Boston Marathon 2008 - As It Happens

Refresh this page every few minutes to see the latest updates. We'll have all of the updates for all races on this one page - trying to make it as easy as possible for our readers to see what's happening.

Note, as you read these reports, they will appear in reverse chronological order. Newest updates will be at the top of each section.

Men's Race | Women's Race | Wheelchair Races

Overview
Why do we love the Boston Marathon? Because at 112 years old, this is the original marathon - and it's the one that almost anyone can get into, but only if you are serious about your running. For the elite athletes, the history and appeal of the Boston Marathon is the same as for everyone else - it's about the tradition AND the great races that are held here.

What a difference a year can make. In 2006, Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot won the Boston Marathon and set a course record in perfect weather. In 2007, the weather was so bad that the times were the slowest in more than a dozen years - but the result was the same: Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot arrived as champion. Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot will be returning to see if he can win for the third year in a row and fourth time in total. In the women's race, there is a regular rivalry between Lidiya Grigoryeva and Jelena Prokopcuka - they will be joined by others, but we'll expect these two veterans to figure in the race. And Lance Armstrong? Yeah, I guess we'll have some Lance updates strewn through here as well.

Perfect Weather!: 50 degrees at the start, very little wind. The stage is set.

Men's Race back to top

And, just in... Lance completes the marathon in 2:50:58.

Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot has won his third consecutive Boston Marathon in 2:07:46 - off his course record of 2:07:14. Honestly, there was a tailwind in 2006, so we'll consider this finish even stronger than his 2006 race. In the final yards of this year's race, Cheruiyot saw that he wasn't going to get the record and slowed slightly, taking in the win... Abderrahime Bouramdane of Morocco finishes second in 2:09:04 - not bad and still the 26th best time ever run at Boston. Khalid El Boumlili of Morocco takes third place in 2:10:35.

Cheruiyot crosses mile 24 in 1:56:18. He crosses mile 25 in 2:01:29. He is off course record pace - but he has run a fantastic race...

23 miles in 1:51:16 - Cheruiyot is closing in on the record. It was a nail-biter in 2006 whether Cheruiyot would set the record, and it will be a nail-biter this year as well...

21 miles in 1:41:26, 35K in 1:45:01, 22 miles in 1:46:16. At the 35K mark, Cheruiyot was 14 seconds ahead of his course record time, so he is losing some ground on himself. But, in 2006 he slowed significantly in the final miles. So if Cheruiyot can continue strong he could easily set the record. Bouramdane is 35 seconds back and Kwambai is almost a minute behind Bouramdane.

19 miles in 1:31:10. 20 miles in 1:36:10 (up heartbreak hill in 5:00 pace). Cheruiyot is just moving away and moving away and moving away. He is fantastic. Bouramdane is well back in second. Far behind is Kwambai and Adillo in third and fourth.

18 miles in 1:26:33, 30K in 1:29:11. When Cheruiyot set his course record in 2006, he passed the 30K mark in 1:29:31 - he is now 20 seconds ahead of his course record pace. Beyond this race, Cheruiyot is running to make the Kenyan Olympic team.

17 miles in 1:21:41. Word comes to us that these men are on course record pace now. Leave it to Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot to push the pace and show that he is a true champion.

14 miles in 1:07:19, 15 miles in 1:12:11, 16 miles in 1:16:49. The race is down to four men: Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot (Kenya), Abderrahime Bouramdane (Morocco), Kasime Adillo (Ethiopia) and James Kwambai (Kenya).

20K in 59:57. Robert K. Cheruiyot is really the leader. In the lead pack are Abderrahime Bouramdane, James Macharia, James Kwambai, Tesfaye Girma, Kasime Adilo and William Kiplagat.

Mile 11 in 53:14 and mile 12 in 57:13. Finally, the pack is starting to thin and this is a good pace. There are now about 7 men in the lead pack. as a few begin to fall a little bit off the back.

Mile 8 in 38:45, 9 in 43:30, 15K in 45:04, 10 miles in 48:22. Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot continues to lead and ensure that the pace is to his liking. Khalid El Boumlili still runs at the front and the lead pack remains at about 16 men.

Mile 4 in 19:54, Mile 5 in 24:38. Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot is leading the pack, with help from Lawrence Saina. The group is running about 1:30 behind the course record, but we know that Cheruiyot will pick it up in the second half of the race. Still 16+ men in the front pack.

Mile 2 in 10:18, it is picking up a bit. Mile 3 in 15:11 and 5K in 15:40 - picking up more. There are about 18 or 20 men in the lead pack at this point.

The men go through the first mile in 5:16. That is a relatively slow pace.

The men's race has started. We're sure that the pack will remain HUGE for a number of miles, so we won't have much to report for a short while, but will report on everything as the race progresses.

Women's Race back to top

Amazing! - The closest finish in Boston Marathon history! Dire Tune of Ethiopia wins the 112th Boston Marathon in 2:25:25. Biktimirova finishes just behind in 2:25:27. What a close race - what an amazing sprint finish - that was everything. Rita Jeptoo comes in to take third place in 2:26:34.

Biktimova almost misses the second to last turn and Tune moves a bit ahead. Following the final left turn, Tune pushes and gets a serious gap on Biktimirova. But Biktimirova pushes hard past Tune. Less than 400 yards remaining and both women are side by side in an all out quarter mile sprint. But Tune has something left and gets away from Biktimirova.

The closest previous Boston Marathon women's race had a difference between first and second place of 10 seconds. We're reminded that first place is worth $75,000 more than second place - not too mention the incalculable prestige value. These two women both look very, very strong. This will be so, so close.

