FAMILIAR FACES FOR BOSTON MARATHON ELITE FIELD
By David Monti
(c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission

Six former Boston Marathon champions have been contracted to run the 114th edition of what is America's oldest marathon on Monday, April 19, organizers announced today.

Ethiopians Deriba Merga and Dire Tune; Kenyans Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, Salina Kosgei and Catherine Ndereba; and Russian Lidiya Grigoryeva have all been signed by John Hancock Financial, the long running sponsor of Boston's elite fields.  Between then, they have 12 Boston victories.

"As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of our sponsorship, John Hancock Financial could not be more excited with the outstanding global field of runners we will have in Boston this year," said Jim Boyle, president of John Hancock Financial through a media release.  He continued: "In the next few months, we will round out the field, announcing the participation of other elite runners, but this list today gives a sense of why the world's top runners return to Boston every spring on Patriot’s Day. They want the challenge of beating the best on one of the world's great courses to win the Boston Marathon, inarguably one of the world's premier road races."

Cheruiyot and Ndereba have four Boston victories apiece.  Cheruiyot, who was homeless for part of his childhood, first won in 2003, before winning three in a row from 2006 through 2008.  Ndereba, a two-time Olympic Marathon silver medallist, got her first win in 2000, then won again in 2001, 2004 and 2005.  Cheruiyot was second to Merga last year, while Ndereba hasn't competed in Boston since her victory in 2005.

In last year's contest, Merga pulled away from the field in the 28th kilometer to dominate the race and win by 50 seconds.  But the women's race wasn't decided until the final meters when Kosgei beat Tune to the line in a flat-out sprint by just one second, the closest women's finish in the history of the race.  Tune fainted the moment she crossed the finish line, and did not awaken until she was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.

Boston's hilly course, unpredictable weather and lack of pacemakers make it a truly classic marathon.  In addition, because most of the general field must post qualifying times to gain entry, it has become America's most exclusive marathon, the everyman's Olympics. 

However, continuous adjustment of those qualifying times and the addition of charity runners have allowed the race to grow to become the third largest in the United States with 22,849 finishers (behind New York and Chicago).  That growth has meant a lot to the Boston economy.

"Not only will the Boston Marathon once again be a great event for spectators, it also continues to be a tremendous economic benefit for Boston and the region, generating a direct and indirect economic impact estimated at $110 million," Boyle added.

The 2010 Boston Marathon will be broadcast nationally in the United States on Universal Sports.  Al Trautwig and Larry Rawson will provide the commentary.

ENDS