BOSTON MARATHON BELONGS TO ETHIOPIA THIS YEAR
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2016 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
BOSTON
(18-Apr) — Athletes from Ethiopia dominated the 120th Boston Marathon
here today, sweeping both the men’s and women’s divisions for the first
time in the same year, and capturing five of the six podium positions.
Lemi Berhanu Hayle and Atsede Baysa took the top spots in 2:12:45 and
2:29:19, respectively, and hoped that their victories would earn them
berths on the Ethiopian team for the Rio Olympics this summer, despite
recording modest times. Both athletes earned $150,000 in prize money.
BERHANU TAKES DOWN DESISA
Lelisa
Desisa, the defending champion who also won here in 2013, knew better
than any man in the field that winning Boston is about tactics, not
speed. He ignored an impetuous opening move by Japan’s Shingo
Igarashi, who spurted to a 21 second lead through the third mile, and
remained comfortably in the middle of the pack, content to run a steady
3:10 per kilometer. There was no hurry.
“As
we saw, the Boston marathon is different from any other races,” Desisa
said after the race. “You don’t know how it will go. Maybe slow, maybe
fast.”
Lemi Berhanu Hayle, who
finished second at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon three months
ago in 2:04:33, wasn’t watching the clock, either. He was watching
Desisa. He figured that his best strategy was to follow the two-time
champion and just make sure he covered any moves.
“When
I came to this race, I came only to win, not to run fast, like in
Dubai,” Berhanu told reporters through a translator. He continued: “I
controlled only what Lelisa do.”
So,
through the first 20 kilometers, the pack dawdled, running the first
four 5-kilometer sections in 15:28, 15:50, 15:45 and 16:09,
respectively. There were some small surges by Kenya’s Paul Lonyangata,
Brazil’s Solonei Rocha Da Silva, and Zimbabwe’s Cutbert Nyasango, but
no lasting damage was done. At halfway (1:06:44), there were still 17
men in contention.
It wasn’t until the 26th kilometer, that Desisa finally go serious.
“For 23 (kilometers) the pace was very slow,” Desisa later explained. “After that I tried to push.”
The
16th mile –approximately 24 to 26 kilometers– is sharply downhill,
and Desisa decided to use that section to break up the race. He
scorched that mile in 4:34 (2:50 per kilometer pace), and only Berhanu
was able to cover the move. Compatriots Yemane Tsegay and Tsegaye
Mekonnen did their best to maintain contact, but any chance for victory
for them was already lost.
“When Lelisa pushed,” Berhanu said, “I listened. I followed what he did.”
While
a dozen men were still in contention at 25-K, by 30-K Desisa and
Berhanu had a 28-second lead, and it was already a two-man race. They
passed 35-K and 40-K together, before Berhanu made his bid for victory.
Desisa went for his drink at 40-K, and Berhanu took off. In a few
seconds, the race was decided. Berhanu had a comfortable lead heading
down Boylston Street to the finish in Back Bay. Nonetheless, he was
still worried that he could be caught.
“I didn’t believe up to the finish line that Lilesa might come,” Berhanu said. “I was thinking somebody was over me.”
Berhanu’s
winning time of 2:12:45 was the slowest here since Robert Kipkoech
Cheruiyot ran 2:14:13 in 2007 when the race was held in driving rain
and cold temperatures. Desisa was timed in 2:13:32, easily his slowest
Boston, and Tsegay was able to hang on for third (2:14:02). Berhanu
was so excited when he finished, that he did a few dance moves after
breaking the tape.
“In that time I didn’t know what, I was going,” he later said, looking slightly embarrassed.
Because
of February’s USA Olympic Trials Marathon, most home country athletes
stayed away from Boston this year. The top American was 28 year-old
Zach Hine of Dallas. Finishing tenth in 2:21:37, he was elated with
his race, especially since he grew up on South Hadley, Mass., about 145
kilometers west of Boston.
“There’s
nothing like a hometown race for me,” Hine said. He continued: “It’s
really special. I’ve just had (so many) texts and calls; my phone’s
been blowing up since I finished.”
BAYSA COMES FROM BEHIND
The women’s race also went out slow, and luck –both bad and good– played a big role in the outcome.
After
an easy first 5 kilometers in 18:22, defending champion Caroline Rotich
of Kenya, suddenly slowed down, went to the back of the pack, and
stopped. Just 7 kilometers into the race she was done.
“Sudden
severe foot pain,” her manager Isaya Okwyia told Race Results Weekly
via text message. “Not certain whether it’s bone or soft tissue.”
The
big lead pack of 18 lumbered on, slimming only to 16 by 10-K (36:20),
13 by 15-K (53:59) and 12 by 20-K (1:11:45). The leaders were only on
pace for a 2:31:16 finish time.
After
the halfway point (1:15:32), the leaders began to trade surges, and the
race resembled a fartlek workout. Baysa decided she didn’t want to get
caught up in that kind of racing, and decided to hold a steady pace,
instead.
“She kept her pace,” said her coach Gemedu Degefa. “If she moved in the same way, she would lose the race.”
By
30-K (1:46:32) a pack of four had broken away leaving Baysa running
alone 24 seconds behind. Ethiopian Tirfi Tsegaye and Kenyans Joyce
Chepkirui, Valentine Kipketer and Flomena Cheyech Daniel ran in tight
formation, racing each other in earnest. Baysa tried to remain both
patient and confident, watching the women racing ahead of her.
“In
the middle of the race they did like fartleks,” Baysa said through her
coach. “I was feeling my own strength. I decided a little bit with my
level to maintain the pace.”
The
sparring at the front began to take a toll. Daniel was first to fall
off of the pace, then Kipketer was dropped going up Heartbreak Hill in
the 21st mile, although she briefly caught up later. Baysa was a
whopping 37 seconds behind at 35-K, but was beginning to make up time.
She knew she was still in contention.
“After, everybody was near to me,” she said. “I moved and pushed the race in the last part.”
Covering
the 5 kilometers between 35 and 40-K in 16:43 –the fastest 5-K segment
by any woman in today’s race– she captured the lead in the 40th
kilometer
and, remarkably, ran away from the field.
“Winning
the Boston Marathon is for me is big,” Baysa said, later explaining
that she endured hamstring pain beginning in the 12th kilometer.
Saying she was confident in her training, she added: “I thought I
could win the race very easily.”
Tirfi,
who trains with Baysa, held on for second (2:30:03) and the tiring
Chepkirui –last December’s Honolulu Marathon champion– picked up
third (2:30:50). Two-time TCS New York City Marathon champion Jelena
Prokopcuka of Latvia survived an entanglement with Fatuma Sado in which
Sado lost her shoe, and finished fourth in 2:32:28.
The
top American was Neely Spence Gracey of Superior, Colo. The 26
year-old former NCAA Division II star for Shippensburg University,
finished a solid ninth in 2:35:00 in her debut at the distance.
Sticking with a conservative race plan, she ran halves of 1:17:01 and
1:17:59, and looked fresh at the finish.
“I’m
definitely very pleased,” said Gracey, who was born in 1990 while her
father, Steve, was competing in the Boston Marathon. “I ran very
conservatively based off of my training coming into it to set up for a
positive outcome.” She concluded: “I met my goals.”
With
their victories here today, Baysa and Berhanu lead the Abbott World
Marathon Majors Series X with 25 points. The series will conclude here
in Boston next year and the series champions will earn $500,000.
PHOTO: Atsede Baysa winning the 2016 Boston Marathon in 2:29:19 (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)