Men's Race  |  Wheelchair Race

Women's Race

By Barbara Huebner

They came through the halfway point in a pack of nine, 70 seconds behind the leader. By the time they hit the "One Mile to Go" sign in Kenmore Square, they were in a tug of war for the laurel wreath. One would yank on the rope, and the other would falter. Then, the reverse. Who would finally pull the other over the dividing line between first and second, between winning and ... winning?

In the end, Caroline Kilel of Kenya executed one final, unanswerable tug with about 100 meters to go, breaking the tape in 2:22:36 to win the 115th Boston Marathon. Just two seconds back, little-heralded Desiree Davila crossed the line in 2:22:38. "I'm very happy because I won this Boston," said Kilel, a 30-year-old veteran whose time was a personal best and the fourth-fastest ever run on this course. "Maybe if you will invite me next year I will be here again."

Finishing third was Sharon Cherop of Kenya, in 2:22:42. American Kara Goucher, coming back from giving birth 6 1/2 months ago, was fifth in 2:24:52, a personal best by just over a minute. Indeed, most of the top 10 women ran personal bests on a day that offered ideal conditions on the point-to-point course: 49 degrees with a 21-mph tailwind at the start.

Winning the women's masters division was Larisa Zyusko, 41, of Moscow, in 2:34:22. Joan Samuelson, running Boston for the first time in 18 years, posted a time of 2:51:29, running with the first wave of the masses.

It was the fourth consecutive year that the women's race of the Boston Marathon was a thriller decided by three seconds or less. But for the first time in memory, it was an American who came just two ticks of the clock from victory, and don't think the huge crowds lining the course didn't notice.

"It was the most incredible experience in my career," said Davila, whose 2:22:38 is the fastest time by an American ever on this course, makes her the third-fastest American woman in history, and continues her streak of running a personal best in every marathon she enters. "The last six miles of the race, it was USA! USA!"

The first 15 miles of the race, however, were all New Zealand, by way of Providence, R.I. Kim Smith, a four-time NCAA champion at Providence College who finished ninth at 10,000 meters in the 2008 Olympics, came up to Boston in the best shape of her life, and had been saying for days that she planned to go for it. She wasn't kidding, bolting at the sound of the gun and building an immediate 20-meter lead on the pack.

By 5 kilometers she was 30 seconds ahead - her 16:41 faster than Margaret Okayo's 5K split when she set the course record - and enjoying a solo run common on a Sunday in March but seldom seen on this Monday in April. Around this time, the pack began to get edgy about whether to give chase, but quickly settled down.

"I felt like she was going to get reeled in," said Davila.

By halfway, Smith had built her lead to 70 seconds, and was looking strong when, inexplicably, her left leg buckled. She lurched, righting herself, only to stumble again. For several miles, the 29-year-old Kiwi tried to alter her stride, battling the spasm in her leg and the ache in her heart. She had never been so fit, and now it was all a waste.

"I felt great all the way," she said afterward, dejected and battling tears. "I felt great when I stopped. It got to the point where I physically couldn't do it anymore."

By Mile 18, a pack of four caught up. Smith dropped out soon after.

Those four - Kilel, Cherop, Alice Timbilili and 2008 Boston Marathon champion Dire Tune - had barely begun to settle in when an unexpected guest began pulling into view, and soon Davila would not only join them but decide to host the party, taking the lead and pressing the pace.

At 20 miles, near the top of Heartbreak Hill, Tune dropped back. Now Timbilili began to labor, and soon the pack was down to three. Davila, who calls herself a pure marathoner but still has the speed to make the World Indoor Championships team at 3000 meters last year, seemed to take control.

Just past Coolidge Corner, with about two miles to go, the trio hit a slight incline and Kilel surged. Davila looked as if she was about meet the same fate as Tune and Timbilili, but she skipped a fluid station and fearlessly caught up, then pressed the pace yet again. The process repeated itself.

"I was really just trying to keep contact," she said. "I didn't want anyone to settle, so it was a back and forth any time the pace got soft."

Then, rounding the turn onto Hereford Street - just the spot where Goucher lost contact two years ago - Davila made a decisive move, storming around the corner. By next turn, onto Boylston, Kilel had done the same to her. Did Davila have anything left?

She did. With about 500 meters to go, Davila took the lead and the wildly cheering crowd on the homestretch had reason to believe the Boston Marathon would have its first female American winner since 1985.

"The last 800 meters, my legs were fried," Davila said. "I kept thinking, keep contact, keep contact. You keep bargaining with yourself, I feel happy, this is good, but then no, I worked too damn hard."

But one last surge by Kilel, with 250 meters remaining, put the laurel wreath on the head of the gutsy Kenyan. In a February interview, Davila - who trains with the Hanson-Brooks Distance Project in Rochester Hills, Mich., was asked if it bothered her that she continued to fly under the radar despite marathon achievements that included a 2:26:20 at the Bank of New York Chicago Marathon last fall that made her the #1 U.S. marathoner of the year. On the contrary, she said: "I like to surprise people."

