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The 122nd Running of the Boston Marathon (2018) - 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.
The Coverage (below): Men's Race | Women's Race
Overview
Each year there is a story. The 2012 race was highlighted by tailwinds that pushed the men to run fastest times ever recorded in running. In 2013, of course, the race story was overwhelmed by the terrible bombing at the finish line. In 2014, the race story was of Meb Keflezighi becoming the first American to win in 30 years. In 2015, many Americans were in attendance as a test of their training before the Oympic year. For 2016 - an Olympic year - the race had no top Americans in the field and a preponderence of Ethiopians. 2017 had two Americans on the podium: Galen Rupp finishing second in the men's race. Jordan Hasay, in her debut marathon, finished third.
For 2018 [as we write this pre-race] the story will be shaped by the weather - cold (the least) of the problem; but terrible rain (annoying more than anything); and expected strong head winds. With this weather, we'll expect slow races, which may allow some of the top Americans to remain in contention or attempt a solo breakaway. But if the race begins too slowly, it will seem like a warmup and then a 10K race favoring the fastest at that distance. And the field is well-balanced, with favorite Americans expected to compete for top positions along with a healthy mix of Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes. 2018 is also a year with the best chance for American success: Galane Rupp is returning to try to better his runner-up finish of 2017. For the women, Jordan Hasay scratched the day before, but America will be represented by Shalane Flanagan (the 2017 NYC Marathon winner), Molly Huddle who set the USA Half Marathon record in 2018, and Desiree Linden who has been runner-up at Boston and whose diminuitve stature might help her in the weather of 2018. We're writing this pre-race - and we are excited by what we will see. Read below...
Men's Race back to top
The Finish (2:15:58). Yuki Kawauchi has won the Boston Marathon - at the finish he seems as surprised as anyone else... Kawauchi becomes the first Japanese runner to win Boston since 1987. Geoffrey Kirui stuggles in to finish as runner-up in 2:18:23. Shadrack Biwott takes third place in 2:18:35.
40K (2:08:22). Kirui is slowing greatly. Yuki Kawauchi is gaining....
Mile 23 (1:57:29), Mile 24 (2:03:00). Kirui has looked back a few times and is slowing significantly. But he should still have a big enough gap to hold the win.
Mile 22 (1:52:10). Geoffrey Kirui continues to build his lead.
35K (1:50:49). Kirui leads by 1-1/2 minutes. Kawauchi has a ten second lead on third place. Biwott in third place has a 38 second gap on the next runner.
Mile 20 (1:41:43), Mile 21 (1:47:07). Kirui's lead is now up to 1:23 ahead of the others. Yuki Kawauchi (JPN) is alone in second place. Shadrack Biwott (USA) is in third. We'll note that Biwott switched coaches in the past year to the Brooks/Hanson Project and if he can land on the podium it will be a great day for the Hansons as we now believe Desi Linden, another Hansons runner, looks to win the women's race.
30K (1:34:58), Mile 19 (1:36:39). Geoffrey Kirui continues to build his lead. His last split was a 4:51, the fastest of the marathon...up the hills...into a headwind. Unbelievable. 28 seconds behind, three men are together: Abdi Nageeye, Yuki Kawauchi and Shadrack Biwott.
Mile 18 (1:31:48). Geoffrey Kirui, as he did in 2017, has taken off and is running away from the field. We can already predict, based on how he is running, that he will be the likely winner.
Mile 15 (1:16:20), 25K (1:19:04). Twelve men running toward a 2:13 finsh...
In the pack: Yuki Kawauchi (JPN), Evans Chebet (KEN), Philemon Rono (KEN), Wilson Chebet (KEN), Lemi Berhanu (ETH), Shadrack Biwott (USA), Felix Kandie (KEN), Abdi Nageeye (NED), Tamirat Tola (ETH), Lelisa Desisa (ETH), Nobert Kigen (KEN), Stephen Sambu (KEN)
Mile 13 (1:05:22), Halfway (1:05:59), Mile 14 (1:10:43). The lead pack is now at 14 men - the pace is very respectable for a day such as this.
Mile 11 (55:10), Mile 12 (1:00:17), 20K (1:02:29). The lead men are slowing and now running toward a 2:12 finish time. As the lead pack slows, others are catching it and there are now 15 men in the lead group.
Mile 9 (44:44), 15K (46:25). The pack has now grown to 12 men.
Mile 7 (34:13), Mile 8 (39:30). The men are slowing a bit, but still keeping a reasonable pace.
