adminKenya’s world record holder and double Olympic gold medallist Eliud Kipchoge will be looking to add another major title to his long list of honours tomorrow when he makes his debut in the 127th Boston Marathon, an event that will mark 10 years since the bomb attack near the finish line.
A group of survivors, first responders and other members of the public gathered in the United States city yesterday in honour of the victims of the bombing in 2013, one of the most high-profile attacks on US soil that claimed three lives and saw scores more injured.
Brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs, which detonated near the finish line of the race 14 seconds and 190 metres apart.
Three people were killed, and hundreds injured, including 17 who lost limbs, some of whom are planning to run in tomorrow’s race.
During the search for them, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan shot and killed a police officer in a failed attempt to steal his firearm.
They later engaged in a shootout with the police, during which Dzhokhar escaped in a sports utility vehicle, running his brother over in the process.
Tamerlan died shortly after.
Dzhokhar was found guilty of the bombings in 2015 and received the death penalty, which was vacated in 2020.
In March 2022, the United States Supreme Court upheld the original death sentence, and he was placed back on death row where he remains today.
“This year, I am thinking about the importance of continuing on in the face of pain and setbacks,” Boston’s coordinated response team director Tania Del Rio said in a statement.
“As we mark 10 years since the 2013 Marathon, we run to keep our departed loved ones in our minds and hearts.”
Since the attack, the Boston Athletic Association has waived its normally strict qualifying for those who were “personally and profoundly impacted” by the attack, including the wounded, their families, and the charities associated with the victims and survivors.
This year, 264 such runners are due to take part in the race from Hopkinton to Copley Square which takes place annually on Patriots’ Day, the third Monday in April, and was first held in 1897 – the year after the first marathon took place at the revival of the Olympics in Athens.
Kipchoge, winner of the Olympic marathon at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, was the first athlete to run the 26.2 miles in under two hours, albeit unofficially, in 2019.
It was almost 10 years ago to the day that he ran his first marathon, winning at Hamburg in 2 hours 05min 30sec.
Since then, Kipchoge has taken part in another 16 marathons, winning 14 of them, an unprecedented run of success in an event where the distance and miles inevitably take their toll.
The 38-year-old Kipchoge has won four of the six World Marathon Majors, the events regarded as the best on the circuit, including Chicago in 2014 in his last race over the classic distance in the US.
Victory in Boston would leave him needing only a win in New York City to become the first runner to complete a grand slam.
Kipchoge is expecting a tough challenge in a race where hilly terrain and unpredictable weather make it a challenge even for the very best, from a group of fellow Kenyans, including the defending champion Evans Chebet and the 2021 winner Benson Kipruto.
Another one Kipchoge will need to watch is from Kenya’s East African neighbours Ethiopia, who have the 2019 world champion Lelisa Desisa, winner of that ill-fated race at Boston in 2013, and who will be chasing a hat-trick of wins having also crossed the line first in 2015. – Inside the Games
Online Reporter