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The 127th Running of the Boston Marathon - The Men's Race
by John Elliott
All About Kipchoge
In the twenty-first century, one marathoner stands out above all else: Eliud Kipchoge. Prior to the running of the 2023 Boston Marathon, Kipchoge had run the marathon distance in a race fifteen times. Remarkably, Kipchoge won thirteen of those fiften finishes and en route set the world record twice - including the current world record of 2:01:09 set at the Berlin Marathon in September 2019. Beyond the world record, as a promotional effort, Kipchoge ran 1:59:40.2 for the marathon distance in a perfectly orchestrated event that provided the perfect environment for a runner and was not eligible for official world-record classification - but still, Kipchoge ran the marathon distance in under 2 hours...
When the Boston Marathon announced that Kipchoge would run the 2023 Boston Marathon, the marathon immediately became all about Kipchoge. Could Kipchoge set a new official world-best while running the Boston Marathon (another course inelibigle for a world-record certification due to its net elevation drop); would Kipchoge break the existing course record which was set on a day of amazing tail winds; and if there were tailwinds on race day in 2023, could Kipchoge better his 1:59:40 time for the distance? Honestly, the question wasn't really whether Kipchoge would win, it was by how much.
And why was Kipchoge running the Boston Marathon? Kipchoge's legacy as the best in the world was already set - so how could Kipchoge improve on that legacy? Kipchoge's 13 wins included a number of wins at the "World Marathon Majors" marathons, including one win at the Chicago Marathon (2014), three wins at the Berlin Marathon (2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022), four wins at the London Marathon (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019), one win at the Tokyo Marathon (2022) and two Olympmic Gold Medals (2016, 2021). Wow!!! But Kipchoge had not won (or even run) the two other "Major" marathons: Boston and New York - so there was a stated goal to win all of these marathons. And at 38, Kipchoge's additional years of running might be limited.
Others in the Race
Although Kipchoge was the main focus of the marathon, there were quite a few incredible runners participating in the 2023 Boston Marathon. Most notable was Evans Chebet, the defending champion (having won the 2022 Boston Marathon) and the reigning champion from the New York City Marathon and a man with an impressive 2:03:00 personal best achieved while winning the Valencia Marathon (2020). Gabriel Geay was another runner with a 2:03:00 personal best - oddly also achieved while winning the Valencia Marathon (2022). And two runners had actually finished ahead of Kipchoge before in their career - when Kipchoge finished 8th at the 2020 London Marathon: Shura Kitata was the winner of London that year in 2:05:41 and Benson Kipruto who finished seven seconds ahead of Kipchoge in that London race - so perhaps Kipchoge might not be unbeatable.
The Race Begins - It's All Kipchoge
Not only did Kipchoge have the best record and best speed in the field, it was known that he had the greatest desire to win Boston - he needed to win Boston and New York to complete his World Marathon Majors domination. Given all of that, the race began with all eyes - spectators and participants - on Kipchoge. Kipchoge set the pace - and it was a quick pace - and all other runners who could followed behind in the lead pack. Watching, it was easy to see that no other runner would risk running ahead of Kipchoge, but all who wanted to contend for a podium position would not let Kipchoge get away from them. And Kipchoge set a pace that could bring him to a new course record as well as the win...
The Hills
Many think the Boston Marathon is a difficult course. But many feel it is an easy course... The first half of the Boston Marathon sports a healthy downhill and elevation loss. The course then continues with a relatively flat profile. And the final five miles to the finish are also downhill - that sounds easy... But the Boston Marathon is also famous for the hills as it heads through Newton... the Newton Hills. These hills occur between miles 19 and 21, which any marathon runner or fan knows is the point where a runner might "hit the wall" and the final hill over the years has gained the moniker "Heartbreak Hill" as it signalled the demise of many runners Boston Marathon success.
For 2023, the Newton Hills again served as the nemesis of runners and in particular Eliud Kipchoge. Leading to the hills, Evans Chebet pushed the pace and alone started to move away from the lead pack. Soon two runners ran hard to keep up with Chebet: Gabriel Geay and Benson Kipruto. But, amazingly, Eliud Kipchoge could not respond and quickly lost ground - he was out of contention. What took its toll on Kipchoge? Too many years of running flat courses? A history of poor performances running in the rain (and the rain was pouring down)? Too much pressure coming into the race and being the leader for the first 30 kilometers? Just a bad day? We can't know.
