Boston Marathon on Patriot Days - Women race

fter a cold and drizzly weekend, today is shaping up to be mostly sunny with temperatures around 50. The only question is the wind: it looks as if the runners will be dealing with a moderate crosswind for the first 17 miles or so, which may become a headwind as they make the turn at the firehouse onto Commonwealth Avenue.

In the women's race, the storyline is the return of Salina Kosgei of Kenya and Dire Tune of Ethiopia, who last year gave us the most dramatic finish most of us have ever seen. After a slow pace early on, these two women dueled down Boylston Street to an epic finish that saw Kosgei win by a second - the closest women's finish in Boston history - and Tune collapse at the finish line believing herself the victor only to learn otherwise in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

It was the second year in a row that Tune was involved in a tight finish. In 2008, she prevailed by two seconds in a sprint over Russia's Alevtina Biktimirova. That makes two Boston Marathons decided by a total of three seconds for Tune, the two closest finishes ever for women in Boston. It's doubtful that she wants a three-peat.

This year, Tune's training partner, Teyba Erkesso, is in the race, and it will be intriguing to see if the two women work together to ensure a faster pace earlier in the race. Kosgei is coming off a hamstring injury sustained in a fall at Mile 4 of the ING New York City Marathon in November, so they might want to test her fitness early.

Or will Madai Perez of Mexico, whose 2:22:59 personal best if the fastest in the field, want to test her own post-maternity fitness and take it out? She set a big PR last month at the New York City Half Marathon (69:45), and is not known as being shy about leading a race.

The 114th Boston Marathon start times are as follows:

9:00 a.m. Mobility Impaired Division
9:17 a.m. Push-Rim Wheelchair Division
9:22 a.m. Handcycles
9:32 a.m. Elite Women
10:00 a.m. Elite Men & Wave 1
10:30 a.m. Wave 2

Barbara Huebner will provide continuous live coverage of the Women's Race beginning at 9:00 a.m.

perihal:

"Women's Race Day Commentary"
- Boston Athletic Association: 2010 Boston Marathon -- Race Commentary (lihat di Google Wikipinggir)