108th Boston Marathon

1.  Greater Boston Track Club  MA  09:58:31  
 2.  Boston Athletic Association  MA  10:11:20  
 3.  Somerville Road Runners MA 10:22:37 
 4.  Team Utopia  NY  10:40:00 
 5.  Front Line Racing Team  MI  10:40:52 
 6.  Central Mass Striders  MA  10:45:27 
 7.  HiTek Racing Team  CT  10:56:46  
 8.  Greater Springfield Harriers  MA  11:00:29 
 9.  Willow Street Athletic Club  NY 11:14:01  
10.  Cambridge Sports Union  MA  11:14:31  
11.  Whirlaway Racing Team MA 11:19:05  
12.  HFC Striders Track Club  MA  11:29:14  
13.  DC Road Runners  DC  11:32:37 
14.  Montgomery County Road Runners Club  MD  11:35:33  
15.  West Penn Track Club  PA  11:37:05  
16.  San Luis Distance Club  CA  11:40:08  
17.  Team Red Lizard  OR  11:40:24  
18.  Moose Milers & Marathoners  NH  11:46:31  
19.  Runner's Edge  NY  11:47:06  
20.  Impala Racing Team  CA 11:48:20  
21.  Team Spirit  GA  11:52:30  
22.  Cambridge Running Club MA  11:53:16  
23.  Nittany Valley Running Club  PA  11:54:41  
24.  South Jersey Athletic Club NJ  11:59:41  
25.  Iguanas  CA  12:03:22 
26.  Winners Circle Running Club  MA 12:21:25  
27.  Team CNA  IL  12:24:16 
28.  West Side Runners Club  NY  12:42:42  
29.  Sugarloaf Mountain Athletic Club  MA  12:44:22  
30.  Cape Cod Athletic Club  MA  13:06:08  
31.  Sneaker Factory Road Runners  NJ  13:34:12  
32.  Wampanoag Road Runners  MA  13:34:27 
33.  Jersey Shore Running Club  NJ  13:37:11 
34.  Hartford Track Club CT 13:49:46 
35.  Reston Runners VA 15:36:51  
36.  New England Walkers  MA 18:18:14 

