30,000 runners will make the 26.2 mile journey from
Hopkinton to Boylston Street next Monday morning for the 121st running of the
Boston Marathon.
Unfortunately a lot of major marathon news lately has
revolved around doping—from the controversy surrounding Galen Rupp and the Nike
Oregon Project to just last week the 2016 Rio Olympics Marathon champion Jemima
Sumgong tested positive for EPO. But let’s
not let this take away from the amazing field put together by the
BAA for this year’s race which will include both defending champs—Lemi Berhanu
Hayle and Atsede Baysa, both of Ethiopia. 2x champion Lelisa Desisa has had a lot of success in Boston but is missing
from the list of entrants because he is off training for Nike’s sub-2 hour
marathon project which is expected to go down later this spring.
With last year being an Olympic year, Boston lost a lot of
the American big name favorites that fans are used to seeing. This year, they are back! Galen Rup, Meb Keflezighi and Jared Ward—our
2016 Rio Olympic Marathoners—will all be running and looking to take down the
East Africans. On the ladies side,
Shalane Flanagan had to withdraw due to injury leaving good odds for American
Desi Linden. She will be joined by
Jordan Hasay, who is making her marathon debut.
Are you running on Marathon Monday?! I’d love to follow and track you!
Back to the race. I
said this the last few years and I’m saying it again…
There is nothing more
motivating and powerful than watching a marathon. From the elites to the back of the pack
joggers, everyone has a story to tell about their journey and months of
training.
Locally you can watch live coverage of the event on CBS
Boston WBZ-TV beginning at 9am on race morning.
For national coverage, check out NSC Sports Network. They will air a preview show on Sunday at 8pm
on Universal HD interviewing some of the athletes and setting the scene for
this year’s race. Live coverage will
begin on NBC Sports Network at 8:30am.
The wheelchair start is at 9:17am. The women’s elite start is at 9:32am; the men
start at 10:00am.
The Boston Marathon is one of the World Marathon Majors
along with New York, Chicago, London, Tokyo and Berlin. To those that don’t follow the sport, next
Monday’s race is a big deal. Boston is
similar to the Super Bowl of football.
Or the Kentucky Derby of horse racing.
Shalane Flanagan has said in multiple interviews that she would rather
be crowned Boston Marathon champion over Olympic champion. Elites must be invited to race whereas
non-elites have to earn the elusive Boston Qualifying time or raise money for
one of the many wonderful charities.
Prize Money
This year’s race has an $830,500 prize purse plus an
additional $220,000 if records are broken.
First place men and women will earn $150,000 while runner up
receives $75,000 and second runner up received $40,000. Even 15th place gets $1,500.
Bonuses are awarded for fast times—$50,000 for a World’s
Best (Men 2:02:57 by Dennis Kimetto in 2014 & Women 2:15:25 by Paula
Radcliffe in 2013) and $25,000 for a Course Record (Men 2:03:02 by Geoffrey
Mutai in 2011 & 2:19:59 by Buzunesh Deba in 2014).
Let’s take a look at this year’s elite field and who to root
for…
The elite field features 6 past champions, 19 Olympians and
2 Olympic medalists. Meb Keflezighi was the most recent American to win the
Boston Marathon in 2014 but Boston has not seen an American woman win since
1985.
