By Susan Rinkunas/Runner’s WorldEthiopian Teyba Erkesso's plan to push the pace midway through the 114th Boston Marathon almost went terribly wrong. Erkesso had amassed a lead of one minute and 19 seconds by 30K, but the fast-closing Tatyana Pushkareva of Russia was hot on her heels on Boylston Street as they approached the finish. The intrepid Erkesso hung on to win by three seconds in 2:26:11.
"I didn't believe that I had the win until I crossed the line," Erkesso said.
As in 2009, defending champion Salina Kosgei of Kenya was in a side-by-side duel with her nearest competitor and had to summon a sprint to prevail. But unlike last year, Kosgei, 33, finished third in 2:28:35, one second ahead of Ethiopian Waynishet Girma. After the race, Kosgei said her knee was still not 100 percent as the result of a fall during November’s New York City Marathon.
Erkesso, 27, was running her third race of 2010 and her third marathon in six months. She had won January's Chevron Houston Marathon in 2:23:53, improving her own course record (and personal best) by 25 seconds. Fun fact: Dire Tune and Deriba Merga each won Houston the year they won Boston, in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Erkesso also recorded a PR in February's RAK Half-Marathon of 1:07:41 and placed 4th in the Chicago Marathon last October.
The 2009 event was a slow, tactical race with a furiously fast finish after which second-place finisher Dire Tune collapsed. This year, the women were on 2:24 pace early on as they clocked 5:21 for the first mile, more than one minute faster than last year's 6:38 opening mile. A pack of 14 women pulled away as Yurika Nakamura of Japan and Chaofeng Jia of China, running her marathon debut, helped set the honest pace, trading the lead for the first nine miles. The lead group included Erkesso, Kosgei, Tune, and Girma as well as Bruna Genovese of Italy, Madai Perez of Mexico, Weiwei Sun of China, Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia (the 2007 titlist), and Agnes Kiprop of Kenya.
Americans Mary Akor and Heidi Westover were seven seconds behind the lead group at 5K and 16 seconds back at 10K; Paige Higgins was 59 seconds off the lead at 10K. Westover would go on to place 18th, Akor 16th, and Higgins 13th; she took the top American spot in 2:36:00.
After the quick start, the pack clicked off the first three 5K segments between 17 and 18 minutes each. At mile 10, Pushkareva, 24, came to the front to take the lead. Two miles later in Wellesley, Ethiopian training partners Erkesso and Tune surged to the front, with countrywoman Koren Jelela Yal giving chase. The small group built an eight-second lead on the chase pack before Tune clutched her sides several times and disappeared from view. Yal looked back a few times to see where the 2008 champion had gone. Tune later dropped out.
Then Erkesso dropped the hammer. While miles 10 through 12 hovered near 6:00 pace, she powered through the next four miles in 5:17, 5:18, 5:23, and a blistering 5:06.
"I don't have as much success with speed in finishing, so making my move early was important," Erkesso told reporters after the race.
By 30K, Erkesso had amassed a 1:19 lead on the chase pack of Pushkareva, Grigoryeva, and Yal. A second pack including Kosgei, Girma, Genovese, Kiprop, and Weiwei Sun of China, hovered one minute behind them. But for a moment, it looked like Erkesso would fall apart.
She took fluids from her own bottle plus a bottle of water (which she unscrewed with her teeth), then grabbed her abdomen several times and clocked a sluggish 5:48 for mile 21. Her lead over Pushkareva shrank to 1:05 by 35K. The Russian runner, on the other hand, was running smoothly, smiling and waving to the crowd, hardly looking taxed.
The gap shrank further to 28 seconds as Erkesso seesawed between 5:21, 5:40, and back to 5:21 during miles 22 to 24. With Puskareva closing hard; Erkesso's lead dwindled to 15 seconds at 40K. Over the last 800 meters on Boylston Street, it looked like Pushkareva could catch Erkesso, who was looking over her shoulder as the 2009 Rock ‘N’ Roll San Antonio Marathon champion drove hard from eight seconds back. Erkesso found an extra gear and powered through the tape in 2:26:11.
Though unable to catch the fading Erkesso, Pushkareva was pleased with her performance.
"I would not change anything. I did everything that I could," said Pushkareva, who also notched a 4:16 PR.
Top 10 Women
1. Teyba Erkesso (ETH) 2:26:11 $150,000
2. Tatyana Pushkareva (RUS) 2:26:14 $75,000
3. Salina Kosgei (KEN) 2:28:35 $40,000
4. Waynishet Girma (ETH) 2:28:36 $25,000
5. Bruna Genovese (ITA) 2:29:12 $15,000
6. Lidiya Grigoryeva (RUS) 2:30:31 $12,000
7. Yurika Nakamura (JPN) 2:30:40 $9,000
8. Weiwei Sun (CHN) 2:31:14 $7,400
9. Nailya Yulamanova (RUS) 2:31:48 $5,700
10. Albina Mayorova-Ivanova (RUS) 2:31:55 $4,200
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