Boston Marathon 2007 - The Men's Race

The Boston Marathon 2007 - Women
by Sharon Ekstrom

The women's elite line-up at the 111th Boston Marathon was filled with seasoned Boston marathoners along with one of the strongest young American female fields gathered for the race within the race - the USA Women's Championships. Expectations were high with the participation of top American Deena Kastor and the rematch between 2006 defending champion Rita Jeptoo and Jelena Prokopcuka who lost to Jeptoo by a mere ten seconds (the closest margin of victory among the top two women in the history of the Boston Marathon). Madai Perez who was fourth at the 2006 Chicago Marathon had also been favoured as one to watch.

With the weather being such a wildcard for race day, the athletes prepared for the worst as the forecasted Nor'easter (high winds and a driving cold rain) arrived into the Boston area. Some of the runners had the advantage of training in the harsher winter conditions where they live; but there was much to factor into this race. For as with the weather, the outcome of a race can never be so easy predicted.

With the worst of the storm having passed prior to the start, winds were the only complication for race day. The race began with Prokopcuka out front leading the pack at a conservative pace under 5:40. A lead pack of eight runners took form around the 5K mark and held fast through the half marathon split. These women included Rita Jeptoo, Jelena Prokopcuka, Alice Chelangat, Madai Perez, Deena Kastor, Robe Tola Guta and Lidiya Grigoryeva.

The lead pack built a formidable gap of 1.5 minutes in front of the others by the 10K mark As with the men's race, these athletes were taking no risks. They were strategizing - knowing that after the half way point they would hit the hills as well as the brunt of the headwinds. Despite having the rest of the pack draft off of her, Prokopcuka sickened by what she considered "jogging" would occasionally push the pace; but no one would join her.

After the half way mark around Wellsley, Prokopcuka took a risk and broke off from the pack. Deena Kastor who had to stop to use the restroom fell off the lead pack pace by 40 seconds by the time she rejoined the course. By the time the lead women reached the Newton Hills, the group was whittled down to four - Prokopcuka was joined by Perez, Grigoryeva and Jeptoo who was barely hanging on.

Jeptoo faded at the second big hill in Newton and dropped from the pack Prokopcuka reached mile 18 at the elapsed time of 1:44:03. Perez, who had slightly faded, regained momentum and took the lead for the following two miles. Grigoryeva who was off the radar in terms of the top three contenders in the field held her own and was running strong through the hills. After heartbreak hill, Prokopcuka had to shake her competition, but each time she has attempted to pick up the pace Perez and Grigoryeva remained with her.

With a little over three miles to go, Prokopcuka dropped back slightly, letting Perez take the lead; but as the tallest athlete in the pack there must have been little advantage she could obtain from drafting off her competitors. Perez cannot hang on and fades with two miles to go. Grigoryeva drops the hammer. This is a strategy seen with few female Russian elites on other marathon courses have employed, running a very conservative race and drafting for most of the race while remaining in back of the pack before speeding up for the finish. This two-time Olympian at the 10,000 meter distance in 2000 & 2004 quickly built an impressive lead between herself and Prokopcuka who had led most of the race. Prokopcuka had never had a true head-to-head with Grigoryeva despite their racing the New York City Marathon in 2004, 2005 and 2006. (Prokopcuka finished 5th, 1st and 1st place while Grigoryeva finished 12th, 8th and 5th place.)

The finish provided the slowest Boston Marathon results since 1985. Lidiya Grigoryeva won the Boston Marathon with a time of 2:29:18 adding this to her resume of victories at the 2006 Los Angeles Marathon and the 2005 Paris Marathon. Lidiya take home a prize of $100,000 and is now fourth on the World Marathon Major leaderboard.

The final results:

Lidiya Grigoryeva 2:29:18
Jelena Prokopcuka 2:29:58
Madai Perez 2:30:16
Rita Jeptoo 2:33:08
Deena Kastor 2:35:09
Robe Tola Guta 2:36:29
Lyubov Denisova 2:38:00
Alice Chelangat 2:38:07
Ann Alyanak 2:38:55
Kristin Price 2:38:57

There were a few strong finishes and even a few personal bests at the 2007 USA Women's Championships. Despite Deena Kastor's bad day, she won the Championships with a time of 2:35:09 and the prize of $25,000 with an additional $4,000 from the USA Track & Field. Ann Alyanak who ran with Kristin Price for most of the marathon was runner up with a time of 2:38:55. Price finished two seconds behind and took third place. Alyanak and Price had personal bests and shaved ___ from their previous marathon times. Seasoned marathoner, Mary Akor, who went out with the lead elite pack in the first two miles took fourth place.