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Boston Marathon 2016 - The Preview
by MarathonGuide.com Staff
At 120 years old, the Boston Marathon has the greatest history of any marathon and continues its commitment to bringing together a great field of elite athletes to provide drama and an exciting race. With that history and commitment - we look forward to the Boston Marathon race more than any other each year.
2013/2015 Champion Desisa and 2015 Champion Caroline Rotich Return
photo credit: MarathonGuide.com |
The Boston Marathon is also unique among the Marathon marathons in that it offers NO time bonuses - at least none that are attainable*. (note: the race does offer bonuses for breaking the world or course records, but with the course record of 2:03:02 set on a day with a massive tailwind, that time will never be reached again). Without time incentives, the Boston Marathon is a pure race and the win does not always go to the runner with the best credentials, but rather to the runner who is toughest AND smartest on the day. The Boston course also features more difficult terrain than many of the other top marathons and to succeed runners must be able to manage a major downhill start followed by a series of hills between miles 18 and 20 and then a rolling downhill final section (where the race really takes shape).
The 2016 marathon field features a number of past champions, podium finishers, olympians and other accomplished marathoners. Missing from the elite field, however, are the top Americans. As 2016 is an Olympic year, all of the top American marathoners participated in the Olympic Trials Marathon in February. The best in that race will represent the USA at the Olympics and are prepping for that. The next tier will try again for the Olympic team at the 10,000m distance on the track and are sitting out Boston. And the next tier have little chance for a stellar performance at Boston and are not in attendance.
2015 Runner-up Yemane Tsegay hopes for Victory in 2016
photo credit: Victah Sailer |
The Men's Race
The 2016 Men's race features seven men who have run sub-2:05 and three others who have run sub-2:06 for the marathon distance. The favorite in the field should be Lelisa Desisa. In addition to being one of the men who has run sub-2:05, Desisa is the defending champion with his 2015 win and was also the winner in 2013 - he knows how to run Boston... Desisa enters 2016 after a strong 2015 where, in addition to his win at Boston, he was runner-up at the Dubai Marathon; third at the New York City Marathon and seventh at the World Championships.
Hoping to dethrone Desisa are the second and third finishers from 2015. Yemane Tsegaye was runner-up in 2015 and finished as Silver Medalist at the 2015 World Championships Marathon well ahead of Desisa. Wilson Chebet was third in 2015 and runner-up at the 2014 Boston Marathon - he will also be hoping to improve on those performances.
The field for 2016 is Ethiopian-heavy. In addition to the defending champion and runner-up mentioned above, four of the other men with sub-2:06 bests hail from Ethiopia and could all be in contention: Tsegaye Mekonnen, Lemi Hayle, Getu Feleke and Deribe Robi.
In addition to Chebet, one other Kenyan is set to figure highly in the race. Sammy Kitwara, a two-time Chicago Marathon runner-up, has the fastest personal best in the field - 2:04:28. Also from Kenya and the 2012 champion, Wesley Korir will be in the race.
2014 Runner-Up Buzunesh Deba Will Hope for a Win
photo credit: Victah Sailer |
The Women's Race
The women's race will feature ten women who have run 2:23 or better. Defending champion Caroline Rotich will hope to repeat her win from 2015 but she will face some tough competition. Nine women have personal best times faster than Rotich and she had a disappointing tenth place finish in her most recent marathon, the 2015 New York City Marathon so she will need to prove herself.
A number of Ethiopian women will hope to finish victorious and with a good finish at Boston earn a spot on Ethiopia's team for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Most prominent among the Ethiopians is Tiki Gelana, the 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist and Ethiopian marathon record holder (2:18:58). Tirfi Tsegaye was the winner of the Dubai Marathon earlier in 2016 with a winning time of 2:19:41. Amane Beriso will be running her second marathon after debuting at Dubai and finishing second behind Tsegaye in 2:20:48. Buzunesh Deba - an Ethiopian living in New York - has been third and second at Boston (and also twice runner-up at the New York City Marathon) and will hope to at least maintain her success at finishing in the top three if not taking the win overall.
Elite Lineup:
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