Mile 6 (29:12), 10K (30:15). The pack is down to 9 men, running at a decent pace: on track to a 2:07 marathon finish. The men are actually 10 seconds faster at the 10K mark than they were the year before... despite the weater. In the pack:
Tamirat Tola (ETH), Geoffrey Kirui (KEN), Galen Rupp (USA), Lemi Berhanu (ETH), Wilson Chebet (KEN), Evans Chebet (KEN), Nobert Kigen (KEN), Lelisa Desisa (ETH), Shadrack Biwott (USA)
Mile 5 (24:25). Tamirat Tola has now taken the lead with about another 8 men behind. The pace is reasonable for a day like this.
Mile 4 (19:27). Evans Chebet now leads with Yuki Kawauchi just behind with him. The rest of the field is trailing, letting those two men run ahead of them.
Mile 2 (9:30), Mile 3 (14:30), 5K (15:01). Yuki Kawauchi leads by about five seconds. Behind are 22 other men and all of the favorites. In the race as 5K: Yuki Kawauchi (JPN), Evans Chebet (KEN), Tamirat Tola (ETH), Geoffrey Kirui (KEN), Lemi Berhanu (ETH), Philemon Rono (KEN), Wilson Chebet (KEN), Shadrack Biwott (USA), Galen Rupp (USA), Nobert Kigen (KEN), Felix Kandie (KEN), Arne Gabius (GER), Lelisa Desisa (ETH), Stephen Sambu (KEN), Lusapho April (RSA), Abdi Nageeye (NED), Andrew Bumbalough (USA), Abdi Abdirahman (USA), Scott Smith (USA), Reid Coolsaet (CAN), Ryan Vail (USA), Elkanah Kibet (USA), Naoki Okamoto (JPN).
Mile 1 (4;37). Yuki Kawauchi is runing well ahead of all others - we expect he is looking for some television time; that is too fast for this day.
The men's race has started.
The Men's race will begin at 10:00AM EDT. Stay tuned.
Women's Race back to top
The Finish (2:39:54). Desiree Linden becomes the first female American winner of the Boston Marathon since 1985. Behind, the women's race has disintegrated, despite the slow starting pace. Sarah Sellers (USA) wearing bib 42 (presumably the place race officials expected for her finish) takes the second place finish in 2:44:04. Krista Duchene of Canada took the third spot in 2:44:20.
40K (2:31:13), Mile 25 (2:32:15). Linden is extending her lead, but she appears to be tiring. We have reports that Mamitu Daska is walking.
Mile 24 (2:25:51). Linden is picking up the pace to try to guarantee a win. It looks like she will definitely make it - most likely the first female American winner of the Boston Marathon since 1985!
Mile 22 (2:19:57), Mile 23 (2:19:57). Linden now has a 20 second lead on Chesir and looks strong. Note these are not terribly fast miles, as the wind clearly remains a factor.
Mile 21 (2:07:50), 35K (2:12:22). Daska was struggling up the hills and is now well back - she will likely hold on for third place. Gladys Chesir passed Daska, but at 35K, Linden has moved into the lead and is continuing to move away. Unless something surprising happens, Linden will win. That said, if it comes down to a sprint, Chesir will have a speed advantage. Linden will know this and will try to make sure she puts as much distance on Chesir as she can.
Mile 19 (1:4:39), Mile 20 (2:00:57). Mamitu Daska still has the lead going through the Newton Hills. Gladys Chasir is now only 9 seconds back with Linden 5 seconds behind Chesir.
Mile 18 (1:48:43), 30K (1:52:32). Mamitu Daska has a 24 second lead. Desiree Linden and Gladys Chesir are running alone in second/third places. Molly Huddle, Hiroko Yoshiomi and Edna Kiplagat are running in a third group 39 seconds behind Linden/Chesir.
Mile 17 (1:42:35). Mamitu has started up the Newton Hills... Her 6:08 last split is slow nonetheless but she is holding her lead on the others. For reference, the women passed Mile 17 in 1:33:43 the year before - nearly 9 minutes faster.
Mile 16 (1:36:27). Mamitu Daska still has nearly 30 seconds on the remainder of the pack. But she is still running slowly, toward a 2:38 finish. That means the other women are running really slowly...
Mile 15 (1:30:42), 25K (1:33:48). Mamitu Daska has built a lead of thirty seconds. The other 8 women who have been together are still together, but it looks like Edna Kiplagat and Desiree Linden are looking to try to catch Daska.
Mile 14 (1:24:38). Mamitu Daska has taken off from the pack and is now 14 seconds ahead. Meanwhile, the rain and headwind have incresed. The temperature is also hovering around the freezing mark. At times, the camera coverage makes it look like there is zero visibility with the intensity of the rain. It looks like Daska has pulled her sleeves over her hands to add additional warmth.
