Boston Marathon Highlights: Benson Kipruto and Diana Kipyokei Win After a Lost Year
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‘I’m Just Overjoyed’: Boston Marathon Racers Rejoice After Lost Year
Thousands of competitors ran the 2021 Boston Marathon. The prestigious race restarted this year after being canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic.
Participants are asked to keep their mask on until they reach the start line. Good job, good job. Congratulations to all the the folks that qualified. And you’re off! I’m feeling so overwhelmed. I’ve been training for this thing since, I don’t know, 2019, it feels like, because it got canceled in 2020. That was supposed to be my first time racing the Boston, so I’ve been waiting, like, two years to run it. And so I feel like I’ve been — Ohh, I’m just overjoyed. All that training, this is the big dance. This is what it pays off. Oh, my goodness. After the pandemic, after all we’ve been through, I am so happy to be here. I am super happy that Kenya won both men and women. I am so excited. And it feels great. It really feels great. You’ve got a lot of people behind you. See what you’ve done? You are Boston strong. I recently had an elder passed away up in our state, Emmett Eastman. He was a great inspiration to me. The guy ran up all the way until he was 80, and he was an international runner. And he talked about Boston when I was a kid and I thought I could never run that. And here I am today. Oh, this crowd doesn’t need any encouragement. You know what to do. The paralympic program. And once again they’re off. I saw all of the Boston survivors and they just motivate you, and the crowds motivate you, and you just keep going. There’s no reason not to go. There is no crying at the Boston Marathon.
After a year and a half wait, the world’s oldest and most storied annual marathon returned to the streets of Boston on Monday, not in its usual spring slot but in an unaccustomed season more associated with New York’s race.
The coronavirus pandemic led organizers to cancel the 2020 event and push the 2021 race for the first time from Patriots’ Day in April to October, on the day known alternatively as Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
“It’s been two years, and I’m a mom, I have two kids — it’s been hard,” Margaret Klimek said through tears just after she finished her fourth Boston Marathon. “It just feels so good to be out here doing this.”
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The men’s and women’s races were similar in that they were won by Kenyans unaccustomed to winning major marathons. But they played out in dramatically different ways.
On the men’s side, C.J. Albertson, an unheralded American, raced to a two-minute lead and improbably stayed there until the hills in the race’s late stages. Then Benson Kipruto of Kenya caught and passed him and raced to the win alone in 2 hours 9 minutes 51 seconds, 46 seconds clear of the field. In the women’s race, an unexpected winner, Diana Kipyokei of Kenya, emerged from the pack at 18 miles, took the lead, was caught, then pulled away again for the win in 2:24:45. It was her major marathon debut.
Overall, it was a triumphant return for the Boston Marathon. Edna Havlin, a runner from Brazil, summed the day up best, shouting “We’re back!” as she crossed the finish line to the cheers of the Boston faithful.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/10/11/sports/boston-marathon-2021