Chebet, Jepchichir rule in Boston Marathon

Olympic Marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir and Evans Chebet held off stiff competition from rich fields to clinch top honours in the Boston Marathon held on Monday.

Chebet coasted to his first World Marathon Major title after coming close in London last year where he finished fourth, a third place finish in Berlin in 2016 and fourth in Tokyo in 2017.

The 2020 Valencia Marathon clocked 2:06:51 to not only claim gold but also lead his compatriots; Lawrence Cherono and Benson Kipruto in sweeping away the podium places, in a race where Kenyan athletes openly displayed their class by dominating the top ten positions.

Chebet, who did not finish the 2018 edition after dropping off midway, pulled off the pack at the 35th kilometre mark and maintained the pace but had to deal with Tanzanian Gabriel Gaey who tried to hang behind his back.

The seventh fastest marathoner said running in accordance with the instruction from his coach brought forth success that wiped out the 2018 bad memories.

"My coach had told me if it's a slow race, I ought to go ahead, I knew the rest had good times, and I had to be ahead of them. At the 35th kilometre mark I realized I had created a good gap between me and the rest and I had to slow down a little and maintain the pace up to the tape," he told the organizers shortly after cruising to victory.

Cherono, a past winner of the race, settled for silver after clocking 2:07:21 ahead of last year's champion Kipruto who timed 2:07:27.

In the ladies category, Jepchirchir muscled her away to the tape in the final metres of the race, narrowly beating Ethiopian Ababel Yeshaneh in what was a close finish.

Forty seven minutes into the race, Jepchirchir who had the company of Joycline Jepkosgei led the Ethiopian duo of Yeshaneh and Degitu Azimeraw in breaking away from the pack and would engage an higher gear that saw the latter drop off the pace minutes later.

Jepkosgei faded off in the closing stages of the race leaving her counterpart and Yeshaneh to battle for the gold medal.

Jepchirchir timed 2:21:12 with her closest challenger coming in 2:21:53. Mary Ngugi retained her bronze medal after clocking 2:21:31 ahead of the experienced Edna Kiplagat who was fourth.

Meanwhile, Daniel Romanchuk retained his wheelchair title after clocking 1:26:58 to finish ahead of Aaron Pike.Switzerland’s Manuela Schar won her second straight Boston crown and fourth overall, finishing in 1:41:08.

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