Halfway (1:19:41). The same nine women are together - at what is a very slow pace.
Mile 12 (1:13:11). 20K (1:15:45). Just after mile 12, we could see Desiree Linden and Shalene Flanagan talking and then Flanagan peeled off to enter a porta-potty. Mamitu Daska, seemingly seeing this picked up the pace, while Linden was clearly trying to hold the pack back. By 20K, with the rain increasing to torrential flows Flanagan reaches Linden now 10 seconds behind the pack and they have worked together to rejoin the lead pack.
Mile 10 (1:00:38). Mile 11 (1:06:58). Thirteen women together, slowing... 5-1/2 minutes slower than the prior year. Meanwhile, the men are running faster than 2017 - and if this continues, the first man could cross the finish line before the first woman despite the women starting 28 minutes before the men!
15K (56:15). This is still a slow pace, more than four minutes slower than the women passed the 15K mark from the year before... the women are on pace for a 2:38 finish.
Mile 8 (47:55). The women have spread out a bit across the road, suggesting that the wind might be dying down. Edna Kiplagat seems to be leading, but she is keeping the right side of the road to herself, while the rest of the women are running on the left.
Mile 6 (35:51). 10K (37:07). Mamitu Daska is still leading, but now just a second ahead of the rest. Still in the race:
Mamitu Daska (ETH), Mergia Aselefech (ETH), Molly Huddle (USA), Edna Kiplagat (KEN), Buzunesh Deba (ETH), Gladys Chesir (KEN), Shalane Flanagan (USA), Caroline Rotich (KEN), Serena Burla (USA), Maki Ashi (JPN), Madai Perez (MEX), Hiroko Yoshitomi (JPN), Desiree Linden (USA).
Mile 5 (30:17). Mamitu Daska is now leading - about five seconds ahead of the rest. About 12 women remain in the following pack.
Mile 4 (24:29). At 5:50, this was the fastest split of the race so far, they are now starting to get their pace.
Mile 3 (18:39). 5K (19:17). If the women continue at this pace, they would run a 2:42+ marathon, that would be the slowest winning time since 1978 - but they will speed up... Buzunesh Deba continues to lead. We just noticed that half of the women have numbers on their front, while half have the bibs with their names. The Boston Marathon gives every athlete a bib number with their name to wear on their front. The race also gives the women a number to wear on their warmup clothes - this means many of these women are still wearing an extra layer that they may shed later - it is that cold.
In the lead group: Mergia Aselefech (ETH), Buzunesh Deba (ETH), Kellys Arias (COL), Molly Huddle (USA), Caitlin Phillips (USA), Maki Ashi (JPN), Mamitu Daska (ETH), Kellyn Taylor (USA), Serena Burla (USA), Hiroko Yoshitomi (JPN), Desiree Linden (USA), Tracy Guerrette (USA), Caroline Rotich (KEN), Krista Duchene (CAN), Kate Landau (USA), Shalane Flanagan (USA), Madai Perez (MEX), Julia Kohnen (USA), Gladys Chesir (KEN), Deena Kastor (USA), Bailey Drewes (USA), Kimi Reed (USA), Edna Kiplagat (KEN), Sarah Sellers (USA), Kelly Calway (USA).
Mile 2 (12:30). The other women have come up to run with Aselefech. Buzunesh Deba is running out at the front - that seems like a dangerous strategy. Desiree Linden is hiding from the wind in the middle of the pack, we think Desi is one of the smartest runners and this is what she should be doing... Defending champion, Edna Kiplagat, has been running to the side of the pack, taking more wind than she should, but we note that this is a typical Kenyan way of running...
Mile 1 (6:24). Mergia Aselefech (ETH), has decided to run off on her own and is 15 seconds ahead of the main pack within the first mile of the race. For comparison, the year before, 2017, the women passed the first mile in 5:54.
The women's race has started! About 40 women have gone off ahead of the others. They seem to be jogging, the wind is a factor. Every woman has a hat on their head - 38degrees at the start; 31degrees wind-chill temperature.
The Women's race will begin at 9:32AM EDT. Stay tuned.
More Boston News:
More Coverage Links:
Coverage Homepage
Post Race:
Men's Race and Commentary (in process)
Women's Race and Commentary
Complete Searchable Results
Race Day: As It Happens - Live Coverage (the real-time notes/mile-by-mile)
Pre-Race:
Race Preview & Starter Lists |
Elite Athlete Past Matchups |
Prize Money
Weekend Experience:
Pace Calculator/Spectator Guide |
Course Experience As a Runner
Extras:
Athlete/Course Videos |
Boston Marathon Books
More News: Press Releases |
News
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