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The 120th Running of the Boston Marathon - The Men's Race
by John Elliott
[editor's note: This first section relates to BOTH the men's and women's fields, so we have repeated it for both!]:
Tough To Build a Field in an Olympic Year
Coming in an Olympic year, building an elite field for the Boston Marathon is especially challenging. The USA chooses its Olympic team at a single race: the Olympic Trials Marathon which was held in 2016 just two months before the Boston Marathon - because of that, the best Americans could not participate in Boston. Other countries, predominantly Kenya and Ethiopia, choose their teams by committee and the best way to make the respective team is to run a FAST marathon - and because of the focus on speed at the London Marathon (the week after Boston), many of the best would choose London over Boston. To add an extra twist to the 2016 season, the Russian Athletics Federation was banned from international competition because of repeated doping violations, so no Russians would be racing.
With those parameters in place, the field consisted of past champions who often return; a number of athletes who had demonstrated a fast time earlier in the year - especially Ethiopian runners at the Dubai Marathon; other excellent athletes who might be a step below those aiming for an Olympic berth; and a distinct lack of American athletes.
A Slow Race - The Defending Champion Tries
Despite a lack of incentive to run quickly, the machismo of some men at the Boston Marathon usually cause a relatively fast race to materialize from the start, but the field for 2016 started and continued at a slow pace. In the 35 years since the Boston Marathon began offering prize money in 1986, the winning time at Boston was slower than 2:13 in one year only - the year of the terrible Nor'Easter when torrential rains nearly caused the race to be canceled and strong headwinds casued the race to be won in a slow 2:14:13. Without weather hampering the race, the runners started slowly - on pace toward a 2:13+ finish. Because of the slow pace, the pack remained large and through halfway (in 1:06:44) and even to 15 miles (on pace toward a 2:14+ finish), eighteen men ran together. It seemed to us that the men must be saving themselves for a fast finish.
At mile 15, the defending champion Lelisa Desisa, who won the year before in 2:09:17, decided to push the pace and with two hard miles had gained 20 seconds on all but one other runner in the field. Only Lemi Hayle, also of Ethiopia, decided to stay with Desisa. Into the Newtown Hills and through to mile 25 both of these men were together. While the following pack did not gain ground on the two, they let their pace settle back after their first two hard miles. There were reports that the wind had picked up in the second half of the race - but for whatever reason the race was slow...for Boston...
A Two Person Race
When watching a marathon, we like to see the drama of two men battling each other all the way to the finish. And/or we like to see mind-shattering fast times. For the 2016 Boston Marathon, we saw neither - although there is always a champion crowned. After mile 25, Hayle Lemi shifted gears and ran away from Desisa to win easily in 2:12:45 - the slowest time in the modern era (prize money years) of the Boston Marathon, slower than all winning times at Boston other than the aforementioned Nor'Easter year. Lelisa Desisa ran in for second place in 2:13:32.
The Runners Behind
Behind, two runners ran together to vie for third place: Wesley Korir and Yemane Tsegay. Tsegay would prove to be the stronger to take third place in 2:14:02, outrunning Korir who would finish fourth in 2:14:05. Others who would be expected to have fast times also failed to deliver, including Ian Burrell who, with his 2:13:44 personal best was to be the top American. Instead, the honors for top American went to Zachary Hines...
The 2016 Top 3
photo credit: MarathonGuide.com |
Top Finishers:
1. Lemi Berhanu Hayle (ETH) 2:12:45 - $150,000
2. Lelisa Desisa (ETH) 2:13:32 - $75,000
3. Yemane Adhane Tsegay (ETH) 2:14:02 - $40,000
4. Wesley Korir (KEN) 2:14:05 - $25,000
5. Paul Lonyangata (KEN) 2:15:45 - $15,000
6. Sammy Kitwara (KEN) 2:16:43 - $12,000
7. Stephen Chebogut (KEN) 2:16:52 - $9,000
8. Abdi Nageeye (NED) 2:18:05 - $7,400
9. Getu Feleke (ETH) 2:18:46 - $5,700
10. Zachary Hine (USA) 2:21:37 - $4,200
11. Cutbert Nyasango (ZIM) 2:22:02 - $2,600
12. Tsegaye Mekonnen (ETH) 2:22:21 - $2,100
13. Ian Burrell (USA) 2:22:22 - $1,800
14. Jackson Kiprop (UGA) 2:24:44 - $1,700
15. Harbert Okuti (UGA) 2:24:46 - $1,500
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