Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
By KEN MAGUIRE
[FONT=verdana,sans-serif]BOSTON (AP) -After a slick surface in Chicago nearly cost Robert Cheruiyot his career, the remnants of a soaking nor'easter were no match for the Kenyan as he captured his third Boston Marathon.
Cheruiyot defended his title to bring Kenya its 15th victory in 17 years. Cheruiyot, who also won in 2003, set the course record last year but fought the wind and rain to finish in a slower, unofficial time of 2 hours, 14 minutes, 13 seconds.
Cheruiyot held his arms to the side and blew a kiss to the crowd as he stepped over the slip-proof line 20 seconds ahead of countryman James Kwambai.
"I don't want myself to ... think about falling down in Chicago," Cheruiyot said. "It is like ... telling someone that 'your mother had died' or something like that. It is not good."
Last fall in Chicago, he slipped on the slickened finish line and banged his head on the pavement. His torso bounced across the line as he fell. Cheruiyot spent two nights in the hospital and later worried that his career was over.
Cheruiyot needed therapy for his back and sometimes experienced blurry vision. Entering Boston, he wasn't entirely clear if he's fully recovered. Three weeks ago, he went back to the hospital after getting headaches about 15 miles into a training run.
But once victory was in sight Monday, there was no concern about his condition, or the weather. He outkicked Kwambai as they headed into Kenmore Square with a mile to go and beat him by 20 seconds.
"When the lion is chasing the antelope, he doesn't look back. He has to eat," Cheruiyot said.
Running in poor conditions was nothing new for women's winner Lidiya Grigoryeva. She held off defending champ Rita Jeptoo of Kenya among others, and later said she expected Boston "to be more difficult than it was."
Grigoryeva captured the women's crown in 2:29:18, in her first Boston try. Grigoryeva, who set the course record in Los Angeles last year, veered to the stands to grab a Russian flag just before crossing the finish line to win by 40 seconds and claim her $100,000 first prize.
"During my training in Russia, the weather conditions were very similar," Grigoryeva, 33, said through a translator after the race.
The two-time Olympian, who won the Paris Marathon in 2005, said she "thought the course was going to be more difficult than it was."
The Russian pulled away from runner-up Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia and third-place finisher Madai Perez of Mexico as they approached Kenmore Square with just over a mile left. Jeptoo finished fourth.
Boston-area native Deena Kastor knows all about unpredictable New England weather. That didn't bother her Monday, but an emergency bathroom pit stop did. Stomach problems diverted her from the course for a minute near the midpoint.
"My stomach started cramping up a little bit," said Kastor, who finished fifth.
Still, she said the conditions weren't so bad.
"To unload the bus in Hopkinton to just a light drizzle and light winds was great. For the most part, it was welcome compared to what the Weather Channel was predicting," she said.
Indeed, the weather was milder than forecasters had feared - 52 degrees with a moderate rain at the start - and the sun even came out halfway through. But winds picked up as the runners turned onto Beacon Street in Cleveland Circle for the last, long homestretch to Copley Square.
"My legs froze," said Peter Gilmore, the top American men's finisher, in eighth place. "It was the cold, my hamstrings and everything just started cramping up.
A new starting time - 10 a.m. for the main field, after more than 100 years of noon starts - was adopted in part because of a few years of afternoon heat. The earlier start also allowed cities and towns along the route to have their roads back sooner.
Despite a disappointing finish, Kastor earned the U.S. title and a bonus of $25,000. She has said she does not want to run the marathon at the worlds in Osaka, Japan.
Cheruiyot is in line for a nice little bonus of his own: He all but wrapped up a $500,000 bonuses from the World Marathon Majors circuit; Prokopcuka leads the women's points race with 55 points (25 points are awarded for a win, 15 for second). The bonuses will be paid to the top men and women after the world championships in Osaka and fall marathons in Berlin, Chicago and New York.
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[FONT=verdana,sans-serif]BOSTON (AP) -After a slick surface in Chicago nearly cost Robert Cheruiyot his career, the remnants of a soaking nor'easter were no match for the Kenyan as he captured his third Boston Marathon.
Cheruiyot defended his title to bring Kenya its 15th victory in 17 years. Cheruiyot, who also won in 2003, set the course record last year but fought the wind and rain to finish in a slower, unofficial time of 2 hours, 14 minutes, 13 seconds.
Cheruiyot held his arms to the side and blew a kiss to the crowd as he stepped over the slip-proof line 20 seconds ahead of countryman James Kwambai.
"I don't want myself to ... think about falling down in Chicago," Cheruiyot said. "It is like ... telling someone that 'your mother had died' or something like that. It is not good."
Last fall in Chicago, he slipped on the slickened finish line and banged his head on the pavement. His torso bounced across the line as he fell. Cheruiyot spent two nights in the hospital and later worried that his career was over.
Cheruiyot needed therapy for his back and sometimes experienced blurry vision. Entering Boston, he wasn't entirely clear if he's fully recovered. Three weeks ago, he went back to the hospital after getting headaches about 15 miles into a training run.
But once victory was in sight Monday, there was no concern about his condition, or the weather. He outkicked Kwambai as they headed into Kenmore Square with a mile to go and beat him by 20 seconds.
"When the lion is chasing the antelope, he doesn't look back. He has to eat," Cheruiyot said.
Running in poor conditions was nothing new for women's winner Lidiya Grigoryeva. She held off defending champ Rita Jeptoo of Kenya among others, and later said she expected Boston "to be more difficult than it was."
Grigoryeva captured the women's crown in 2:29:18, in her first Boston try. Grigoryeva, who set the course record in Los Angeles last year, veered to the stands to grab a Russian flag just before crossing the finish line to win by 40 seconds and claim her $100,000 first prize.
"During my training in Russia, the weather conditions were very similar," Grigoryeva, 33, said through a translator after the race.
The two-time Olympian, who won the Paris Marathon in 2005, said she "thought the course was going to be more difficult than it was."
The Russian pulled away from runner-up Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia and third-place finisher Madai Perez of Mexico as they approached Kenmore Square with just over a mile left. Jeptoo finished fourth.
Boston-area native Deena Kastor knows all about unpredictable New England weather. That didn't bother her Monday, but an emergency bathroom pit stop did. Stomach problems diverted her from the course for a minute near the midpoint.
"My stomach started cramping up a little bit," said Kastor, who finished fifth.
Still, she said the conditions weren't so bad.
"To unload the bus in Hopkinton to just a light drizzle and light winds was great. For the most part, it was welcome compared to what the Weather Channel was predicting," she said.
Indeed, the weather was milder than forecasters had feared - 52 degrees with a moderate rain at the start - and the sun even came out halfway through. But winds picked up as the runners turned onto Beacon Street in Cleveland Circle for the last, long homestretch to Copley Square.
"My legs froze," said Peter Gilmore, the top American men's finisher, in eighth place. "It was the cold, my hamstrings and everything just started cramping up.
A new starting time - 10 a.m. for the main field, after more than 100 years of noon starts - was adopted in part because of a few years of afternoon heat. The earlier start also allowed cities and towns along the route to have their roads back sooner.
Despite a disappointing finish, Kastor earned the U.S. title and a bonus of $25,000. She has said she does not want to run the marathon at the worlds in Osaka, Japan.
Cheruiyot is in line for a nice little bonus of his own: He all but wrapped up a $500,000 bonuses from the World Marathon Majors circuit; Prokopcuka leads the women's points race with 55 points (25 points are awarded for a win, 15 for second). The bonuses will be paid to the top men and women after the world championships in Osaka and fall marathons in Berlin, Chicago and New York.
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