Eliud Kipchoge faced a setback during the Boston Marathon as he developed an upper left leg issue about 29 kilometres into the race, which led to him being dropped from the lead pack.
The two-time Olympic champion couldn’t catch up with his challengers, and Evans Chebet went on to retain his Boston title in two hours five minutes and 54 seconds.
Kipchoge finished sixth, suffering only his third defeat in 18 career races. “My left leg actually was not coming up anymore. That’s the problem you tried to do what was necessary, but it was not working. I put my mind just to run at a comfortable pace and just to finish,” Kipchoge said.
Kipchoge’s leg issue surfaced after the first two of Boston’s famed four Newton Hills. Unlike the marathons where he won his majors in Berlin, London, Chicago, and Tokyo, the hilly Boston course posed a unique challenge.
The weather on Monday made things even more difficult for Kipchoge and his competitors due to the wet conditions and considerable headwind.
Chebet made his move after the 35km mark, but Tanzanian Gabriel Geay refused to go down without a fight. Kenya’s Benson Kipruto, the champion in 2021, caught up by 40km, making it a three-man race.
With a mile to go, Chebet had established an unassailable lead, and he crossed the finish line to roars from the crowd, becoming the first man since 2008 to retain his Boston crown.
Helen Obiri won the women’s race in 2:21:38, running her second marathon. She hung in with a tightly packed lead group for the entire race before breaking away with a mile to go.
Ethiopian Amane Beriso, a favourite, finished 12 seconds behind. Israeli Lonah Salpeter claimed bronze in 2:21:57, keeping Ethiopian Ababel Yeshaneh off the podium.
Obiri said she nearly opted out of the race after moving to the United States just three weeks ago. She drew on the lessons from her marathon debut in New York last year, where she finished sixth. “I was feeling like my body was ready,” she said. “I believed in myself.”
