Sport
Kenya’s Wesley Korir, Sharon Cherop win Boston Marathon titles
Sharon Cherop won the women’s race to complete the Kenyan sweep, outkicking Jemima Jelagat Sumgong to win by 2 seconds in 2:31:50. The women’s winner was decided by a sprint down Boylston Street for the fifth consecutive race, all of them decided by 3 seconds or less.
Cherop, who was also hoping to be selected for the Kenyan Olympic team, was third at the world championships and third in Boston last year.
“This time around, I was really prepared,” she said. “Last time the race went so fast and I didn’t know I was about to finish. I didn’t know the course well and I didn’t know the finish line was coming.”
Matebo finished 26 seconds behind Korir, and Bernard Kipyego was third as Kenyans swept the podium in both genders. Jason Hartmann, of Boulder, Colo., was in fourth place and the top American.
“The pace wasn’t blasting, so it wasn’t anything that was over my head,” Hartmann said. “There were so many times that you wanted to throw in the towel, but you just fought on. I don’t think that anyone coming to this race really could say they were prepared for this heat.”
Korir was the 19th Kenyan men’s winner in 22 years. But he is hardly typical of the African runners who have come to dominate the event since Greg Meyer became the last American winner in 1983.
After starting college at Murray State — the Racers, naturally — he transferred to Louisville and graduating from there with a biology degree. He is hoping to receive American citizenship within a few years.
