Boston Marathon goes down to wire
A race of more than 26 miles came down to the final few agonizing yards Monday afternoon as Lawrence cherono edged Lelisa desisa in the closest Boston Marathon finish since 1988, ending desisa’s bid for a third straight Boston championship.
On the women’s side, the finish was exactly the opposite, with Worknesh degefa leaving no doubt as she kept her competition out of camera range for most of the race and cruised to a comfortable victory.
It was the men’s race that brought drama to the 123rd running of the marathons as a three-man battle came down to two. Nearly out of gas as the finish line loomed, cherono and desisa duelled with arms and legs flailing, but cherono had just a bit more left in the tank and won in what was very nearly a photo finish.
The unofficial times: cherono of kenya in 2:07:59; desisa of ethiopia in 2:08. kenneth kipkemoi, also of kenya, faded over the last 300 yards or so and was third in 2:08:06.
It was a gutsy finish by cherono, who had to be helped by two race officials as he stepped gingerly to the podium for the post-race ceremony.
On the women’s side, degefa, a 28-year-old ethiopian who was running only her fourth marathon, took control of the race at about Mile 4, moving past American Sara hall. With an unofficial winning time of 2:23:30, she easily beat 39-year-old kenyan edna kiplagat, who finished second, and American Jordan hasay, who was third.
NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson ran the marathon this year. Wearing Bib No. 4848 as a nod to his No. 48 chevrolet, Johnson set out with the goal of breaking three hours, but he realized about seven miles in: “It wasn’t in the cards.” his time? 3:09:07.