BOSTON (19-Apr) -- In unusually hot conditions, Kenyans Timothy Cherigat and Catherine Ndereba won the 108th BAA Boston Marathon.
    Cherigat, 27, the training partner of yesterday's London Marathon winner Evans Rutto, took control of the race in the 18th mile when pre-race favorites Martin Lel and Rodgers Rop could no longer hold the pace Cherigat and Robert Cheboror, all Kenyans, were setting. Cherigat sealed his victory by charging up the infamous Heartbreak Hill in mile 21 in five minutes and 12 seconds, reaching the crest alone with a sizable lead. He kept his pace high in the final downhill miles, crossing the finish line in 2:10:37, despite the 85°F (29°C) temperatures.
    "When I decided to break away I was (just) trying to move," said Cherigat who trained with London champion Rutto first in Iten, Kenya, through March and then in Boulder, Colo. "I was lengthening my lead and I decided to go."
    Cheboror held his position to finish second in 2:11:49. "I'm very happy to be second in this race," said the well-spoken athlete. "It was my first time in the Boston Marathon and the course is very difficult, especially Heartbreak hill."
    Defending champion Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot dropped out, as did 2002 champion, Rodgers Rop. Last November's New York City Marathon champion Martin Lel, also of Kenya, finished third 2:13:38.
    Cherigat's win continued the Kenyan domination of the Boston Marathon which began with the victory of Ibrahim Hussein in 1991. A Kenyan man has won the race 13 of the last 14 years; the streak was broken only once by Korean Lee Bong-ju in 2001.
    In the all-women's elite race which started ahead of the men (held for the first time at Boston), Ndereba became the fourth three-time winner of the race, prevailing in a thrilling two-woman duel against Elfenesh Alemu of Ethiopia. Alemu shot up the road in the seventh mile, and was joined for a short time by Olivera Jevtic of Serbia and Montenegro. But soon Alemu shed Jevtic who would run the rest of the race alone, and Ndereba was the only woman who was able to give chase. By the 14 mile mark the Kenyan and the Ethiopian were together and, exchanging no words, they ran side by side through the 25 mile mark, both looking well despite the heat.
    "The heat was so tough, I don't even have words to say," said Ndereba who became the only other women besides Rosa Mota to win a world championships marathon title then come back the next spring to win Boston.
    At the 1 mile-to-go mark (25.2 miles) Ndereba surged, and Alemu could not respond. The former world record holder and reigning world champion cruised down Boylston Street to break the finish tape in 2:24:27, 11th fastest in Boston Marathon history and a remarkable time time considering the searing heat. Alemu finished second in 2:24:43, and Jevtic third in 2:27:34.
    Ndereba collapsed at the finish line, her lower legs badly cramped. "Towards the finish I felt like I was dead," said Ndereba who rated this the second most difficult marathon of her career, after Boston in 1999 when she made her debut at the distance. "All of a sudden I had those cramps in my calves," she said of the seconds following her finish. "I could not stand it!"
    It was a good day for several masters athletes who were able to double-dip with open prize money. In the men's race three over-40 athletes finished in the top-15, led by the durable Kenyan Joshua Kipkemboi, 45. Kipkemboi took home $19,000 in total prize money. On the women's side, Ramilya Burangulova finished 9th overall, and earned a total payday of $15,700. Only women who ran in the separate all-women's race were eligible for prize money.
    U.S. athletes were all but absent from the elite competition at Boston this year; the Olympic Trials Marathons for the men (07-Feb) and women (03-Apr) were too close to this year's race. The top U.S. finishers were Christopher Zieman, 32, of Felton, Calif., in 2:25:45 (13th place) and Greta Varchi, 31, of Setauket, N.Y., in 2:54:15 (14th place). Varchi did not run the elite women's race; the top U.S. women in the elite race was 47 year-old Mary Ann Protz of St. Petersburg, FL in 2:57:58 (18th in the combined list and 14th in the all-women's race.) Martha DeGrazia, 53, Slingerlands, finished 2nd in the 50-54 age group. Way to go Martha!

MEN (noon start) - 
 1. Timothy Cherigat, 27, KEN          2:10:37 $80,000
 2. Robert Cheboror, 25, KEN           2:11:49  40,000
 3. Martin Lel, 25, KEN                2:13:38  22,500
 4. Stephen Kiagora, 29, KEN           2:14:34  18,000
 5. Hailu Negussie, 24, ETH            2:17:30  14,000
 6. Benjamin Kosgei Kimutai, 33, KEN   2:17:45  12,000
 7. Joshua Kipkemboi, 45, KEN          2:18:23   9,000
 8. Andrew Letherby, 30, AUS           2:19:31   7,400
 9. Fedor Ryzhov, 44, RUS              2:21:24   5,700
10. Elly Rono, 33, KEN                 2:22:45   4,200
11. Alexander Prokopcuk, 36, LAT       2:23:48   2,600
12. Wilson Komen, 25, KEN              2:24:06   2,100
13. Christopher Zieman, 32, USA/CA     2:25:45   1,800
14. Salvatore Bettiol, 42, ITA         2:26:15   1,700
15. Kentarou Suzuki, 26, JPN           2:27:15   1,500
16. Dawit Trfe, 19, ETH                2:27:54
17. Eric Post, 25, USA/VA              2:29:13
18. Mario Fattore, 28, ITA             2:29:17
19. Michael Wardian, 30, USA/VA        2:29:57
20. John Mentzer, 27, USA/RI           2:30:50
21. Laban Kipkemboi, 26, KEN           2:31:17
22. Eddie Ernest-Jones, 27, GBR/FL     2:31:53
23. John Mirth, 41, USA/WI             2:32:32
24. Henry Wanyoike, 29, KEN/MA         2:33:20^
    Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, 25, KEN DNF (25 miles)
    Rodgers Rop, 28, KEN               DNF (25 miles)
    Mohamed Ouaadi, 35, FRA            DNF (10 miles)
    David Makori, 30, KEN              DNF
    Grzegorz Gajdus, 37, POL           DNF
    Dmitri Kapitonov, 36, RUS          DNF
    Daniele Caimmi, 31, ITA            DNF
    Gudisa Shentama, 23, ETH           DNF
    Joseph Ngeny, 25, KEN              DNF 
    Kevin Collins, 33, USA/NY          DNF
    Jackson Kipng'ok, 43, KEN          DNF
40+:
 1. Kipkemboi (above)                  2:18:23 $10,000
 2. Ryzhov (above)                     2:21:24   5,000
 3. Bettiol (above)                    2:26:15   2,500
 4. Mirth (above)                      2:32:32   1,500
 5. Brian Spangenberg, 40, USA/CA      2:33:57   1,000
^Visually impaired athlete; ran with two different guides