Top Elite Women
The Americans: Desi Linden and Jordan Hasay
Desi Linden – 2x Olympian, 2nd in 2011, 4th in 2014, 4th
fastest American marathoner of all time (2:22:38 PR)
Jordan Hasay – Ran a 1:07:55 half marathon on April 1st in
Prague, is making her marathon debut
Atsede Baysa – Defending champion, 2x winner in Chicago, 2x
winner in Paris (2:22:03 PR)
Edna Kiplagat – 2x World Champion, won the Abbott World Marathon
Series in 2013-2014, also won in London, New York and LA (2:19:50 PR)
Buzunesh Deba – 2014 champion after Rita Jeptoo’s title was
stripped, holds the course record of 2:19:59, 9x marathon champion on U.S. soil
(2:19:59 PR)
Gladys Cherono – 7th fastest female marathoner of all time,
2015 Berlin champion (2:19:25 PR)
Joyce Chepkirui – 3rd in 2016 (2:24:11 PR)
Caroline Rotich – 2015 champion, 4th in 2011 (2:23:22 PR)
Top Elite Men
The Americans: Galen Rupp, Meb Keflezighi, Jared Ward, Abdi
Abdirahman
Galen Rupp – 9x National Champion at various distances, 3rd
2016 Olympic Marathon, will be running his 3rd marathon, first time in Boston
but experienced some foot pain in Prague on April 1st so his health is
questionable (2:10:05 PR)
Meb Keflezighi – 2014 champion, 2009 winner in New York, 2nd
2004 Olympic Marathon, 41 years old, will be running his last Boston Marathon
and is the only runner in history to win Boston, New York and earn a medal at
the Olympics (2:08:37 PR)
Jared Ward – 6th 2016 Olympic Marathon, first time in Boston
(2:11:30 PR)
Abdi Abdirahman – 4x Olympian, always a big wildcard, surprised everyone with a 3rd place finish
in New York last year (2:08:56 PR)
Lemi Berhanu Hayle – Defending champion, only 22 years old,
has won 6 of his 9 career marathon starts (2:04:33 PR)
Yemane Tsegay – 2nd in 2015, 3rd in 2016 (2:03:13 PR)
Emmanuel Mutai – Winner in London and Amsterdam, has broken
2:04 more than once (2:03:13 PR)
Sammy Kitwara – 6th in 2016, 2015 & 2014 runner up in
Chicago (2:04:28 PR)
Wesley Korir – 2012 champion, the year of the heat! 2x LA
champion, has run Boston 4 times all with Top 5 finishes (2:06:13)
Wilson Chebet – 2nd in 2014, 3rd in 2015, 3x Amsterdam
champion, returning for his 5th Boston (2:05:27 PR)
Sisay Lemme – Winner in Frankfurt, Vienna, Warsaw and Capri
(2:05:16 PR)
Dino Sefir – The defending champion’s training partner
(2:04:50 PR)
If you will be in Boston this weekend, check out these other
exciting events…
John Hancock Sport & Fitness Expo and Boston Marathon
Bib Number Pick-Up
Did you know that the marathon expo is open to the
public? You don’t have to be a
registered runner to attend. It will be
held race weekend at the John B. Hynes Convention Center featuring many great
sponsors, brands and companies with a passion for running, health and
fitness. Many give away samples and free
advice.
BAA Invitational Mile
Saturday April 15th is the BAA 5k and BAA Invitational
Mile. While registration is full for the
5k, I totally recommend you checking out some great races. The men’s mile is at 12:50pm and the women go
off at 1:00pm. Some of the best middle
distance runners race every year two days before the marathon. The invitational mile is a 3-lap course (great
for spectating!) beginning on Boylston Street and finishing at the Marathon
finish line.
Marathon Monday
“If you can’t be an
athlete, be an athletic supporter.”
Race volunteers went through an exclusive application
process early in the year and 8,000 were selected to cover all areas from the
expo to the start line, water stations and finish line.
If you would like to volunteer in 2018, set a
reminder to check the BAA website right after the New Year.
Over 500,000 spectators are expected to line the
course. Because Boston is so crowded and
a point-to-point race, you may only get to see your favorite runners once. The year I got to experience Boston, Lizzie
and I cheered from about the 40k mark then walked to the finish line to meet up
with a friend.
Any of my readers have experience navigating the course?
Where
are your favorite places to watch?
Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays
While I’d rather be caught dead then cheering for the Red
Sox, they do have a cool tradition of playing a home game on Patriots Day—aka
Marathon Monday. Game time is set for
11:05am. Watch the game at Fenway Park
then head into Kenmore Square to cheer on the runners.
Qualifying
Interested in running in 2018?
The race is scheduled for April 16th.
You can find all the Boston Marathon
Qualifying standards
here.
The BAA also
compiled a list of the top 25 marathons most frequently used to qualify.
Some of the more popular races include
Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, California International, Grandma’s, Marine
Corps, Twin Cities, Houston and Baystate.
You can view the full list
here.
Did you know?
·
Most of the Boston Marathon course is actually
run outside of Boston. Runners reach
Boston proper at about Mile 24.5 after running through Hopkinton, Ashland,
Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton and Brookline.
·
The Boston Marathon has always been held on
Patriot’s Day but from the first race in 1897 to 1968, the Boston Marathon was
held on April 19th unless the 19th fell on a Sunday. Now Patriot’s Day and Marathon Monday is
celebrated on the third Monday in April.
