*Men's Preview

So Who Is Going To Win?

Unlike 3 of RKC's previous wins, it's not going to be clear until the final miles who the winner is. It's going to be at least a pack of 4: Evans Cheruiyot, Ryan Hall, Deriba Merga and "The Champ" RKC #1 (he should get a cool nickname for always winning these marathons). If anyone (likely Merga or RKC #1) makes a break before 15 miles, it's going to get covered because the other guys are too good to let someone run away. But other than that, it's too hard to tell. If it comes down to those 4 in the final 8km, who would you go with? We'd say 50% of the time, "The Champ" is taking that race down. Then the other 3 can get equal odds, 16.7% chances for each of them.

We'll go with this:

1. Cheruiyot "The Champ" 2:06:40 CR, PR, 5th Boston Title
2. Hall 2:07:10
3. Merga 2:07:25
4. Evans Cheruiyot 2:08:01

*Women's Preview

Can Kara Goucher Give America Its Long Sought After Victory?
By: LetsRun.com
April 15, 2009

Can the American drought in Boston finally end? That is the question this year for both the men's and women's races at the 2009 John Hancock Financial Boston Marathon. It's been a long time since Lisa Weidenbach crossed the finish line first in Boston way back in 1985. Can 30-year-old Kara Goucher - who ran 2:25:53 in her debut in New York - pull off the victory?