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Boston Marathon 2008 - The Preview
by Sharon Ekstrom
The 112th Boston Marathon will see approximately 25,000 participants racing the point-to-point course from Hopkinton to Back Bay on historic Patriot's Day. With last year's Nor'easter leading to one of the slowest Boston Marathon finishes in 30 years, we'll expect the 2008 Boston Marathon to mark a return to normalcy and also mark the last high profile marathon before the Olympic Games in Beijing and the last chance for some athletes to impress their federations and have a chance to be selected for their Olympic team. (The US Olympic Trials Women's Marathon Team will be decided with the top three finishes at the 2008 US Olympic Trials held on a criterium course in Boston the day before the Boston Marathon.)
 The 2008 Boston Marathon features the return of three time defending champion Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot attempting to become the first man, since Cosmas Ndeti in 1995 to win Boston three years in a row, and the first man, since Bill Rodgers in 1980 to win the Boston Marathon a total of four times. The women's race will be a showdown between 2007 defending champion Lidiya Grigoryeva, 2006 champion Rita Jeptoo and Jelena Prokopcuka, a two-time New York City Marathon champion who has been runner-up at Boston twice but has never won. The recent addition of Nuta Olaru and some lesser-known Ethiopian women will generate an exciting race.
In the days leading up to the Marathon, the B.A.A. announced that the prize purse was increased to $796,000 with the men's and women's open division victor will each receive $150,000, a record level for guaranteed prize money for individual race winners from the World Marathon Majors events. Perhaps this prize incentive along with more favorable weather conditions will inspire an incredible competition and the achievement of personal goals.
The Men's Race
Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot.... It's not that the men's field on the 2008 roster lacks solid talent, as much as Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot is the star of the field and a personal favorite. The first winner of the World Marathon Majors title, Cheruiyot is the course record holder with a 2:07:14 from his 2006 victory and the champion of the Boston Marathon in 2003, 2006 and 2007. A fourth win would make Cheruiyot the first Kenyan to claim four Boston Marathon crowns. James Kwambai, the 2007 runner-up returns along with third place finisher from 2007 Stephen Kiogora [editor's note: Kiogora has withdrawn due to lack of proper training] and fourth place finisher James Kosgei. Kwambai, who trains with Cheruiyot, Paul Tergat, Martin Lel and others under Dr. Gabriele Rosa in Kenya, was a force to be reckoned with as he challenged Cheruiyot in the final mile of the 2007 race. Kwambai lacked the speed or the tactics to battle it out to the end; but if he has sharpened his game, Kwambai could surely upset Cheruiyot's goal for another victory. Other notable athletes on the roster are William Kiplagat who has the fastest personal best time in the field of 2:06:50, 2004 Boston Marathon Champion Timothy Cherigat who like Cheruiyot is a veteran with years of experience running the Boston course and the dark horse in the field is Shadrack Kiplagat. Shadrack Kiplagat whose personal best is a 2:07:53 from a seventh place finish at the 2007 Amsterdam Marathon. This is Shadrack Kiplagat's first competition in a World Marathon Majors race. If his performance in Amsterdam is indicative of his abilities, he will give the leaders a run for their money.
 The Women's Race
The women's field has no clear favorite. Defending champion Lidiya Grigoryeva's cautious tactics or sheer luck at the 2007 race garnered her a victory over Jelena Prokopcuka, a two-time New York City Marathon champion whom Grigoryeva had lost to at three marathons including the 2007 New York City Marathon. Grigoryeva had never truly gone head-to-head against Prokopcuka since their finishes had more than a two minute differential until the 2007 Boston Marathon. Last year, Prokopcuka ran aggressively pulling the pack through the rain and winds only concentrating on her main rivals 2006 champion Rita Jeptoo and top American Deena Kastor. She did not expect Grigoryeva's surge. Prokopcuka having never won in Boston now returns to the 2008 race with purpose. Also on the women's roster is Tetyana Kuzina-Hladyr who was runner up at the 2006 New York City Marathon and dark horse Dire Tune, a two-time winner of the Houston Marathon. Tune set a course record at the 2007 Houston Marathon with a 2:24:40 earlier in January. At twenty-two Tune shows much promise and will be running her first Boston Marathon and first World Marathon Major's race.
