![\"Boston](\"http:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-content\/uploads\/boston.590.jpg\" "\\"boston.590\\"")
<\/a>Boston 2:05:52<\/p><\/div>\n
The Boston Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.<\/p>\n
Reigning champions Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot and Teyba Erkesso will defend their titles, but will be fiercely challenged by one of the fastest and deepest men\u2019s and women\u2019s fields ever assembled for the Boston Marathon.<\/p>\n
Cheruiyot ran a stunning 2:05:52 course record last year over the difficult Boston course.\u00a0 In April he will face top contenders that include past and present marathon champions of New York City, Chicago, Seoul, Amsterdam, Houston, Xiamen, Torino, Eindhoven, Phoenix, Monaco, Gyeongju, Milan and Nairobi.Geoffrey Mutai leads the line-up as the second fastest man in the world last year with a 2:04:55 best. Joining him are 2:06 men including top American Ryan Hall, Gilbert Yegon, Tadese Tola, Evans Cheruiyot and 2010 Seoul course record holder Sylvester Teimet.<\/p>\n
Challenging this group are the 2010 New York City champion Gebregziabher Gebremariam, the newly crowned Houston course record holder Bekana Daba and 2010 Boston runner-up Tekeste Kebede.<\/p>\n
International newcomers to the course include Philip Sanga, Feleke Cherkos, Deressa Edae, Stephen Kibiwot, Peter Kamais and 2011 Xiamen winner Robert Kipchumba.\u00a0 Returning to Boston are Moses Kigen Kipkosgei, Shadrack Kiplagat and American talent Antonio Vega.\u00a0 Irish Olympian Alistair Cragg and Kenyan Moses Mosop will make their marathon debuts.<\/p>\n
On the women\u2019s side, the historic race in Boston has been decided over the past three years by three seconds or less.\u00a0 Last year Teyba Erkesso maintained a three second lead to the finish as she held off a charging Tatyana Pushkareva.\u00a0 This year\u2019s race likely will prove just as competitive with 16 women in the field holding times of 2:26:20 or better.
\nPast champions Salina Kosgei, Dire Tune and four-time winner Catherine Ndereba join Erkesso and Pushkareva.\u00a0 The experienced trio will contest a highly competitive race that includes 2010 international marathon champions, top Americans and talented newcomers.<\/p>\n
Chasing the Boston champions are 2010 international marathon winners including Sharon Cherop, who edged Tirfi Tsegaye Beyene to win Toronto by one second, and Caroline Kilel, who won Frankfurt after a duel with Dire Tune.\u00a0 Carpi champion Hellen Mugo is on the team and she joins Amsterdam winner Alice Timbilili.<\/p>\n
Challenging the group are top Americans Kara Goucher, who finished third in Boston in 2009, and Desiree Davila, the fastest American of 2010 with her fourth place finish in Chicago, and Olympian Blake Russell. International competitors include New Zealand Olympian Kim Smith, former Russian national record holder Galina Bogomolova and young talent Merima Mohammed from Ethiopia.<\/p>\n
Werknesh Kidane and Florence Kiplagat also bring significant credentials to the race.\u00a0 Kidane is a multiple junior and senior World Cross Country champion (2 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze) and Kiplagat, who will make her marathon debut, is a World Half Marathon and World Cross Country champion.\u00a0 Both women are married to men in the field: Kidane is married to Gebregziabher Gebremariam and Kiplagat is married to Moses Mosop.
