Boston Marathon 2011: Winners and Results
In the fastest marathon ever run, Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won the 115th Boston marathon in 2:03:02. Though the course's average decrease in elevation is greater than what is allowed for world record consideration, it was still one of the best performances in marathon history. "I participated in a historic race today," said America's Ryan Hall, whose fourth-place finish (2:04:58) was the best time run by an American for the 26.2-mile distance . . . ever!
As he likes to do in Boston, Hall stayed in front for most of the race, at times high- fiving the crowd and holding his hand to his ear several times in Wellesley to encourage the cheering fans to crank up the volume. Indeed, Ryan's blistering pace was the factor in the historic fast times according to Mutai. "He pushed it, he pushed it all the time," said the Kenyan. "He was like a pacemaker; he helped us a lot."
Ryan was in the lead pack when Mutai put in a surge at about the 1:38 mark that most could not match. Still, the American happily admitted that, "I'll be proud of my perfomance the rest of my life." Juan Carlos Cardona became the second American finisher with a 12th place time of 2:12:17.
Kenya's Caroline Kilel held off an upset-minded Desiree Davila of the U.S. to win the women's race in a time of 2:22:36. Davila, the fourth-place finisher in last fall's Chicago Marathon, held her own in the final miles to claim second place (2:22:38) in a back-and-forth effort with Kilel and her Kenyan teammate. As word spread throughout the course, the relatively unknown American runner was encouraged by chants of USA! USA!
"It was the most incredible experience in my running career," said Davila, minutes after the race. One of the pre-race favorites, Kara Goucher, who skipped last year's race after giving birth, ensured that two out of the top 5 woman finishers were Americans with a personal record of 2:24:52 for fifth place. Kim Smith of New Zealand went out early and had a huge lead much of the race until she appeared to be suffering from a leg cramp and was overtaken at about the 1:41 mark.
For a list of top finishers and searchable results, go here.
FYI: Qualifying for the Boston Marathon is among the 100 things all runners should do before they die, the foundation of my new book Long May You Run. Olympian marathoner Brian Sell was kind enough to write the foreword for the book. Check out the Web site for some reviews of the book from runners like you.
Hopefully qualifying for and participating in a Boston Marathon will be in your future plans!
