A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about when running a 2:08 marathon is a bad day. That would certainly not be a bad day for me, but it was for Mo Farah!
One of the readers suggested after last week’s Boston Marathon that I write a new post about when running a 2:08 marathon is a good day – because that is exactly what kind of day Meb Keflezighi had when he won the Boston Marathon!
Meb Keflezighi, winner of the Boston Marathon
In most years, Boston has proved to be a tougher marathon when it comes to fast times. For a few years, the course record stood at 2:07, which was slower than many other famous marathons (like Chicago, Berlin, London). The hills in Newton on the backend of the race typically slowed runners a bit and the weather can be quite finicky. However, that changed a few years ago when the weather was actually in the runners’ favor on the point-to-point course. The fastest marathon times ever recorded were run at the 2011 with the winning time being 2:03:02. That time, though faster than the world record, could not be classified as a world record due to the net elevation loss of the course. However, it still stands as the Boston Marathon course record.
For this year, there were many great marathoners toeing the line. It was a nice day, though getting a bit on the warmer side. From the early miles, it was evident that no record was going to be set. However, Meb soon broke out and opened up quite a lead on the other runners. From that time, he was able to hold the lead and beat off the second place finish by a few seconds as he ran his fastest marathon ever – 2:08:47.
There were a lot of firsts in that race – first time an American male had won in Boston in over 30 years; first American to win a medal at the Olympic marathon, win the NYC marathon and win the Boston marathon; oldest Boston Marathon winner, etc. He ran a very smart, disciplined race and really gave Boston and America something to shout about.
As an interesting sidenote, though the teammates played this down and directed the attention to Meb, there was a concerted effort on the part of Meb’s American teammates to keep the African runners at a slower pace until it was too late for them to catch Meb. You can read more about that here.
However, at the end of the day, this is definitely a time when running a 2:08 marathon is a good day! It was a very good day, indeed, for Meb as he won the Boston Marathon and claimed his $150,000 winner’s check!
