Catherine 'the Great' Ndereba wins her fourth marathon in a 2:25:13 come-from-behind victory.
Hailu Negussie of Ethiopia holds off five Kenyan runners and fourth place American Alan Culpepper (2:13:39), which includes two former race winners, to win in 2:11:45.

All Photos courtesy of Victah (above is Men's start - below men's and women's champions)

Warm weather but lots cooler than last year
Sure, now they tell me the weather was just perfect for this year's running of the world's best-known road race. Weigh too much, I mean, way too late for me to try to qualify for this special race. And you do have to qualify. All too many times we see film of Jock Semple chasing after Katherine Switzer in a vain attempt to stop women from racing. After fifty years of eating at McDonald's, I can see Ronald McDonald chasing after me trying to get another Clydesdale off the course.

This race is special because of its long history, because you must prove yourselves worthy not only of the formidable finishing of the distance. You have to finish in a fast enough time. All year long people muse on about qualifying for the Boston marathon. Every year many of this area's elite athletes train to go there. Make no mistake; they are elite just to get there. Maybe this is why Boston has always had a huge number of bandits. Everyone wants to say they have run Boston.

Some of the runners never show up as ranked runners because they no longer compete regularly but they still want to get to Boston. Cherry Blossom race director Phil Stewart, a former sub 2:20 marathoner, made the show. One of his close friends, Bennett Beach, is closing in on John Kelly's records (started sixty-one, finished fifty-eight), having run more than thirty Bostons. (Beach is the only runner to have completed all the Cherry Blossom races and, if memory serves correctly, one of the five runners to have run every Marine Corps Marathon.)

This year, Washington, DC sent fifty-one men and forty-two women. Wilson Komen (27) was the fastest male in 2:19:41. Christopher Sabatini (40) was the top masters male in 2:48:16. Kerry Rodgers (36) was the fastest woman in 3:18:53. Melissa Edeburn (44) was the top masters woman in 3:37:00.

Photo below: Alan Culpepper of Colorado, winner of the Men's Olympic Trials Marathon in 2004, finished 4th in 2:13:39, the best showing for an American male since Dave Gordon (also 4th) in 1987.

Virginia Runners
Virginia and Maryland usually have similar numbers. This year Virginia had a better participation with 412 finishers to Maryland's 322. On our results page, we have listed the runners in four divisions, Open (18-39), Masters (40-49), Seniors (50- 59), and Veterans (60-99). These will be separated by state and sex (except the veterans). It is always fun to see how many runners finish faster than their needed qualifying times. Before anyone jumps up and down too strenuously, the official time is the gun time. Many runners using the chip, or as I call it, PWT (personal watch time), will note that with the narrow road in Hopkinton and the many thousands of racers, official and chip times will often be many minutes apart even for the faster runners.

In Virginia, the top woman was Milligan Grinstead (27) of Alexandria in 3:07:05. The top masters woman was Tammy Rall (42) of Stafford in 3:34:26. The top senior runner was Diana Joaquin (52) of Arlington in 3:53:26. For the men, Eric Post (26) of Centreville caught up with treadmill marathon world record holder Michael Wardian (31) of Arlington. Post had been nearly two minutes back at the halfway point. His finish time was 2:25:22 for 21st place. Wardian settled one place back in 2:25:43. Steve Dietz (45) of Springfield pulverized his statewide compatriots by nearly two miles, finishing in 2:44:04 for fifteenth place in the division

John Dodds (54) of Arlington started more than six minutes behind the leaders. Luis Melendez (51) of Falls Church started four minutes back. At the halfway point, Dodds had lost another two minutes to Melendez. Right around mile twenty (did somebody say Heartbreak Hill?), Dodds started coming back. On Boylston Street he passed Melendez, finishing in 3:19:19 to 3:19:37 for top seniors honors. 50 Plus Club member Jim Noone (60) of Arlington has been lightly racing so far this year. Boston is only his eighth race of the year. Still, he was the top veteran from the state in 3:54:44 (note the eleven minute lag from chip time). Jerry Lewis (71) of Reston was eighth in his age group in 4:15:45.

