A stunner, by any measure
The time — nearly a minute faster than the recognized global best — seemed impossible. Did they start the clock late at Hopkinton? Was there a construction detour around the Newton hills? Did the winner hop on the trolley at Cleveland Circle? Did Rosie Ruiz lay out the course?
“When I was coming to Boston, I was not preparing to break a world record,’’ Kenya’s Geoffrey Mutai said yesterday afternoon after he had run 26 miles and 385 yards faster than any man in history to win the 115th Boston Marathon in a shocking 2 hours 3 minutes 2 seconds. “I see it as a gift from God.’’
Mutai, the first man to run a world best here since Korea’s Yun Bok Suh in 1947, definitely got a helping hand from Aeolus, the Greek wind god who provided a 20-mile-per-hour westerly at his back. And Ryan Hall, whose 2:04:58 shattered the American record, pushed the pace all the way into the hills.
But once he came off Heartbreak, Mutai was on his own, and when countryman Moses Mosop caught up with him on the flats, it made for a footrace — and a time — for the ages.
http://www.boston.com/sports/marathon/articles/2011/04/19/a_stunner_by_any_measure/?page=1 Really exceptional story on the race. Great writing to go with some great running!
:thumbsup: