21.04.2009

Troop thirteenth in Boston

Australian marathon runner Lee Troop has finished 13th in a fast-paced Boston Marathon behind Ethiopian victor Deriba Merga.

Thirty-six-year-old Troop ran out the 42km course in 2:16:21, crossing the line eight minutes behind race winner Deriba Merga in 2:08:42.

It was local runner Ryan Hall who made an early charge for the lead, a marked departure from customary Boston tactics that so often see a lone unknown charge for a moment in the sun or a squad of contenders holding close and watching every move.

Hall showed no such reticence. There he was, the first American in a generation with a legitimate shot at taking this crown, hammering away at the front as if he intended to simply run away from a field of the world's finest.

Confident he may be, but foolish he is not.

"My plan was to run my own race from the get-go," he stated afterwards.

"I just wanted to find my own rhythm out there."

Inevitably, things became more temperate as the miles unfolded. A first mile of 4:38 saw Hall in the lead, but a 5km split of 14:33 saw a knot of 13 or so all holding tight, albeit at high speed.

Taking it right up to Hall in the early stages were Gashaw Asfaw (ETH), Tekeste Kebede (ETH), Solomon Molla (ETH), Daniel Rono (KEN, James Kosgei (KEN), Stephen Kiogora (KEN), plus Merga and the three Cheruyiots - Robert the defending champion, Evans, plus a second Robert, the winner in Frankfurt last year.

From there on in it was all parry and thrust. Hall was evidently not happy unless he was at or close to the front of the field, while Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot (the defender) was similarly content to take his turn up front.

This, many will recall, was the tactic that had served him very well 12 months previously. Gashaw Asfaw also deemed a place in the vanguard to be the best tactic, and took his turn at the sharp end as the gang passed 15K in 44:45 and 10 miles in 48:06.

If there are no sure things in marathoning, at Boston maybe there is just one: regardless of what goes on in the opening miles, it will be the Newton Hills that are the ultimate determinant.

The opening miles and the impetuous early leaders may tell whatever tale they wish, but they are just the preamble.

The real story begins with the right-hand turn at the Newton firehouse (17 miles) as the hills approach.

Each incline on its own might be no big deal. Even three together may be manageable in a race of less than 26.2 miles. But to come where they do, at a point in the race where depths of endurance and determination are beginning to be plumbed, that makes them not just fearsome, but crucial.

Asfaw, Hall, the Cheruiyots, Merga, Rono, Cherigat, Kiogora, Molla, Kebede and Kosgei all charged through halfway in 1:03:39, with still little indication of how things may unfold. It was all watching and waiting and over-analysing and guessing.

Merga, clearly, was aware of what was coming, and he decided to play it to his advantage. Just past 16 miles, he injected the first real surge of the race. Molla and Rono both went with him, and it appeared as if the first significant blow had been struck, a softener before the hills would inflict their own quota of damage.

What had been a tight group of contenders was immediately a string of lone competitors fighting their own lonely battles.

As Merga charged onward - and upward - Molla and Rono fought hard to stay on terms, while Hall, all the Cheruiyots, the whole group, fell out the back door. It was too early to know it for certain, but this was how and when the race was won.

Merga never faltered thereafter; indeed, he seemed to draw strength from the passing miles. Or maybe it was just the roaring Boston crowds; he passed 20 miles in 1:37:37, crested Heartbreak Hill as if it were the first in a series of comfortable hill reps, then cruised on to the finish line with never an indication of any distress.

His time of 2:08:42, good for $150,000 in prize money, was the 17th fastest in the history of the race.

Behind him, the story was different. The defending Cheruiyot fell assunder in the Hills, ultimately dropping from the fray and winding up in the hospital. Molla also crumpled, struggling through the closing miles to place seventh (2:12:02).

Even Hall, who waged an inspiring battle in the closing miles, acceded, "I was in a lot of pain in the last 10km."

Pain or not, Hall clawed his way back towards the front of the field, using the hills to his advantage and, ultimately, drawing alongside Kebede in third. Though Hall prevailed over the Ethiopean, Rono, in second, was too strong and too committed, holding on to edge the American favorite, 2:09:32 to 2:09:40.

"I definitely felt like a rookie out there," Hall commented.

"But I'm young and I've got a lot to learn. I had a good time, but I'm excited to go home, train and come back to take another swing at it."

As for Merga, when reminded of his previous comment that "everybody who comes to Boston wants to be the last lion standing," he simply stated, "I'm very happy to win the Boston Marathon."

Article courtesy of www.bostonmarathon.org