With every step she took those first 15 miles or so of today's Boston Marathon, I was at once clapping, cheering, and...crying.
The emotions just poured out of me as I watched Shalane Flanagan take control of the race from the start, and never relinquish that tiny lead until she reached the Newton Hills.
While I didn't see her drop off the pace---the livestream following the women broke down!---I knew she had, because I went to Twitter to fill in the gaps of info coming from the livestream, and people were crying out to her to "stay strong", or were questioning "What happened to Shalane?".
Finally, when the livestream of the women's race came back, I saw a group of 4 or 5 Africans, with Shalane not in the picture.
But still, Shalane ran her heart out!
She tore out at 5:13 pace, and flew through 10000 in 32:34, 10 miles in 52:50, 11 miles in 58:11, and the half in 1:09:27.
One person said it was an "insane" pace.
But was it?
In 1983, when Joan Samuelson (then Benoit!) won Boston in a WR of 2:22:43, shattering the old best by over 2 minutes, she ran her first half in 1:08:34, which was a HALF PR for her!!
She faded to 1:14:09 in the 2nd half.
Shalane faded too.
But not as much as Joan did.
She did her last half in 1:12:35.
Even THAT time isn't anything to be ashamed of.
And it brought her to a PR of 3:26, and a time of 2:22:02.
She finished in 7th place!
Meb Keflighazi took the lead from the start too, with a 4:49 first mile.
But his pace was much more controlled, and more within his range, as he hit the 13.1 mile point in 1:04:21.
But unlike Flanagan, who had those 5 Africans on her shoulder the whole way, Meb had just one guy.
And by the top of those Newton hills, he'd dropped him, or it seemed that way!
Then with a mad dash for the next 10K, Meb's lead was down to just 6 seconds, with less than one mile to go!
Could he hold on to become the first American Men's winner since 1983?
YES!!
As he turned onto Boylston Street, that iconic downtown Boston thoroughfare that, last year, saw 2 bombs shatter the perfect day Boston had been up till then, he knew he had it won!!
He put his sunglasses atop his head, started waving and fist-pumping the crowd, who were there cheering this Eritrean-born American icon's every step, and crossed the finish line the winner!!
And he PR'ed to boot!!
(I'll get to the stats in a sec!)
What a magnificent, heart-thudding, tear-evoking, and, in the end, perfect Patriot's Day in Boston!!
I get emotional pretty easily.
I cry during movies, or even when reading engrossing novels.
And watching Shalane and Meb both run this race not just for themselves, but for the city of Boston, and especially for those who were killed or maimed in 2013....watching them run with such strength, power, elegance, and pure HEART......brought many tears-----joyful tears!!---to my eyes.
(As I'm certain it did to many, or most, people watching this race!)
But besides being such an emotional race, it was a fast one too, especially for the women.
As you all know, my T&F Record Book includes some Boston course times on my Top 24 lists.
I've never run Boston, but know people who have, and none of them thought it was an easy course, despite its loss of elevation.
So I decided, long ago, to include the Boston race results in my book.
Here's the stats:
Rita Jeptoo won the race in 2:18:57.
Already on the list with a time one minute slower, she moved from 18th A-T World up to 5th A-T World.
Buzunesh Deba, an Ethiopian who lives in New York, ran 2:19:59, making her 19th A-T World.
(ADDED 1 hour later: Just discovered she broke the Age 26 mark with her time! My Book had mistakenly listed Asselech Mergia's 2:19:31 at the 2012 Dubai race as the Age 26 mark. But looking more closely at her birthdate, as listed in Athletics Annual, shows she was born January 23, 1985. The Dubai race in 2012 was on January 27, thus making her 27 on that day! And no, Mergia does NOT get the Age 27 record!)
Jemima Jelegat Sumgong ran 2:20:41, gaining her 24th place on the World list!
And Shalane's massive PR of 2:22:02 moves her from 5th A-T US up to 3rd A-T US!!
This was one of the deepest elite fields ever, not just in Boston, but in ANY marathon worldwide!!
Several Place records were broken today!
In my book, I keep Best Place marks for the Marathon through 12th place.
Aleksandra Duliba's 2:21:29 now rates as the best 6th place finish ever!
Flanagan is now the best 7th placer with her 2:22:02.
Sharon Cherop's 2:23:00 is the fastest 8th place time now.
Philis Origori's 2:23:22 now rates as best 9th place ever.
Desiree Linden (formerly Desiree Davila!) ran 2:23:54, not a PR, but fast enough to make her the best 10th place mark ever.
Belaynesh Oljira's 2:24:21 is now the best-ever 11th place time.
And Meb??
Well, he PR'ed by 16 seconds, with a time of 2:08:37.
This makes him 4th A-T US!!
What a day!
What a race!
Since this will be the last post until after Penn and Drake and all that's happening later this week, allow me to add just 1 mark I found today from Mt SAC that I'd overlooked.
In the Women's 3000SC, Nicol Traynor ran 9:42.13, moving her to 21st A-T US.
(Ashley Higginson won the race in 9:35+, but it wasn't a PR!)
Keep Boston, and yourself, Strong!!
See you soon!
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