Halves for Cherigat: 1:05:30/1:05:07

ELITE WOMEN (11:30 a.m. start) - 
 1. Catherine Ndereba, 31, KEN         2:24:27 $80,000
 2. Elfenesh Alemu, 28, KEN            2:24:43  40,000
 3. Olivera Jevtic, 26, SCG            2:27:34  22,500
 4. Jelena Prokopcuka, 27, LAT         2:30:16  18,000
 5. Nuta Olaru, 33, ROM                2:30:44  14,000
 6. Lyubov Denisova, 32, RUS           2:31:17  12,000
 7. Malgorzata Sobanska, 34, POL       2:32:23   9,000
 8. Victoria Klimina, 28, RUS          2:33:20   7,400
 9. Ramilya Burangulova, 42, RUS       2:34:08   5,700
10. Ai Yamamoto, 25, JPN               2:34:32   4,200
11. Rika Tabashi, 22, JPN              2:41:41   2,600
12. Jessica Rodriguez Galvan, 27, MEX  2:50:57   2,100
13. Andrea Niggemeier, 34, GER         2:50:59   1,800
14. Angela Batsford, 23, CAN           2:57:06   1,700
15. Mary Ann Protz, 47, USA/FL         2:57:58   1,500
16. Lee DiPietro, 46, USA/MD           2:58:59
17. Stephanie Hodge, 38, USA/NY        3:00:00
18. Caroline Dobbyn, 24, IRL/MA        3:01:57
19. Lisa Valentine, 43, USA/FL         3:02:19
20. Shannon Hovey, 33, USA/CT          3:03:30
21. Jane Johnson, 45, USA/FL           3:03:44
22. Emily Bates, 27, USA/MA            3:09:59
23. Akiko Misawa, 28, JPN              3:11:03
24. Jessica Blake, 26, USA/MA          3:14:44
25. Sayuri Kusutani, 45, JPN/HI        3:16:13
40+: 
 1. Burangulova (above)                2:34:08 $10,000
 2. Protz (above)                      2:58:58   5,000
 3. DiPietro (above)                   2:58:59   2,500
 4. Valentine (above)                  3:02:19   1,500
 5. Johnson (above)                    3:03:44   1,000

Halves for Ndereba: 

WOMEN (noon start, mixed race, not eligible for prize money) - 
 1. Greta Varchi, 31, USA/NY           2:54:15 (2:53:37 net)
 2. Yumiko Une, 32, JPN                2:54:59
 3. Julie Spencer, 27, USA/WI          2:56:39 (2:55:43 net)
 5. Kim Donaldson, 42, USA/FL          2:58:15
 6. Tracy Fischer, 35, USA/CA          2:59:36