New York, US (PANA) – American Meb Keflezighi won, on Monday, the men’s event of the 2014 Boston Marathon, breaking the dominance of African runners who have won 19 of the past 23 editions.
But Kenyan Rita Jeptoo lived up to the billing as one of the favourites when she won the women’s event, her third Boston title, in course record time.
Keflezighi broke a 31-year drought by becoming the first US man to win in Boston since 1983, clocking two hours, eight minutes and 37 seconds, a personal best.
Kenyans Wilson Chebet (2:08:48) and Frankline Chepkwony (2:08:50) were second and third respectively.
In the women’s event, the 33-year-old Kenyan became the fastest woman in Boston history and the first to run sub-2:20 there.
The defending champion and 2006 winner, Jeptoo came to the start line in Hopkinton with more experience than any of the elite entrants, and in winning put herself among a short list of three-time champions.
Jeptoo is the first woman to win three Boston Marathons since Catherine Ndereba took her third in 2004. Only Ndereba, with a fourth win in 2005, has more victories in Boston.
As predicted, Africans dominated the women’s race, with Ethiopians Bezunesh Deba (2:19:59) and Mare Dibaba (2:20:35) finishing second and third respectively.
The 118th running of the annual Marathon was significant because it was the first edition of the race since the 2013 edition was ruined by a bomb explosion.
This year’s event saw the second-largest field of runners in race history, with 36,000 entrants. The highest entry was in the 1996 edition, with 38,708 entrants.
Photo: Boston Herald