The Race of Three Men
Into and over the hills, the race became a race of three men: Evans Chebet, Benson Kipruto and Gabriel Geay. By affinity, the advantage should fall to Chebet and Kipruto - two Kenyans who were also teammates, training partners and friends. Geay was the sole Tanzanian athlete in the race and set to battle alone agains the Kenyans. Indeed the Kenyans did work together - to the limited extent such is possible in a marathon. Kipruto collected a water bottle at one point for Chebet and the two discussed and chose what they expected was a pace that would benefit their prospects. Through the final miles, the three traded off the lead and at various points, each seemed to have the edge on the others.
The Winner and the Speed
Ultimately, it was Evans Chebet who had the greatest strength and he was able to run forward to notch the win in 2:05:54. Gabriel Geay managed to outkick Kipruto to finish as runner-up in 2:06:04 and Benson Kipruto took the third place in 2:06:06. These times were not just fast - they were incredible. Chebet's time entered the books as the sixth fastest ever at Boston, Geay's became the seventh fastest of all time and Kipruto's became the eighth fastest of all time. But the times were even better than those placings would indicate as the fastest four times in Boston history were set in 2011 - a year in which there was a direct 20mph tailwind pushing the runners down the course at times they had never run before and would never run again. Ignoring that extremely wind-aided times of 2011, these times of 2023 were better than any others except Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot's 2:05:52 run of 2010. Now, of course, the runners in 2023 had "magic" shoes - the new technology that really does help, so true comparisons are forever muddled. But regardless, these were fast times.
The Americans and Keeping Pace
We can never complete our coverage without mentioning the American contingent. That's just what we do in the USA... From the beginning, two Americans ran with the lead group: Conner Mantz and CJ Albertson. Albertson from time to time would fall back, but through the half both Mantz and Albertson were in the lead group - running through the halfway mark in 1:02:20, which if run to the finish would be 2:05ish... Formulas abound to translate a professional half marathon time to a marathon possibility and vice-versa. The easiest is that a person's marathon potential is approximately double the half marathon time plus 6 to 8 minutes. Given that, and given that Mantz' best half marathon was 1:00:55 (actually, a great American time) and his previous best (and only) marathon time was 2:08:16 at the flat Chicago marathon course, it seemed clear that Mantz could not keep that pace to the finish. Similarly, Albertson's best Half Marathon was 1:04ish (yes, he set a half marathon best in the 2023 Boston marathon) and previous best marathon was 2:10:52. It was clear that neither of these two could keep that pace.
Meanwhile, behind, two Americans were running together at a pace they could sustain. Scott Fauble and Matt McDonald went through the halfway mark in 1:03:59, nearly 1:40 behind the lead pack. Anyone with marathon experience knows that you must not go out too fast in a marathon or you will reap the consequences later on the course. And, indeed, Fauble and McDonald - running a more even pace - caught and passed Albertson after mile 21 and passed a seriously slowing Mantz in the final mile. The American results: Scott Fauble first American and seventh overall in 2:09:44, Matt McDonald second American and 10th overall in 2:10:17, Conner Mantz third American and 11th overall in 2:10:25 and CJ Albertson fourth American and 12th overall.
Post-race, Fauble - who had now finished first American and seventh overall at Boston three times in a row - made no excsuse for not trying to run with the lead pack: "I knew I couldn't run 62 minutes for the first half and finish out the marathon. While some will praise Mantz' courage in giving it his all from the start, we applaud Scott Fauble for knowing and running to his potential.
Scott Fauble - Top American
photo credit: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun |
Top Finishers:
1. Evans Chebet (M34) (KEN) 2:05:54 - $150,000
2. Gabriel Geay (M26) (TAN) 2:06:04 - $75,000
3. Benson Kipruto (M32) (KEN) 2:06:06 - $40,000
4. Albert Korir (M29) (KEN) 2:08:01 - $25,000
5. Zouhair Talbi (M28) (MAR) 2:08:35 - $18,000
6. Eliud Kipchoge (M38) (KEN) 2:09:23 - $13,500
7. Scott Fauble (M31) (USA) 2:09:44 - $10,500
8. Hassan Chahdi (M33) (FRA) 2:09:46 - $8,500
9. John Korir (M26) (KEN) 2:10:04 - $7,000
10. Matthew Mcdonald (M29) (USA) 2:10:17 - $5,500
11. Conner Mantz (M26) (USA) 2:10:25
12. Cj Albertson (M29) (USA) 2:10:33
13. Nico Montanez (M29) (USA) 2:10:52
14. Shura Kitata (M26) (ETH) 2:11:26
15. Andualem Belay (M31) (ETH) 2:11:50
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