Boston Marathon 2013 - The Women's Race

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The 117th Running of the Boston Marathon - The Women's Race
by John Elliott

About the Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is a different animal than some other marathons. Other marathons seek the fastest possible finish times and will employ pacers to bring the runners through the first half or 18 miles in a certain time; will have time bonuses for certain achievements; and/or will have special contracts with individualized bonus structures for each runner to encourage each to run to their fastest ability. Boston has none of that and so the races can be fast/furious or slow/strategic depending on the makeup of the runners who are in the field. The 2009 women's race at the Boston Marathon was infamous for being SLOW as the women went through the halfway point in 1:18:12; a time that was comfortable for nearly 20 women and finishing with a winning time of 2:32:16. Although not nearly that bad, a number of other Boston and other women's races have been "strategic," but in some years a woman or two have taken advantage of that to run away and win: two of the most famous being Jelena Prokupcuka's win at the 2006 New York City Marathon or Constantina Dita's win at the 2008 Olympics Marathon...

Photo Credit: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun

Leaders Emerge - Ignored
The field for the 2013 Boston Marathon was deeper than usual. In the field were ten women who were capable of running sub-2:26 for a marathon, giving them all the capability of competing for the win. Others had run times close to that mark and could win if the race were too slow and "strategic."

The first three miles for the women were 6:01 (for the leader, most women at 6:16!), 5:54 and 5:52. When Margaret Okayo set the course record (2:20:43) in 2002 her first three miles were 5:07, 5:30 and 4:52 - the difference was striking. Given the slow pace, four women - all capable of 2:28 or better marathons ran forward. Yolanda Caballero (2:26:17 at Boston 2011) was the most persistent of this group which would grow and shrink in members and include two of the sub-2:27 women at points: Sabrina Mockenhaupt (2:26:21 PR) and Diana Chepkemoi Sigei (2:26:53 PR). Ultimately, though Caballero was left alone and would pass through the halfway point in 1:14:02 with twelve women (a sign of a slow pace) passing the halfway point more than 30 seconds behind.

Only one runner seemed concerned both with Caballero's lead and the slow pace of the field: Ana Dulce Felix. Dulce Felix left the main pack at mile 14 and within a mile had caught Caballero and thereafter was powering away to the lead on her own. By mile 21 - after the famous Newton Hills, Dulce Felix had a lead of 1min 15secs on the rest of the women (still a group of 8) and was out of sight and looking strong. It seemed likely that she could power through to the win...

Shalane Flanagan would tell us after the race that she was getting very antsy allowing runners to leave the pack - but she was following her coach's strategy. He had told her to "follow the major contenders and to just literally follow their every move." And perhaps that was the right strategy as the "major contenders" did pick up the pace after the hills and would catch Dulce Felix by mile 24.

Photo Credit: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun

The Top Four
The women who would work together to catch Dulce Felix were Rita Jeptoo, Hailu Meseret, Shalane Flanagan and Sharon Cherop - and as they passed Dulce Felix it was evident that these would be the top four in the race. By the 40K mark, Rita Jeptoo stepped into a gear that no one else in the race had - and she moved away. Hailu Meseret held on for a while and gained ground on the others, but it was clear that she could not stick with Jeptoo.

The Finish

Photo Credit: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun

Rita Jeptoo was the winner of the 2013 Boston Marathon running away from the others. Her time of 2:26:25 ranked as the 44th fastest time ever at Boston - not the fastest, but in recent years time has seemed less important to the women. Most impressive about Jeptoo's win was that it came seven full years after she won the Boston Marathon (2:23:38 for her 2006 win). Jeptoo had been a strong marathoner and then dropped off the face of the earth - or so it seemed - as she became a mother and only returned to marathoning fully in 2012, four years after leaving the sport.

Behind Jeptoo, Sharon Cherop was making an effort to catch Meseret Hailu but failed; allowing Hailu to finish in second in 2:26:58 with Cherop finishing in 2:27:01 and Flanagan left somewhat behind in 2:27:08.

The Americans

Photo Credit: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun

Boston really wants to have an American win its race... Not since Lisa Rainsberger (nee Larsen Weidenbach) in 1985 and Greg Meyer in 1983 has an American man or woman won Boston. In 2009, there was hype and hope that Kara Goucher or Ryan Hall would win Boston - but both finished third in their respective races. In 2011, Desiree Davila finished runner-up, just two seconds back; but that's not a win. With two of the USA's Olympian women running the 2013 Boston Marathon, there was hope that one or the other might beat the odds and finish first. After the race, Shalane would tell us how incredibly much she wanted the win and how she felt that she had let Boston down. She said that everywhere during the run all she could hear were the crowds shouting "Go Kara" or "Go Shalane" - and that at times it was almost deafening. With the weight of the hope and expectations on her, she nearly broke down in tears post-race; and Kara Goucher, previously in the same spot, would say how bad she felt for Shalane. But there can be no doubt that they will both be back.

Top Finishers:
1. Rita Jeptoo (KEN) 2:26:25 - $150,000
2. Meseret Hailu (ETH) 2:26:58 - $75,000
3. Sharon Cherop (KEN) 2:27:01 - $40,000
4. Shalane Flanagan (USA) 2:27:08 - $25,000
5. Tirfi Tsegaye (ETH) 2:28:09 - $15,000
6. Kara Goucher (USA) 2:28:11 - $12,000
7. Madai Perez (MEX) 2:28:59 - $9,000
8. Diane Nukuri-Johnson (BDI) 2:29:54 - $7,400
9. Ana Dulce Felix (POR) 2:30:05 - $5,700
10. Sabrina Mockenhaupt (GER) 2:30:09 - $4,200
11. Diana Sigei (KEN) 2:33:02 - $2,600
12. Mamitu Daska (ETH) 2:33:31 - $2,100
13. Alemitu Abera (ETH) 2:33:46 - $1,800
14. Yolanda Caballero (COL) 2:35:10 - $1,700
15. Stephanie Rothstein-Bruce (USA) 2:35:31 - $1,500