\nAdditional talent includes Silvia Skvortsova, Teyba Naser, Woynishet Girma and Yuliya Ruban.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompetitive excellence has been the touchstone for the Boston Marathon for over a century, both among our full field of runners and the magnificent field of professional runners from around the world recruited by John Hancock,\u201d said Tom Grilk, B.A.A. Executive Director.\u00a0 \u201cJohn Hancock Financial’s sponsorship of our premier event over the last 26 years — including support of professional marathoners \u2013 has resulted in pre-race excitement, competitive races, and historic performances.”<\/p>\n
John Hancock\u2019s 2011 Elite Boston Marathon Field<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s Open Field<\/p>\n
name\/country\/personal best<\/p>\n
Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot,\u00a0 Kenya 2:05:52 (Boston, 2010) CR
\nGeoffrey Mutai, Kenya 2:04:55 (Rotterdam, 2010)
\nRyan Hall, USA 2:06:17 (London, 2008)
\nGilbert Yegon, Kenya 2:06:18 (Amsterdam, 2009)
\nEvans Cheruiyot, Kenya 2:06:25 (Chicago, 2008)
\nTadese Tola, Ethiopia 2:06:31 (Frankfurt, 2010)
\nSylvester Teimet, Kenya 2:06:49 (Seoul, 2010) CR
\nBekana Daba, Ethiopia 2:07:04 (Houston, 2011) CR
\nPhilip Kimutai Sanga, Kenya 2:07:11 (Frankfurt, 2010)
\nShadrack Kiplagat, Kenya 2:07:53 (Amsterdam, 2007)
\nTekeste Kebede, Ethiopia 2:07:23 (Boston, 2010)
\nFeleke Abreham Cherko,s Ethiopia 2:07:29 (Amsterdam, 2010)
\nDeressa Chimsa Edae,\u00a0 Ethiopia 2:07:54 (Dubai, 2009)
\nStephen Kibiwot, Kenya 2:07:54 (Praha, 2009)
\nRobert Kipchumba, Kenya 2:08:07 (Xiamen, 2011) CR
\nGebregziabher Gebremariam, Ethiopia 2:08:14 (New York City 2010)
\nMoses Kigen Kipkosgei, Kenya 2:10:12 (Nairobi, 2009) CR
\nAntonio Vega, USA 2:13:47 (Boston, 2010)
\nPeter Kamais, Kenya 2:14:58 (New York City, 2010)
\nAlistair Cragg, Ireland Debut
\nMoses Mosop, Kenya Debut<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s Open Field<\/p>\n
Name\/country\/personal best<\/p>\n
Teyba Erkesso, Ethiopia 2:23:53 (Houston, 2010) CR
\nGalina Bogomolova, Russia 2:20:47 (Chicago, 2006)
\nSharon Cherop, Kenya 2:22:43 (Toronto, 2010) CR
\nTirfi Tsegaye Beyene, Ethiopia 2:22:44 (Toronto, 2010)
\nMerima Mohammed, Ethiopia 2:23:06 (Toronto, 2010)
\nSalina Kosgei, Kenya 2:23:22 (Berlin, 2006)
\nCaroline Kilel, Kenya 2:23:25 (Frankfurt, 2010)
\nDire Tune, Ethiopia 2:23:44 (Frankfurt, 2010)
\nAlice Timbilili, Kenya 2:25:03 (Amsterdam, 2010)
\nKim Smith, New Zealand 2:25:21 (London, 2010)
\nKara Goucher, USA 2:25:52 (New York, 2008)
\nTatyana Pushkareva, Russia 2:26:14 (Boston, 2010)
\nDesiree Davila, USA 2:26:20 (Chicago, 2010)
\nTeyba Naser, Ethiopia 2:26:20 (Los Angeles, 2010)
\nSilvia Skvortsova, Russia 2:26:24 (Berlin, 2009)
\nWerknesh Kidane, Ethiopia 2:27:15 (Dubai, 2011)
\nHellen Mugo, Kenya 2:27:16 (Carpi, 2010)
\nYuliya Ruban, Ukraine 2:27:44 (Frankfurt, 2010)
\nWoynishet Girma,\u00a0 Ethiopia 2:27:51 (Amsterdam, 2010)
\nBlake Russell, USA 2:29:10 (Chicago, 2005)
\nFlorence Kiplagat, Kenya Debut<\/p>\n
NR = National Record
\nCR = Course Record<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Boston, USA – The elite field for the 115th running of the Boston Marathon on 18 April 2011 has been announced. The Boston Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race. Reigning champions Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot and Teyba Erkesso will defend their titles, but will be fiercely challenged by one of the fastest and deepest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,18,1],"tags":[90,194,235],"class_list":["post-238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-boston","category-featured","category-news","tag-90","tag-boston","tag-cheruiyot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238","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=238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}