|
|
The
1999 Boston Marathon
| April
19, 1999
The runners of the 103rd
Boston Marathon found themselves competing on a deceptive
day on a deceptive course. The lure of the downhills in
the early miles can destroy the best race strategies,
but this year a second demon lurked in the 26.2 miles
from Hopkinton to Boston.
Heat
Not the obvious, scorching,
oppressive kind, but an insidious, subtle warmth which
drained the race of some of it's legendary competitors.
If it's great weather for watching, it's too hot for running.
As all those runners with sunburned right shoulders can
attest, it was a great day to watch.
|
| At The
Expo
The legends come to Boston
for race weekend, and many familiar faces were seen at
the Race Expo. Alberto Salazar put in
a rare appearance, signing autographs and talking with
runners on Saturday.
Alberto knows
about pushing in hot weather. When he was asked if he
had recovered from his near death effort at the Falmouth
road race years ago, he said, " I don't think I'll
ever recover."
|
|
|
|
Moses
Tanui radiated confidence during an appearance
at the Fila booth. Tanui was the winner of the 100th running
of the Boston Marathon as well as last year when he ran
2:07:34. He entered this year's race as the favorite. |
| Joan Benoit
Samuelson charmed fans at the Race Expo. The 1984
Olympic Marathon Gold Medalist and two-time Boston Marathon
champion continues to run well.
So well in fact that she
has come close to beating Bill Rodgers in shorter races.
When asked if she will edge Bill in a race soon, she just
smiled.
|
 |
 |
Khalid Khannouchi,
America's hope in the marathon (as soon as he becomes
a citizen) will not tackle Boston until 2001. He was committed
to the London Marathon this spring, and next year the Olympics
take priority.
Jen Rhines,
a top US 10,000 meter runner, appeared at the Adidas booth.
|
 |
top
|
|
What's in a word?
Key words grace Colleen
DeRueck's water bottle at the 10K elite runner's water
table.
Colleen's commitment to
the sport is unsurpassed, and her appreciation of her position is
a rare thing indeed.
|
| The View From the 10K Mark |
 |
Franz Nietlispach
of Zeiningen, Switzerland steamrolled the
competition to win his third straight Boston title,
his fourth overall. Nietlispach finished in 1:21:36,
13 seconds shy of the course record.
That's an average speed
of 19.4 mph...without changing gears.
|
|
Louise Sauvage
of Australia and American Jean
Driscoll have come to know each other very well.
For the second consecutive year they raced wheel to wheel,
finishing mere milliseconds apart. Sauvage won her third in
a row at Boston, defeating Driscoll who was gunning for her
eighth Boston victory. They were both timed in 1:41:19, which
is 3:52 per mile pace.
|
|
At 10K they
were in the order of finish,
Sauvage, Driscoll and
Edith Hunkeler of Switzerland.
top
|
|
| The Lead Pack
Here we have the leaders just past
the 10K mark at Framingham.
They went through in 31:25 (5:04 pace), well off Simon Karori's
1992 record split of 28:43.
Of the dozen runners in this picture, only four would finish
in the top fifteen.
From left to right:
#12
Isaac Garcia, (MEX) fin. 16th-2:18:14
#35 Kenneth Cheruiyot, (KEN) DNF
#7 Andres Espinosa, (MEX) fin.17th-2:18:47
#10 Silvio Guerra, (ECU) fin. 2nd-2:10:19
#2 Joseph Chebet, (KEN)
obscured, fin.1st-2:09:52
#27 Tesfaye Bekele,
(ETH) part. obscured, fin.20th- 2:21:20
|
#6
Vanderli Lima, (BRA) fin.93rd-2:36:36
#34 Abner Chipu, (RSA) fin.4th-2:12:46
#8 Jose Garcia, (SPA) DNF
#1 Moses Tanui, (KEN) DNF
#39 Jose Luis Molina, (COS) fin. 7th-2:14:27 |
|
 |
We did manage to catch a glimpse
of the eventual winner, Joseph Chebet (KEN).
He is pictured here second from the right, enjoying "team
tactics". |
 |
|
top
Sun
Yingjie (CHN)
aggressively launched into a record pace right from the
start. She passed through 5K in 15:39, 10 seconds under
Joan Benoit Samuelson's 1983 record split. She would continue
to lead until just past the halfway mark, when Fatuma
Roba and Catherine Ndereba passed her.
|
|
|
At the 10K mark
Fatuma Roba (ETH) and Yuko Arimori
(JPN) were happy to trail Sun Yingjie by 1:07
Roba would win
her third Boston
in a row, running 2:23:25.
Arimori finished
third in 2:26:39
|
 |
In her marathon
debut,
Catherine Ndereba (KEN)
cruised along in sunglasses.
She finished
in sixth place,
running 2:28:27.
|
 |
|
| Colleen DeRueck (RSA)
leads a small pack through the10K mark in 33:49, 1:19 behind
the women's leader at this point.
Colleen ran her personal
best for this course, finishing fourth in 2:27:54. Her
best placing at Boston was in 1997 when she finished third.
|
|
Tucked on the right side of
this pack is Lynn Jennings, the top US
woman in this year's race. This was Lynn's official marathon
debut. (She ran unofficially in 1978, finishing in 2:46)
Lynn qualified for US Olympic
marathon trials by running 2:38:37. She finished 12th
overall, first American woman, narrowly edging out Julia
Kirtland of Maine by 1:08.
|
top
 |
Bill
Rodgers (age 51) entered this
year's marathon with the goal of setting some age group
records. He had officially retired from marathoning on April
8, 1993, but over the past two years Bill felt his training
and racing were going so well that marathon records were within
reach. He had considered running Boston in 1998, but previous
commitments made that impossible.
After a very busy weekend of
personal appearances, Bill joined the field in Hopkinton
on a warm sunny day, the type of conditions he has never
enjoyed racing in.
| 1st
5K - |
17:20 |
|
2nd 5K - |
17:41 |
|
3rd 5K - |
17:40 |
|
4th 5K - |
17:48 |
|
5th 5K - |
18:05 |
|
6th 5K - |
21:01 |
|
A
look at his race splits show he was right on 2:30
pace until dehydration hit. The photo at the left
shows Bill at 10K. He appeared to be working hard
at that point, and like many others in the race, sweating
a bit too much. He dropped out at the medical area
at the top of Heartbreak Hill. |
Hopefully Bill will run Boston
again. We all deserve to see the "King of the Roads"
cruise down Boylston just one more time.
|
top
Results
of the 1999 Boston Marathon
| Men |
|
Women |
|
| Joseph Chebet,
Kenya ($80,000)
Silvio Guerra, Ecuador ($40,000)
Frank Pooe, South Africa
($22,500)
|
2:09:52
2:10:19
2:11:37
|
Fatuma Roba, Ethiopia ($80,000)
Franziska Rochat-Moser, Switz.($40,000)
Yuko Arimori, Japan ($22,500)
|
2:23:25
2:25:51
2:26:39
|
| Men
- Wheelchairs |
|
Women
- Wheelchairs |
|
| Franz Nietlispach,
Switzerland ($10,000)
Saul Mendoza, Mexico($5,000)
Scot Hollonbeck, Georgia
($2,500)
|
1:21:36
1:25:18
1:27:58
|
Louise Sauvage,
Australia ($10,000)
Jean Driscoll, Illinois ($5,000)
Edith Hunkeler, Switzerland
($2,500)
|
1:42:22
1:42:22
1:43:48
|
top
1998
Boston Marathon
1997 Boston Marathon Scrapbook
|
|
Nov 12
The View From
