An Armchair View of the Women’s Race at the Iconic Boston Marathon
Waking up in hot and humid Georgia, I was thrilled to see that the weather in Boston for the 129th running was nearly perfect. Following the men’s and women’s wheelchair and the professional men’s starts, the top women in the world took off at 9:47am. The American went directly to the front with a relatively pedestrian first mile. The first miles appeared to be a settling-in process with no clear leaders, but all potential contenders. Annie Frisbie of Minnesota Distance Elite stayed in the leading pack and was the only American to go through halfway under 1 hour and ten minutes (1:09:41). Jess McClain began moving up on her and passed Annie in the last mile to take first American and 7th overall in 2 22 43 to Annie’s 2 23 21 for 8th..
But the real race began, and the eventual podium spots were decided when Sharon Lokedi, Hellen Obiri, and Yalemzerf Yehualaw broke away before the 23rd mile mark to stretch it to the finish. Hellen was attempting to three-peat, having outkicked Sharon last year to win her second title. Yalemzerf began glancing back as Hellen and Sharon moved to battle for the title once again.
Sharon learned not to leave the last mile to Hellen’s kick. As they went under Mass Ave., Sharon made a decisive move and never looked back, sprinting down Boylston to the finish in a record-breaking 2;17:22. Hellen also broke the course record of 2;19;59 with a stellar 2;17; 41, and Yehualaw also broke the record in 2;18;06. It was a race for the ages.
Sharon ran into her mother’s arms at the finish, and the emotion was incredible as they both celebrated her win. Her mom had been with her for the last month and supported all of her efforts to break the tape this time. Hellen and Sharon are very good friends, but Sharon learned how to beat Hellen on this spectacular day.
Unfortunately, the broadcast missed when the pack broke up, so we went from over a dozen in the lead pack to five over a commercial break. The pursuers had no coverage, but the tight race made up for that.
At the start of the race, it was announced that this would be two-time Olympian Des Linden’s last race as a professional. Des has become a superstar at Boston as she was 2nd by a few seconds in 2011 and won in 2018. She retired at the top as she finished 17th in a superb 2:26:19. She took the master’s title ahead of Sara Hall, who was 13 seconds back.
Thanks for all of the memories, Des.
Boston decidedly served up a mind-blowing race today, and many congratulations to all the finishers. I last ran Boston in 2014 and remember being told Meb had won when I was at 10 miles. Boston is a massive experience for all who run. I plan to be back next year.
Carolyn Mather has written about the sports of women’s running for nearly 30 years. She was well known writer in the inconic Running Journal, founded by the Caldwells and published by Bruce Morrison for many years. Carolyn has contributed to RunBlogRun and RunningNetwork publications and digital platforms for the past 3 decades.
