Evans Chebet wins Boston Marathon, spoiling event debut of world record holder Kipchoge
Fellow Kenyan Obiri takes women's race; Hug sets course mark in wheelchair event
Defending champion Evans Chebet won the Boston Marathon again on Monday, surging to the front at Heartbreak Hill to spoil the much-anticipated debut of world record holder Eliud Kipchoge and win in two hours five minutes 54 seconds.
Hellen Obiri, a two-time Olympic silver medallist in the 5,000 metres, won the women's race in 2:21:38 to complete the Kenyan sweep. Amane Beriso of Ethiopia was second, 12 seconds back, followed seven seconds later by Israeli Lonah Salpeter.
Kipchoge finished sixth, just his third loss ever in a major marathon to go with 12 victories. Scott Fauble was the top American, finishing seventh. Chebet is the first back-to-back winner since Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot won three in a row from 2006-08.
"In a marathon anything can happen," Obiri said of the men's race. "It was a strong field, and everybody was there to race."
Chebet was in a lead pack that dropped Kipchoge around Mile 20, shortly after he missed his bottle at a water station. A threesome pulled away with about three miles left, with Gabriel Geay of Tanzania winning a footrace for second, 10 seconds behind the winner and two seconds ahead of 2021 winner Benson Kipruto of Kenya.
"Most of them blew up. Even Eliud Kipchoge blew up," Fauble said. "I almost caught him."
WATCH | Kenyan duo rule cool, rainy Boston Marathon:
For the first time, the race also included a non-binary division, with 27 athletes registered.
Kipchoge had been hoping to add a Boston Marathon victory to his unprecedented running resume. The 38-year-old has won two Olympic gold medals and four of the six major marathons; Boston is the only one he has competed in and failed to win. (He has never run New York.) He also broke two hours in an exhibition in a Vienna park.
Fighting a trace of a headwind and rain that dampened the roads, Kipchoge ran in the lead pack from the start in Hopkinton until the series of climbs collectively known as Heartbreak Hill. But to the surprise of the fans lined up along Boylston Street for the final sprit, he wasn't among the three leaders.
Hug wins 6th Boston wheelchair title
A familiar name returned to the top of the podium and another one got there for the first time in the wheelchair division.
Marcel Hug of Switzerland captured his sixth men's wheelchair Boston Marathon title, claiming the victory in a course record of 1:17:06 in the first race of the day. It bests his previous course mark of 1:18:04 set in 2017. American Daniel Romanchuk was second in 1:27.45, followed by Jetze Plat of the Netherlands in 1:28.35.
In the women's race, American Susannah Scaroni won her first Boston title, crossing the line in 1:41.45.
Hug's win was the second-largest in the Boston wheelchair race's history. He received $25,000 US for the victory and a $50,000 bonus for setting the new course mark.
Mind-blowing, incredible. ... One of those rare moments when someone takes it to a whole other level.— Canadian wheelchair racer Josh Cassidy on Marcel Hug's record performance in Boston
The 37-year-old Hug surged to the front of the field on a foggy and drizzly morning, leading the majority of the course a year after withdrawing before the race for medical reasons. Hug also broke the course record in Saturday's 5k race as well.
"Absolutely mind-blowing, incredible," three-time Paralympian Josh Cassidy told CBC Sports of Hug's effort in Monday's marathon. "Every single athlete here is in disbelief.
"How was that [performance] possible in these [cool and rainy] conditions? It's one of those rare moments when someone takes it to a whole other level."
Cassidy was 19th on Monday in 1:47:02. He believes it was his 13th Boston Marathon and "the worst to date."
'Great start ... then downhill'
Not only did he feel heavy (slow) and tight during warmup, he started to cramp during the race and had issues gripping his racing chair.
"I was great off the start, in second," said Cassidy, who won the 2012 Boston Marathon in a then-world record 1:18:25. "I was in the top 10 for the first bit, then issues set in and [it was] downhill from there."
The 38-year-old from Port Elgin, Ont., will return to his home in Barrie, Ont., to prepare for racing next month in Switzerland. Cassidy plans to race at the July 8-17 world Para athletics championships in Paris and later in the month at the U20-senior-Para athletics championships in Langley, B.C.
Meanwhile, the victory for Scaroni followed runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2022. She was followed by Madison de Rozario of Australia in 1:46.55 and Wakako Tsuchida of Japan in 1:47.04.
Scaroni built a 20-second lead early before having to stop briefly to adjust a loose right wheel about 16 km in. She dealt with the issue and returned to the race.
"It's better to pull over losing that time tightening it," she said. "The speed you lose when your wheel is [loose] is much greater than the time you would lose by not tightening it. I was disappointed. I just tried to get back to the … pace as quickly as I could."
A dozen former champions and participants from 120 countries and all 50 states were in the field of 30,000 running 10 years after the finish line bombing that killed three people and wounded hundreds more. The race also included 264 members of the One Fund community — those injured by the attack, their friends and family and charities associated with them.
The city marked the anniversary in a ceremony on Saturday.
A robotic dog named Stompy belonging to the Department of Homeland Security patrolled the start line before the race began, trailed by photographers capturing the peculiar sight. Officials said there were no known threats.
With files from Kyle Hightower/Associated Press & CBC Sports
