighi said to camera crews at the finish. \u201cThis is for Boston, the United States, and the world. We are resilient and never give up.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about Chebet\u2019s chances of catching him, Keflezighi admitted he was worried. \u201cI was a little fearful from the end, but I was running strong. Boston Strong. I do the small things [in training] and God has blessed me in many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chebet ended up coming across the line second in 2:08:48.\u00a0 Bolt, who was the only runner to stick with Keflezighi in the early stages of the race (the two have trained together in Mammoth), faded to 11th overall (2:12:52).<\/p>\n

Over 36,000 runners, the second-largest Boston turnout ever, ran the famous course on Patriot\u2019s Day. Many participants wore \u201cBoston Strong\u201d shirts and hats as a tribute to the victims and survivors of last year\u2019s bombing – the four people killed and hundreds injured were remembered and celebrated every step of the way.<\/p>\n

118th Boston Marathon<\/p>\n

Boston, MA, Monday, April 21, 2014<\/p>\n

MEN<\/p>\n

1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Keflezighi, Meb\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:08:37\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 USA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $150,000
\n2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chebet, Wilson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:08:48\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 75,000
\n3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chepkwony, Frankline\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:08:50\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $40,000
\n4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Shafar, Vitaliy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:09:37\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 UKR\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $25,000
\n5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Geneti, Markos\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:09:50\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $15,000
\n6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kimurer, Joel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:11:03\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $12,000
\n7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Arciniaga, Nicholas\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:11:47\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 USA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $9,000
\n8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Eggleston, Jeffrey\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:11:57\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 USA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $7,400
\n9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lonyangata, Paul\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:12:34\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $5,700
\n10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Annani, Adil\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:12:43\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 MAR\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $4,200
\n11\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Boit, Josphat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:12:52\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 USA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $2,600
\n12\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Leon, Craig\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:14:28\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 USA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $2,100
\n13\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Morgan, Mike G.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:14:40\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 USA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $1,800
\n14\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sakai, Koichi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:14:56\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 JPN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $1,700
\n15\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 April, Lusapho\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:14:59\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RSA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $1,500<\/p>\n

WOMEN<\/p>\n

1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeptoo, Rita\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:18:57\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $175,000*
\n2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Deba, Buzunesh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:19:59\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $75,000
\n3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dibaba, Mare\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:20:35\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $40,000
\n4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sumgong, Jemima Jelagat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:20:41\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $25,000
\n5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Melkamu, Meselech\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:21:28\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $15,000
\n6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Duliba, Aleksandra\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:21:29\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 BLR\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $12,000
\n7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Flanagan, Shalane\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:22:02\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 USA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $9,000
\n8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cherop, Sharon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:23:00\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $7,400
\n9\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ongori, Philes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:23:22\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 KEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $5,700
\n10\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Linden, Desiree\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:23:54\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 USA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $4,200
\n11\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oljira, Belaynesh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:24:21\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $2,600
\n12\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Esayias, Yeshi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:27:40\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ETH\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $2,100
\n13\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Petrova Arkhipova, Tatiana\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:30:29\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RUS\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $1,800
\n14\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Marchant, Lanni\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:30:34\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 CAN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $1,700
\n15\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nelson, Adriana\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2:31:15\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 USA\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $1,500<\/p>\n

*Includes $25,000 course record bonus<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BOSTON – April 21, 2014 – One year after an explosive attack rocked the Boylston Street finish line, Monday’s running of the Boston Marathon — the 118th edition of the world’s oldest modern 26.2-mile race – was all about redemption. An emotional day for runners, spectators, race organizers and especially for the bombing survivors, today’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,18,29,1],"tags":[94,196,518,599,749,896],"class_list":["post-2142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-boston","category-featured","category-kenya","category-news","tag-94","tag-boston-marathon","tag-kenya","tag-meb-keflezighi","tag-rita-jeptoo","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}