2007 Boston Marathon Highlights

The organizers of the 2007 Boston Marathon would not succumb to the Nor'easter that was thrown at them. They refused to cancel the race, despite rain totals of 3 to 5 inches in surrounding areas in the 24 hours preceding the race that resulted in flash flood warnings for the area. Facing wind gusts of over 50 miles per hour, cold weather, and constant rain, the race would be a true test of will for all participants.

Robert Cheruiyot, the defending champion, held on despite the terrible conditions to win, yet again. With his win in this year's Boston Marathon, he has become the only man to win the Boston and Chicago Marathons in the same year. After running with a large pack of sixteen men for the first 19 miles of the race, Cheruiyot and fellow Kenyan James Kwambai made it a two-man race to the finish. Outsprinting Kwambai for the title, Cheruiyot's time of 2:14:13 is the slowest winning time for the Boston Marathon since 1985. It is almost a full seven minutes slower than his winning time last year, but he gets to take home the $100,000 prize, nonetheless.

Cheruiyot questioned his level of fitness, because he has had headaches since his win of the Chicago Marathon. It was in Chicago that Cheruiyot slipped at the finish line and hit his head on the ground. He had internal bleeding and had to stay in a hospital for two nights following the race. Cheruiyot had this to say before the race, "I may have trained well, but due to the headaches I cannot say that I am 100%. But I'll give it my all. One of my strongest points is that I believe in myself and I'm confident of doing well."

The top Men's American finisher was Peter Gilmore, from San Mateo, California. His finishing time was 2:16:41. This was good for an 8^th place finish, just one spot behind his finish last year.

On the women's side, American Deena Kastor was the favorite coming into the race. She was ranked the #1 female marathoner in the world, and numbers 2 and 3 were also present to challenge her at the Boston Marathon. Shortly after the halfway point, however, Kastor fell off the lead pack. She finished in 2:35:09 as the top US Women's finisher.

The winner of the women's race was Lidiya Grigoryeva from Russia, finishing in a time of 2:29:18. This was the slowest women's winning time for the Boston Marathon since 1985.