CHEBET, OBIRI ARE 2023 BOSTON MARATHON CHAMPIONS
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2023 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved – Used with permission.
BOSTON (17-Apr) — Kenya’s Evans Chebet successfully defended his Boston Marathon title here this morning, soundly defeating two-time Olympic Marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge and backing-up his TCS New York City Marathon win last fall. Chebet, 34, who represents adidas, worked with his training partner Benson Kipruto to drop Kipchoge in the 20th mile and collect the $150,000 first place prize. He crossed the finish line in 2:05:54.
“I know this course very well,” Chebet said in his post-race broadcast interview. He added: “I’m so happy today.”
On the women’s side, two-time World 5000m champion Helen Obiri emerged victorious from a pack of five women at the 40-K mark. The 33 year-old Kenyan, who was the last elite athlete to enter the race only three weeks ago, clocked 2:21:38 in only her second marathon, a personal best.
“I was feeling like my body was ready,” said Obiri who runs for the Boulder-based On Athletics Club. She added: “I kept on fighting.”
KIPCHOGE TAKES IT OUT FAST
Despite damp and cold conditions at the start (49F/9C with 95% humidity), Kipchoge took the race out fast. He ran the first (downhill) mile in a snappy 4:37 and took the field through 5 km in a blistering 14:17. That was well faster than the 14:32 Geoffrey Mutai ran in 2011 when he set the still-standing course record of 2:03:02.
Despite the red-hot pace, there were a dozen men in the lead pack including Chebet, 2021 champion Kipruto, 2021 TCS New York City Marathon champion Albert Korir, two-time NCAA cross country champion Conner Mantz, and Tanzanian record-holder Gabriel Geay.
Prior to the race, Chebet and Kipruto agreed to work together all the way to the finish. They were not working specifically to defeat Kipchoge, but rather the entire field.
“When we race we don’t race against any one (athlete),” Kipruto explained. “We race against all of the competitors.”
The pair, coached by Italian Claudio Berardelli, were content to let Kipchoge lead. Chebet spent some time at the back of the pack surveying his rivals and conserving his energy. He was feeling confident.
“That I fell back was my calculation,” said Chebet. “That was better for me. I fell back so that I observed (the others).”
The pace cooled a bit by the halfway point (1:02:19), and the same 12 athletes were still together. Kipchoge was still on the…
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