Not likely again. In her tug-of-war with Kilel, the dividing line indeed fell between winning and ... winning.

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Wheelchair Race

By Barbara Huebner

Leading from wire to wire, four-time defending wheelchair champion Wakako Tsuchida of Japan made it five in a row when she crushed the field, setting a world record with her winning time of 1:30:21.

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"I definitely didn't want to look back once," said the 36-year-old, who was competing here for the seventh time and has become a favorite with her ever-present smile.

Helped along by a tailwind, Tsuchida's mark broke the previous world record of Jean Driscoll, 1:34:22, set on this course in 1994. It's been quite a racing stretch for the Japanese superstar, who won marathons in London, Berlin and Honolulu last year. But it's also been a time of sorrow as her nation copes with the tragedy of the recent earthquake and tsunami, and Tsuchida said even before the race that she hoped her performance could bring the country some joy.

"For most of the race, the wind was behind us," said runner-up Shirley Reilly, who attends the University of Arizona and finished in 1:41:01. "Wakako obviously tore it up!" The third-place finisher, American Christina Ripp, agreed. "At one point I looked at Shirley and said, 'Wakako's fast. I haven't seen her since the start.'''

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Men's Race

By Jim O'Brien

In 2010, Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot set a Boston course record of 2:05:52. Had Cheruiyot run that time in this year's race, he would have placed fifth. That is not to minimize the caliber of the defending champion's year-old record; on the contrary, it more clearly illustrates the stunning accomplishment of Geoffrey Mutai in taking the 2011 laurel wreath in a scarcely believable time of 2:03:02. One may be confident in stating that this is a mark that will remain unapproached for many years. Then again, the evidence of the 115th Boston Marathon is that there may be plenty more still to come.

The other-worldly quality of this year's race was in evidence from the moment the gun fired. Some even felt portents of what was going to unfold earlier than that. "I knew this was going to be a special day as soon as I got out of bed," stated Ryan Hall.

There had been much talk, in the days in advance of the race, of the tailwind that was being anticipated. The elite runners would fly. Be that as it may, there have been tailwinds in Boston before, but there has never been a day like today. In some ways it bordered on the scarcely believable. A winning time of 2:03:02 - the fastest marathon ever run, by 58 seconds - was an epoch shattering performance of Usain Bolt-ian proportions. The free-form tactics of Ryan Hall were absorbing, sometimes bewildering, but ultimately fantastically successful. Four finishers under the 12 months old course record, six under 2:07 and 10 under 2:09 was indicative of a speed in depth that has never before been seen on the fabled Boston course. It's too easy to dismiss the times as due solely to the aiding wind. There are still 26.2 miles to cover, still the Newton Hills to confront and still a hoard of the most intimidating competitors in the world to handle. Aiding wind or not, there are ways innumerable that things can go wrong. That they didn't is testimony to the acuity of the field and most of all to the inspired racing of the 29 year-old Mutai.

Though much of the pre-event conjecture centered on three men - the defending champion, Cheruiyot; the New York winner, Gebregziabher Gebremariam; and the enigmatic Hall, who had placed a lowly 21st in the New York City Half Marathon in March - Mutai was always distinctly there, always a force of enormous potential, always the name posited as the man who "could." In reality, of all those on the Hopkinton starting line, Mutai was the most familiar with running fast. In Rotterdam last April, he scorched to a 2:04:55 second placed finish, then the equal seventh fastest in history. In Berlin in September, he crossed the finish line in a superb 2:05:10, again taking second, though a time that he stated was slowed by the persistent rain. Thus, on paper, Mutai was over one minute faster than anybody else in the field.

The gun, of course, is the great equalizer. Once that retorts, it's just a pack of talented athletes, their commitment and the hard road. The first one to make a statement was - you guessed - Hall, the man whose tactics in 2010 had bewildered spectators, his superb fourth place finish notwithstanding. But, Hall runs to his own beat. "I feel comfortable in the lead," he stated. "I felt really comfortable at that pace, and I like to arrive ahead of schedule."

From the opening footsteps, the lithe American indicated that as precisely his objective. He loped through the first mile in 4:38, five miles in 23:18 and 10 in 47:03. For all but a handful of the steps, he held the pole position, sometimes drifting back to grab water, but always migrating back to the forefront and assuming the pace-maker's role once again. Behind him amassed all of the race's favorites - Cheruiyot, Gebremariam, Mutai, Evans Cheruiyot, the debutant Moses Mosop - all happy to enjoy the services of the de facto pacemaker. All but unnoticed - other than by the protagonists - was the burgeoning pace.

That 10 mile split indicated a blistering finishing time somewhere around 2:02:40. Little more than three miles later, at the half way point, and with Hall still in command, the split of 61:56 indicated a finishing time of 2:03:52. Curiously, that time was almost two minutes faster than Hall had run in the NYC Half Marathon just a handful of weeks previously. Obviously, those numbers were flattering to deceive and reality would come to bear in the second half of the race. Obviously.