Mile 24 in 2:13:41. Mile 25 in 2:19:06. The women's race is a real race. The two women - Alevtina Biktimirova and Dire Tune are running side by side. They are matching each other step for step. At mile 25, Tune takes her last water, but Biktimirova does not - does that tell us anything? We're not sure.

Mile 21 in 1:58:09, Mile 22 in 2:03:17. Mile 23 in 2:08:29. It is a two woman race. Tune takes control and looks like she will get away from Biktimova. But, Biktimova is strong and after a minute moves back to the front. This will be a tough race. Rita Jeptoo is alone in third place about 20 seconds behind. Jelena Prokopcuka is almost a minute behind Jeptoo in fourth place.

Mile 19 in 1:47:11, Mile 20 in 1:52:34. Jeptoo is away from the pack, out of contention, it is down to two: Biktimova controls the lead and is pushing, but Tune will not let her go.

Mile 16 in 1:30:55, Mile 17 in 1:36:29, Mile 18 in 1:41:15. Biktimova continues to lead with Jeptoo, Magarsa, Jeptoo and Tune all there.... At 1:44:30 Magarsa is off the back as well.

What the heck?!?! Just after pushing the pace, Jelena Prokopcuka and Nuta Olaru have fallen seriously off the back of the pack. The race is now down to four women: Alevtina Biktimirova (Russia) leads, with Askale Magarsa (Ethiopia), Rita Jeptoo (Kenya) and Dire Tune (Ethiopia) all together. We heard both Prokopcuka and Grigoryeva tell us that they were worried about the young Ethiopians in this race - it seems that they knew what they were talking about.

Half Marathon in 1:14:45, 14 miles in 1:19:59. 15 miles in 1:25:45. But going into Mile 16, Prokopcuka takes control and pushes the pace again with a 5:10 mile. The pack begins to disintegrate with Bruna Genovese and Lidiya Grigoryeva falling off the pack.

Ooops - Prokopcuka is back in the pack. She won't lead just yet. The pace remains conservative and they are saving themselves for the hills and the latter part of the race. The pack remains at the ten women that we mentioned earlier: Jelena Prokopcuka, Rita Jeptoon, Magdaline Chemjor, Robe Tola Guta, Lidiya Grigoryeva, Nuta Olaru, Dire Tune, Askale Tafa Magarsa, Bruna Genovese and Alevtina Biktimirova.

11 miles in 1:02:37, 12 miles in 1:08:15. Jelena Prokopcuka takes the lead again - perhaps she is tired of the slow pace. Perhaps she doesn't like the size of the pack and thinks it is time to whittle it down. Perhaps she wants to shoot for some of the time bonus money. Whatever the reason, Prokopcuka looks like she is ready to be the frontrunner that she usually is.

At 1:02:20 into the race, Lidiya Grigoryeva looks like she's had enough and she runs to the front to push the pace - that should be her job as the defending champion. But, the others come up to join her and the pace is increased so Grigoryeva drops back into the middle of the pack. We can see that many would like the pace to increase, but no one wants to do the work.

9 Miles in 50:43, 15K in 52:33 and 10 miles in 56:40. The women are about three minutes off of course record pace, so we know there will be no record this year... Magarsa has taken over the leader's duties with Rita Jeptoo and Magdaline Chemjor with her. In fact, the women are running almost four or five abreast - there must be no wind and this must be a way too comfortable pace.

8 miles in 45:03, Nuta Olaru continues to lead the pack. Olaru was a late entrant into this race. The pace is still relatively slow for these women, but they look like they are working - we can't tell at this point who looks strong, who looks weak.

Through the 10K point in 34:50 and 7 miles in 39:13. Nuta Olaru has taken over the lead. The pace is relatively calm for this group - running to finish in 2:27 if they don't speed up, but they will...

Through 4 miles in 22:15, 5 miles in 28:09. Bruna Genovese is now the woman setting the pace.

Following the water station, the order of the women has changed. Magdaline Chemjor is now leading and Prokopcuka - who told us she would rather have someone else act as leader is sitting just behind. Bruna Genovese is running to the side, away from the group, but also acting as a leader.

Through mile 2 in 10:59, mile 3 in 16:34 and 5K in 17:09. Prokopcuka continues to set the pace. On her side is past champion Rita Jeptoo and Magdaline Chemjor. Tucked in the middle of the pack and running smartly is Askale Magarsi of Ethiopia who has the fastest personal best in the field and is just 23 - she could be dangerous. Also in the lead pack are Bruna Genovese, Lidiya Grigoryeva, Nuta Olaru, Dire Tune, Alevtian Biktimirova and Robe Tola Guta.

The women's first mile is reached in 5:23 with Prokopcuka determining that pace. We all remember the 2006 New York City Marathon when Prokopcuka went out quickly and the rest of the field let her go never to catch her again. Having happened once, we know that no one will let Prokopcuka get away and they will follow her at whatever pace she sets.

Two minutes into the race, the field consists of ten women. Jelena Prokopcuka, as she does in so many races, is the one who will set the pace. Talking with us before the marathon, Prokopcuka told us that she finds it difficult to run too slowly and if the pace is not to her liking, she really wants to run faster.

The women's race started on time at 9:35AM with Joan Samuelson firing the starting gun - a fitting tribute to her marathon career and her spectacular performance the day before at the USA Women's Olympic Trials Marathon. Approximately 50 women are starting before the rest of the field.

Wheelchair Race back to top

Okay, we'll be honest... The wheelchair division at the Boston Marathon has gone waaaaaaaay downhill over the years. This year's wheelchair race - as we're watching it, is not a race at all. It is a men's and women's time trial with one competitor in each race.

The two defending champions are alone: Ernst Van Dyk is outclassing the men's field and Wakako Tsuchida is outclassing the women's field. There will be a race for second place in the men's race, and we'll have more on that soon.

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