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Defending champion Evans Chebet won the Boston Marathon again on Saturday, surging to the front on 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 medalist in the 5,000 meters, won the women’s race in 2:21:38 to complete the Kenyan sweep. Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso was second, 12 seconds behind, followed seven seconds later by Israel’s Lonah Salpeter.
Kipchoge finished sixth, only his third defeat in a major marathon with 12 victories. Scott Fauble is the top American, coming in seventh. Chebet is the first back-to-back champion 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’s a strong field, and everyone is there to race.”
Chebet was in the lead pack that dropped Kipchoge around Mile 20, shortly after he missed a bottle at the water station. The three fell back with about three miles to go, with Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay winning the second leg, 10 seconds behind the winner and two seconds ahead of 2021 champion Benson Kipruto of Kenya.
“Most of them blew it. Even Eliud Kipchoge blew it,” said Fauble. “I almost caught him.”
WATCH | Kenyan duo rule cool and wet Boston Marathon:
Evans Chebet of Kenya won his second Boston Marathon in 2:05:45 ahead of Benson Kipruto and Gabriel Geay. Fellow Kenyan Hellen Obiri won the women’s event, in just her second career marathon.
For the first time, the race also included a non-binary division, with 27 athletes registered.
Kipchoge had hoped to add the 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 they have played against and failed to win. (He never opened New York.) He also broke two hours at an exhibition in a Vienna park.
Against a trail of trail-damaging wind and rain, Kipchoge ran in the lead pack from the start in Hopkinton to a series of climbs known as Heartbreak Hill. But to the surprise of fans who lined up on Boylston Street for the final sprit, he wasn’t among the top three.
Hug wins 6th Boston wheelchair title
A familiar name returns to the top of the podium and another one comes for the first time in the wheelchair division.
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug captured his sixth Boston Marathon wheelchair title, claiming victory in a course record 1:17:06 in his first race. It bests the previous 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 victory was the second largest in Boston wheelchair racing history. He received $25,000 US for the victory and a $50,000 bonus for setting a new course mark.
Mind-blowing, incredible. … One of those rare times when people take it to another 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 this year after withdrawing before the race for medical reasons. Hug also broke the course record in the 5k race on Saturday as well.
“It’s amazing, it’s incredible,” three-time Paralympian Josh Cassidy told CBC Sports of Hug’s effort in Monday’s marathon. “Every athlete here is in disbelief.
“Why is that? [performance] work on this [cool and rainy] the condition? This is one of those rare moments when someone takes it to another level.
Cassidy was 19th in 1:47:02. He believes this is his 13th Boston Marathon and his “worst so far.”
‘Started off good… then went downhill’
Not only did he feel heavy (slow) and tight during the warm-up, he started cramping during the race and had problems holding the race seat.
“I was really good in the first, in the second,” said Cassidy, who won the 2012 Boston Marathon in a world record 1:18:25. “I was in the top 10 for the first bit, then the problem set in and [it was] get down from there.”
The 38-year-old from Port Elgin, Ont., will return to his home in Barrie, Ont., to prepare for next month’s race in Switzerland. Cassidy plans to race at the world Para track and field championships July 8-17 in Paris and later in the month at the senior Para-U20 track and field championships in Langley, BC
Meanwhile, the victory for Scaroni made him runner-up in 2018 and 2022. He was followed by Australia’s Madison de Rozario in 1:46.55 and Japan’s Wakako Tsuchida in 1:47.04.
Scaroni built a lead of 20 seconds early before having to stop for a moment to adjust the loose right wheel about 16 km in. He dealt with the issue and returned to the race.
“It’s more to pull through lost time tightening it,” she said. “Your speed is lost when you steer [loose] greater than the time you will lose by not tightening. I was disappointed. I’m just trying to get back to … speed as quickly as possible.”
A dozen former champions and participants from 120 countries and all 50 countries were in the field of 30,000 running 10 years after the bombing of the finish line that killed three people and injured hundreds of others. The race also included 264 members of the One Fund community – those injured in the attack, their friends and family and the charities involved.
The city marked the anniversary at a ceremony Saturday.
A robotic dog named Stompy from the Department of Homeland Security patrols the starting line before the race begins, tossed around by photographers snapping the odd scene. Officials say there are no known threats.
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