Kenyan runner Robert Cheruiyot won his fourth Boston marathon with a time of 2:07:46, less than a minute over his own course record of 2:07:14, to become the fourth man to hold as many titles for the race. 

The men’s lead pack was 20 runners strong for the first 10K of the race, and at the 4-mile mark were clocked as running at a 4:41 pace. When Cheruiyot broke away from the pack, which had dwindled to four at mile 20, he was clocked at a 4:37 pace. He increased the distance between himself and the second place runner, Abderrahime Bouramdane and third place finisher Khalid El Boumlili , both from Morocco even on Heartbreak Hill, the most challenging spot on the race with a pace of 5:17.

This year’s Boston marathon was the  closest in the history of the women’s race in Boston. A slowly dwindling pack of 10 runners at the 10K mark eventually wore its way down to two women, side by side, battling with all the strength and kick they had left to pull away from the other one. Finally, with 300 meters to go 22-year-old Ethiopian runner Dire Tune kicked it to win first place with a time of 2:25:25. Following only two seconds behind her was Russian Alevtina Biktimirova. Aside from the glory of winning such a grueling marathon, Tune takes home $150,000 in prize money, and Biktimirova $75,000.

The question on the winners’ minds was whether their wins would secure them a place on their own country’s Olympic teams, a decision made by committees back home based on past performances. Both Tune and Cheruiyot hope to run in Beijing and hope to return home to good news.

For more information on finishers and to read unique marathon stories see www.baa.org.

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.