 Prize money - Overall
| Place | Men | Women |
1 | $150,000 | $150,000 |
| 2 | $75,000 | $75,000 |
| 3 | $40,000 | $40,000 |
| 4 | $25,000 | $25,000 |
| 5 | $15,000 | $15,000 |
| 6 | $12,000 | $12,000 |
| 7 | $9,000 | $9,000 |
| 8 | $7,400 | $7,400 |
| 9 | $5,700 | $5,700 |
| 10 | $4,200 | $4,200 |
| 11 | $2,600 | $2,600 |
| 12 | $2,100 | $2,100 |
| 13 | $1,800 | $1,800 |
| 14 | $1,700 | $1,700 |
| 15 | $1,500 | $1,500 |
Prize Money - Masters Division
| Place | Men | Women |
1 | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| 2 | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| 3 | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| 4 | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| 5 | $1,000 | $1,000 |
World record bonus of $50,000 for men breaking Haile Gebrselassie's time of 2:04:26 from the 2007 Berlin Marathon and women breaking Paula Radcliffe's time of 2:15:25 from the 2003 London Marathon.
Course record bonus of $25,000 for men breaking Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot's time of 2:07:14 set at the 2006 race and women breaking Margaret Okayo's time of 2:20:43 set at the 2002 race.
There are also Masters world record bonuses of $10,000 for men breaking 2:08:46 set by Andres Espinoza at the 2003 Berlin Marathon and 2:26:51 set by Priscilla Welch at the 1987 London Marathon. Masters course record bonuses of $7,500 for men breaking 2:11:04 set by John Campbell in 1990 and 2:27:58 set by Firaya Sultanova-Zhdanova in 2002.
The 2008 Boston Marathon Elite Lineup Follows:
| Male Elite Athletes |
| Athlete | Country | Personal Best | Boston |
| William Kiplagat | Kenya | 2:06:50, Amsterdam, 1999 | History |
| Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot | Kenya | 2:07:14, Boston, 2006 | History |
| Patrick Ivuti | Kenya | 2:07:46, Chicago, 2005 | History |
| Shadrack Kiplagat | Kenya | 2:07:53, Amsterdam, 2007 | History |
| Gashaw Asfaw | Ethiopia | 2:08:03, Paris, 2006 | History |
| Christopher Cheboiboch | Kenya | 2:08:17, New York, 2002 | History |
| Abderrahime Bouramdane | Morocco | 2:08:20, Seoul, 2007 | History |
| Yirefu Birhanu | Ethiopia | 2:09:01, Seoul, 2007 | History |
| Stephen Kiogora | Kenya | 2:09:21, Chicago, 2004 | History |
| Timothy Cherigat | Kenya | 2:09:34, San Sebastian, 2002 | History |
| James Kwambai | Kenya | 2:10:20, Brescia, 2006 | History |
| Kasime Adillo | Ethiopia | 2:10:20, Toronto, 2007 | History |
| James Mwangi Macharia | Kenya | 2:10:27, Vienna, 2007 | History |
| Khalid El Boumlili | Morocco | 2:10:49, Marrakesh, 2004 | History |
| Paulo Guerra | Portugal | 2:11:02, Berlin, 1998 | History |
| Dejene Yirdawe | Ethiopia | 2:11:08, Dublin, 2007 | History |
| Tariku Aboset | Ethiopia | 2:12:24, Dubai, 2008 | History |
| Abdelhadi El Mouaziz | Morocco | 2:12:45, San Sebastian, 2007 | History |
| Tesfaye Girma | Ethiopia | 2:13:37, Addis Ababa, 2003 | History |
| James Koskei | Kenya | 2:14:02, Dubai, 2007 | History |
| Female Elite Athletes |
| Athlete | Country | Personal Best | Boston |
| Margaret Okayo | Kenya | 2:20:43, Boston, 2002 | History |
| Jelena Prokopcuka | Latvia | 2:22:56, Osaka, 2005 | History |
| Askale Tafa Magarsa | Ethiopia | 2:23:23, Dubai, 2008 | History |
| Rita Jeptoo | Kenya | 2:23:38, Boston, 2006 | History |
| Robe Tola Guta | Ethiopia | 2:24:35, Hamburg, 2006 | History |
| Dire Tune | Ethiopia | 2:24:40, Houston, 2008 | History |
| Lidiya Grigoryeva | Russia | 2:25:10, Los Angeles, 2006 | History |
| Alevtina Biktimirova | Russia | 2:25:12, Frankfurt, 2005 | History |
| Bruna Genovese | Italy | 2:25:28, Boston, 2006 | History |
| Tetyana Kuzina-Hladyr | Ukraine | 2:25:44, Rome, 2006 | History |
| Magdaline Chemjor | Kenya | 2:28:16, Amsterdam, 2007 | History |
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