But Hall hammered on, frequently displaying the ebullience that had dismayed and bewildered so many in 2010. He low-fived the girls outside Wellesley College; he held his hand to his ear, exhorting them to cheer still louder; he fist-pumped as the crowds outside the American Legion Hall screamed their encouragement. He looked supreme, no question about that; but, one had to question the energy he was expending, the focus he was seemingly lacking.

At 15 miles (1:10:55), the group held tight - Mutai, Bekana Daba (ETH), Robert Chepchumba (KEN), Mosop, Gebremariam, Philip Kimutai Sanga (KEN), Cheruiyot, Hall near the back - and, approaching the Newton Hills, there was no sign of the pace relenting. At 18 miles (1:25:15), Hall fronted the pack one more time, though this was a prelude to the move that was about to set this race blazing. With 19 miles fast approaching, Mutai injected the first move to truly do some damage. The group that had been congealed for so long fell asunder and the race for the line was on.

Mosop was the only one to offer a spirited response. Gebremariam tried, but could never really get back on terms. By 20 miles (1:34:05 - a projected finish somewhere in the 2:03s), it was Mutai leading, Mosop a couple of steps down and fighting, Gebremariam several more behind and fading, the rest wondering what the heck was going on. Hall was to proffer later, "I couldn't believe it. I was running 2:04 pace and I couldn't even see the leaders."

The closing miles were a duel that had to be seen to be believed. Mutai, the experienced speedster, controlled the mind-blowing pace; Mosop, the neophyte, hung on, either through naivety or strength of will - probably both. "I was expecting 2:07, 2:08," he said later.

At 25 miles, the split was 1:57:30. With one mile to go, it was 1:58:31, and it was at that stage that the reality of what these athletes were doing truly resonated. A five minute dawdle through the final mile would still improve the fastest marathon ever run (Haile Gebreselassie's 2:03:59) by 28 seconds. Dawdling was not something they were doing.

Swinging onto Boylston Street for the long home straight, it became a sprinter's race - and this after 26 miles at mind-blowing speed. With 200m remaining, though, it became evident that Mutai was the man with the wheels. He hurtled across the line with 2:03:02 showing on the clock, a time that was scarcely believable. Whatever about the tailwind, whatever about the point to point course, this was a time that brought marathoning to a new, and barely conceivable, era. A 2:02 marathon is around the corner. Talk has already started of sub-2:00:00.

In second place, Mosop crossed the line in 2:03:06, the fastest first marathon of all time. The previous debutant's best stood to Evans Rutto at 2:05:50 from Chicago in 2003. In third, Gebremariam improved his PR to 2:04:53 (from 2:08:14). In fourth, Hall improved the best ever time by an American to 2:04:58. Abreham Cherkos (ETH) closed powerfully to take fifth in 2:06:13, also a PR. The first finisher not to improve his best was the defending champ Cheruiyot, who placed sixth in 2:06:43.

"I was not coming to Boston to break the world record," stated Mutai, who claimed $150,000 for his win, plus $50,000, plus $25,000 for the course record. "It was not in my mind, but it came. The wind was never much. Hall helped us a lot. He pushed it and he pushed it, all the time."

For his part, Hall was elated. "Having run a bunch of marathons, I've learned to trust myself," he asserted. "I really wanted to be in the race coming to Newton. I was excited to be the in the lead and I was really excited about my splits. I knew that we were in a special day."

This marked a stunning return to form for the American, who had endured an un-diagnosed parasite near the end of 2010, and attributed his NYC Half Marathon slump to having come down from altitude too close to the event. "For some reason, I have breakthroughs in races where everybody else breaks through as well," he continued. "One of these days, I'll break through when everybody else is having an off day."

In the masters' competition, the win went to 42 year old Migidio Bourifa from Italy, who crossed the line in 2:13:45, taking the $10,000 first prize. Second and third were Franklin Tenorio from Boulder, CO (2:17:56) and Boudalia Said from Italy (2:18:31), respectively.

Though the spotlight shone most brightly on Mutai and those who chased him across the line, the three-man sprint to the finish in the men's wheelchair race could never be overlooked. With South Africa's Ernst Van Dyk going for his 10th Boston win, there was all kinds of emotion, not to mention a $15,000 first place prize, on the line. Sentimentality meant little to Kurt Fearnley (AUS) and Masazumi Soejima (JPN), who chased down the defending champ at 30K and engaged him in an epic tussle all the way down Boylston Street to the line. Passing beneath the clock, a single second separated all three; but, it was Soejima who took the crown (1:18:50), with Fearnley taking second in 1:18:51 and Van Dyk third on the same time.

Commented the winner, "At the end, I was thinking that until my hands start bleeding or my heart stops I wasn't going to stop."

If one were looking for a quote to encapsulate the spirit of the day, that may be it. An inspiring sentiment on a day when inspiring performances were the norm.