BOSTON (AP) – Incumbent Olympic champion Perez Yepchirchir has finished celebrating half a century of women in the Boston Marathon with a final to outdo them.
The 28-year-old Kenyan won a downhill sprint on Monday as the world’s oldest and most prestigious annual marathon returned to its traditional spring start for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began.
On the 50th anniversary of the first official women’s race, Jepchirchir swapped places with Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshane eight times in the last mile before continuing forever on Boylston Street and finishing in 2 hours, 21 minutes, 1 second.
“I felt strong. I pushed him, ”said Yepchirchir, who won $ 150,000 and the traditional gilded olive wreath to go with her Olympic gold medal and the New York Marathon title in 2021. I fell behind. But I did not lose hope. “
Evans Chebet completed the Kenyan breakthrough, breaking away from Gabriel Gay by about four miles to the 2:06:51 final for his first major marathon victory. 2019 winner Lawrence Cherono was second with 30 seconds behind, defending champion Benson Kipruto was third and Guy was fourth.
Daniel Romanchuk of Champaign, Illinois, won his second wheelchair career title in 1:26:58. Switzerland’s Manuela Shar won her second consecutive crown from Boston and fourth overall, finishing in 1:41:08.
Sharing the Patriots Day weekend with the opening of the Red Sox home – the city’s other sporting ritual in the spring – more than 28,000 runners returned to the streets from Hopkinton to Copley Square six months after a smaller and socially remote event, the only one autumn race in its 126-year history.
Fans waved Ukrainian flags in support of the runners, whose 26.2-mile run on Monday was the easiest part of their journey. Forty-four Ukrainian citizens had registered for the competition; started only 11.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus were removed in response to the invasion.
“I decided to come here and show that the Ukrainians are strong, we are fighting and we hope for peace soon,” said Dmitry Molchanov, a Ukrainian living in New York.
“It is really difficult to be here while my whole family, friends and Ukrainians are fighting there for peace in my country, in Europe and in the world as a whole,” said Molchanov, who finished at 2:39:20.
“When it was really difficult, I tried not to give up and I tried to insist, to fight with myself, as the Ukrainians are fighting against Russia at the moment.
Ukrainians who failed to reach Boston were offered a postponement or refund.
“Whatever they want to do, they can do,” said Boston Athletic Association President Tom Grillk. “Run this year, run next. Do you want a puppy? Anyway. There is no group to which we are more useful. “
Jepchirchir and Yeshane, who was third in New York last fall, spent most of the morning running side by side – or even closer: Just after the 25-kilometer marker, the Ethiopian’s eyes veered off course and she drifted off. in Jepchirchir.
Yeshane reached out to apologize, and they held hands as they continued.
“We understand each other in running and maybe someone came and hit, but everything is fine,” said Jepchirchir. “It was not a rivalry; it was just an accident. “
Defeated, Yeshaneh finished four seconds behind. Mary Ngugi of Kenya finished third for the second time in six months, following her podium in October after the 125th race was postponed, canceled and postponed again.
About 20 men stayed together – with American CJ Albertson, leading most of the way – before Chebet and Guy broke away from the pack coming from Heartbreak Hill. Chebet withdrew a few miles later.
“We had communicated before, all of us. We wanted to keep working as a band, “said Chebet, who finished fourth in London last fall. “I noticed that my colleagues were not close to me and that gave me motivation.”
This competition marked the 50th anniversary of Nina Kushik’s victory in the first official women’s race. (But not the first woman to graduate: this honor belongs to Bobby Gibb, who first competed in 1966 among the unofficial runners known as bandits.)
At Wellesley College, the women’s school near the middle of the road, the iconic “screaming tunnel” is back after the pandemic absence – and stronger than ever. A viewer in Wellesley held a sign reading “50 years of women fleeing Boston,” along with the names of the eight who crossed the gender barrier in 1972.
Five of the original pioneers returned for this year’s celebration, including Valeri Rogosheske, who finished sixth in ’72; she competes with her daughters this year and serves as an honorary starter in the women’s elite field.
Rogosheske, who wore the 1972 mucosa, said at the starting line that she had planned to hide in the bushes and run away as a bandit 50 years ago, while the women were given the green light a few weeks before the race.
“We remind you that we managed quite easily,” said 2018 winner Des Linden, who finished 13th on Monday. “Fifty years ago, they broke down barriers and did the hard part.
“I really am not lost, that there is a 126-year history of competitions here and we are” Ra! Rah! ”“ 50, ”she said. “But you can’t look back, you look forward.”
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Associated Press screenwriters Jennifer McDermott and Colin Binkley and AP sports writer Kyle Hightower contributed to this story.
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