Jay Jacob Wind of Arlington from the 50 Plus Club is a regular at the race, having run near 2:25 in his youth. Rising star, Bill Stahr of The Plains broke the masters record at the Stupid Little 10 Miler last week and ran the hilly Fodderstack 10K this Saturday for first in his age group as a prelude to his Boston.

Maryland Runners
In Maryland, the top woman was also the top masters runner. Lee DiPietro (47) of Ruxton continues to defy age, racing home in 2:53:34 for twentieth overall and fourth masters. Linell Smith (52) of Baltimore ran 4:05:12 for state seniors honors. Karolynn Coleman (60) of Chevy Chase ran 4:28:45 for top veterans honors.

For the Open men, Elias Tamiru (30) of Baltimore flew out of the gate, hitting the 10K in 35:52. By the half marathon he was still rolling along at a sub-six-minute pace in 1:17:08. Then the wheels started to come off just a little. Meanwhile, Frank Sprtel (32) of Takoma Park made a more veteran move with 37:23 at the 10K and 1:19:00 at the halfway point. Sprtel made his move from ten seconds back at the 35K checkpoint, finishing tops in 2:40:23. Tamiru ran 2:43:06. His next marathon will be wiser and faster. Steven Leven (42) of Reisterstown had an easy time winning the state masters title in 2:52:05. Alan Pemberton (52) of Silver Spring ran a fine 3:07:52 for the seniors state best. Another Coleman, (Norman (60) of Chevy Chase) was top veteran for the men in 4:24:48. Saul Arthur (71) of Baltimore ran 5:26:01.

Top Men Finishers

Place	Bib	Name	               Official Time	State	Country   Citizen
1	7	Negussie, Hailu	           2:11:45	 	ETH	 
2	3	Onsare, Wilson	           2:12:21	 	KEN	 
3	23	Cherono, Benson	           2:12:48	 	KEN	 
4	10	Culpepper, Alan	           2:13:39	CO 	USA	 
5	13	Cheruiyot, Robert Kipkoech 2:14:30		KEN	 
6	1	Cherigat, Timothy	   2:15:19	 	KEN	 
7	19	Kipchumba, Benjamin	   2:15:26	 	KEN	 
8	15	Letherby, Andrew	   2:16:38	 	AUS	 
9	6	Ouaadi, Mohamed	           2:16:41	 	FRA	 
10	22	Gilmore, Peter	           2:17:32	CA 	USA	 
11	16	Shay, Ryan	           2:18:17	MI 	USA	 
12	5	Kimutai, Benjamin Kosgei   2:18:22	 	KEN	 
13	11	Omwenga, Thomas	           2:18:57	 	KEN	 
14	8	Loskutov, Pavel	           2:19:04	 	EST	 
15	501	Kipkemboi, Joshua	   2:19:28	 	GBR	KEN

Top Women Finishers

Place	Bib	Name	                Official Time	State	Country	Ctz
 1	F1	Ndereba, Catherine	   2:25:13	 	KEN	 
 2	F2	Alemu, Elfenesh	           2:27:03	 	ETH	 
 3	F7	Genovese, Bruna	           2:29:51	 	ITA	 
 4	F3	Zakharova, Svetlana	   2:31:34	 	RUS	 
 5	F102	Biktagirova, Madina	   2:32:41	 	POR     RUS
 6	F12	Morgunova, Lyubov	   2:33:24	 	RUS	 
 7	F10	Gemechu, Shitaye	   2:33:51	 	ETH	 
 8	F9	El Kamch, Zhor	           2:36:54	 	MAR	 
 9	F15	Ogawa, Mina	           2:37:34	 	JPN	 
10	F5	Olaru, Nuta	           2:37:37	 	ROM	 
11	F101	Sultanova-Zhdanova, Firaya 2:41:05	FL 	USA	RUS
12	F22	Levan, Emily R.	           2:43:14	ME 	USA	 
13	F25	Annis, Caroline E.	   2:43:46	CA 	USA	 
14	F26	Graytock, Carly E.	   2:44:02	MI 	USA	 
15	F20	Sato, Yuko	           2:47:00	 	JPN	 

Race Results

Boston Race Facts

Boston Milestones

Boston Records