Heat - The Story of This Year's Boston

With high temps well into the 80's, winning times at this year's Boston were more than nine minutes slower than last year.  Kenyans Wesley Korir and Sharon Cherop won with times of 2:12:40 and 2:31:50, respectively.  The top three spots in both men's and women's races went to the Kenyans:

Men:
1.  Wesley Korir                       2:12:40     Kenya
2.  Levy Matebo                       2:13:06     Kenya
3.  Bernard Kipyego                 2:13:13     Kenya

Women:
1.  Sharon Cherop                    2:31:50     Kenya
2.  Jemima Jelagat Sumgong   2:31:52     Kenya
3.  Georgina Rono                   2:33:09      Kenya

Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai, the man who has run the fastest marathon ever in 2:03:02, last year in Boston, dropped out of the race this year due to what was reported as cramping at around 18-19 miles.  Congratulations to US elite runner Jason Hartmann from Colorado who ran an even-paced race to come in fourth in a time of 2:14:31!

I was tracking Sara (BAA texts you your runner's 5k, 10k, half, 30k splits and finish time), knowing that the heat was going to slow her considerably.  Through the halfway point, she was doing okay, then the pace went way down after that.  I figured she just decided to let it go and run for fun.  And as soon as I heard from her after the race, that's what she said.  In fact, she said it was really weird...   the BAA had put up huge screens urging runners to "slow the pace," all fire hydrants were open, medical carts and motorbikes were everywhere helping people, EMT stationed every two miles, people sitting in medical tents...

All is not lost..  Sara has already qualified for Boston 2013 with her 3:11 in Jacksonville last December, her Boston training has made her stronger, and now she knows the Boston course!