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News
The 119th Running of the Boston Marathon - The Men's Race
by John Elliott
What To Expect
Any number of media outlets will simply report on who won a race with what time - but we like to do more than that. There is a reason why the elite athlete coordinator selects the athletes who will participate, there are expectations placed on each of the athletes. Beyond the absolute outcome, we want to know how that compared to the expectations and what it tells us for the future of the athletes and the sport.
2013/2015 Champion Desisa and 2014 Champion Keflezighi
photo credit: MarathonGuide.com |
The 2015 Boston Marathon brought together two stories by inviting a collection of very strong East African marathoners, many veterans of past Boston Marathons; as well as the top American marathoners including the defending champion. In addition to an exciting footrace, we wanted this contest to show us how America's runners compare to the Africans as well as giving us a basis to judge and rank our runners as we move toward 2016 - an Olympic year.
The Start
The Boston Marathon begins with a significant downhill open and the men often go out at a fast pace. That was more than true for the 2015 race as the first mile opened with a split of 4:39 before settling down in the later miles. Although common knowledge that it is a bad idea to start a marathon faster than one can finish it, the number of men challenging themselves with that pace was large: at 10 kilometers into the race there were sixteen men together, including four Americans. Through the first miles, Tadese Tola (ETH) took the lead sometimes aided by another Ethiopian, Yemane Adhane Tsegay. But with watchful eyes, we could see one runner, the 2013 champion Lelisa Desisa, occasionally put in short surges to see who would go with him before settling back into the pack. It was clear watching the race, and confirmed by Desisa afterwards, that he was very confident in the day and was testing and judging the competition with those advantages and recognizing that he was likely the strongest on the day.
The Second Half
With a small headwind, the pace settled back a bit and the lead switched around. American Dathan Ritzenhein who had not run a marathon in 1-1/2 years ran to the front and led for almost five miles - not moving away from the pack, but trying to demonstrate that he was strong and comfortable, and he did look good. Ritzenhein's compatriot and the 2014 Champion, Meb Keflezighi, ran to the front at one point - but did not try the move that earned him the title in 2014: running away from the pack before the hills. At one point Desisa made another surge and we could see Wilson Chebet - the runner-up in 2014 - cover the move slightly as he remembered that his failure to cover in 2014 left him unable to make up the distance to the leader the year before.
Lelisa Desisa Wins the 2015 Boston Marathon
photo credit: Victah Sailer |
Into the famous Newton Hills and particularly the last, "Heartbreak Hill," the best runners try to gain distance on the others showing their strength and hoping the others will lose heart. Desisa, having well tested the others earlier in the run, knew that he was perhaps strongest and put in a surge. Only three men - Wesley Korir, Wilson Chebet and Yemane Adhane Tsegay - could stay with Desisa and it became a race of four men. Desisa continued to push the pace, putting in a set of the three fastest miles of the day: 4:47, 4:42 and 4:36 to break away from the others and sail on to victory in 2:09:17 with a margin of more than 30 seconds over second place.
Behind, Yemane Tsegay, the last man to hang onto Desisa easily took second in 2:09:48. Wilson Chebet, finished third in 2:10:22. Wesley Korir, one of the few who had stayed with the lead pack toward the end, was passed in the final stretch with Bernard Kipyego finishing fourth in 2:10:47 to Korir's fifth place time of 2:10:49.
The Americans
As much as we enjoyed watching an exciting race and Desisa's excellence on the day - we wanted to use the Boston Marathon to gauge the relative strength of the Americans against the international field, but more importantly, against each other. The Americans at Boston included the favorites and some of the darkhorse choices of those who would be expected to make the USA Olympic Marathon team. Three-time Olympians Meb Keflezighi and Dathan Ritzenhein are favored to make the Olympic team, but Keflezighi is approaching forty years of age - old for this sport - and Ritzenhein had not run a marathon in eighteen months. Others who have a shot at making the Olympic team include Nick Arciniaga, Matt Tegenkamp and Jeffrey Eggleston.
What we learned from the Boston Marathon and the American finishes is that Dathan Ritzenhein is able to come back to the marathon after a layoff and that his strong performance and seventh place finish in 2:11:20 put him as a clear favorite for the Olympic team selection. Similarly, Meb Keflezighi - although his race left him to finish in eighth place/2:12:42 after stopping to throw up in the latter stages of the race - continues to stand head and shoulders above the rest of the American contingent. Matt Tegenkamp - a relative newcomer to marathoning - finished eleventh in 2:13:52, well off what he will need to do in order to make the Olympic Marathon team, but considering that he ran aggressively with the lead pack and was still able to finish fairly strong suggests he may have a shot. Nick Arciniaga ran too aggressively and too quickly in the early miles and finished in a disappointing time of 2:18:02 - but the Olympic Trials Marathon will likely start at a more reasonable pace, so his show of guts means that he could compete. Jeffrey Eggleston ran his own race to finish as fourth American - he has the speed to be a darkhorse to make the Olympic team, but fails to show the heart to put in a real race against a field of competitors and continues to run solid/even splits to a decent finish.
Top Finishers:
1. Lelisa Desisa (ETH) 2:09:17 - $150,000
2. Yemane Adhane Tsegay (ETH) 2:09:48 - $75,000
3. Wilson Chebet (KEN) 2:10:22 - $40,000
4. Bernard Kipyego (KEN) 2:10:47 - $25,000
5. Wesley Korir (KEN) 2:10:49 - $15,000
6. Frankline Chepkwony (KEN) 2:10:52 - $12,000
7. Dathan Ritzenhein (USA) 2:11:20 - $9,000
8. Meb Keflezighi (USA) 2:12:42 - $7,400
9. Tadese Tola (ETH) 2:13:35 - $5,700
10. Vitaliy Shafar (UKR) 2:13:52 - $4,200
11. Matt Tegenkamp (USA) 2:13:52 - $2,600
12. Jeffrey Eggleston (USA) 2:14:17 - $2,100
13. Lusapho April (RSA) 2:16:25 - $1,800
14. Nicholas Arciniaga (USA) 2:18:02 - $1,700
15. Danilo Goffi (ITA) 2:18:44 - $11,500
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