FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Caroline Rotich Sprints to Victory in 119th Boston Marathon
By Barbara Huebner
By the 5K mark of the 119th Boston Marathon, Desiree Linden had shed her
hat and tossed away her long-sleeved shirt. If the 31-year-old American had
to be the one to assure that this year's race was run at an honest pace,
with no excuses for the biting 45-degree chill and nerve-wracking headwind
that would worsen to gusts of 29 mph by the finish, so be it.
For the next 20 miles, the gutsy Michigander took control. Now and then she
might tuck in for a minute, but then resumed command. If she lagged to grab
fluids, she quickly motored back into the lead. When the pack shuffled to
follow a tangent, she moved back into position. Fans armored with rain gear
and hugging themselves to stay warm erupted in chants of "USA! USA!" as
they caught sight of an American in the lead. Lisa Rainsberger, whose win
in 1985 was the last for an American woman, had fired the starter's pistol.
Perhaps it was an omen.
But in the 23rd mile, Ethiopian Mare Dibiba decided it was time to remind
everyone, including her rivals, that her 2:19:52 personal best was the
fastest in the field. Last year's Boston Marathon runner-up, Buzunesh Deba,
insisted that her 2:19:59 PB wasn't going to waste, either.
Surprisingly, Kenya's Caroline Rotich, with a lifetime best of 2:23:22 and
better known as a half marathoner, tagged along. After making the race,
Linden slipped back.
The three hammered the next mile and a half together, often elbow-to-elbow,
as the experts waited for the Ethiopian duo to leave Rotich behind before
launching into the Big Duel down Boylston Street.
Instead, Deba fell prey to Hereford Street. When Dibaba surged with about
400 meters to go, it looked as if she would play out her role as race
favorite right to the finish line.
Then Rotich, 31, unleashed a ferocious kick with less than 200 meters
remaining, vanquishing a dejected Dibaba and breaking the tape in 2:24:55
to win her first Abbott World Marathon Majors race.
"We came to [mile 25] and I was like, ‘it's almost over,' and knew I
wouldn't go all-out until the finish," said Rotich, who took home the top
prize of $150,000. "[When Dibaba surged] I thought I would finish second.
Just like that I saw the finish line and was like, ‘Oh, I can kick!' Once I
saw the finish, I knew I could let go."
Dibaba, runner-up in 2:24:59, had predicted on Friday that she would win,
"but I realized in the last few meters that I wasn't going to have enough."
Deba finished third in 2:25:09, and fought back tears as she tried to
describe the feeling of falling just short of victory once again (in
addition to her second place here last year, the 27-year-old from the Bronx
has twice been runner-up in the TCS New York City Marathon).
Linden finished as top American, fourth in 2:25:39. Winning the master's
division was New Zealand's Liza Hunter-Galvan, 45, in 2:46:44. Joan
Samuelson finished in 2:54:03, the fastest marathon by a 57-year-old woman
in history.
Hometown favorite Shalane Flanagan, who grew up in Marblehead, Mass., and
last year recorded the fastest Boston Marathon ever by an American woman
(2:22:02), ran safely in the lead pack until just before the firehouse turn
into the Newton Hills. She abruptly veered away from the pack, running a
tight tangent in which she searched for breathing room to regroup from legs
that began feeling heavy around halfway. Flanagan soon fell back and ran
alone the rest of the way, fighting the wind and searing disappointment to
finish ninth in 2:27:47.
"I felt like I had lead legs," she said, unsure of the cause but wondering
if her timing in coming down from altitude might have been a factor.
"Normally when I put in the work I can see the results, and this is maybe
the first time that I haven't seen the results coincide with the training."
Linden—whose runner-up finish by two seconds in 2011 is the best by an
American since 1993—flashed a quick smile as she passed through the
Wellesley College scream tunnel just before bringing the 11-woman pack
though the halfway point in 1:12:33. By the 18-mile mark, entering the
Newton Hills, she was the only American remaining, as first Amy Cragg and
then Flanagan drifted back. Cragg would drop out of the race between 35K
and 40K.
"With the conditions and the course I knew today was going to be a war of
attrition," said Linden. "My goal was to go out there and make it a full
marathon, to grind it out and hopefully there wouldn't be a huge pack at
the end. I had to trust that the race was going to take the legs out of
people late."
They say the marathon begins at 20 miles, and this one surely did. At
exactly that mile marker, 2011 Boston Marathon champion Caroline Kilel—the
woman who denied Linden an American victory that year—hit the gas pedal as
if trying to outrace a tornado. The surge didn't last long, but it was
enough to shake the pack out of its routine. Then, Dibaba slung herself
around Cleveland Circle, and the pack finally began to splinter. Linden
briefly regained the lead before Dibaba, Deba, and Rotich, who finished
fourth here in 2011 and is coached by Olympic triathlete Ryan Bolton in
Santa Fe, New Mexico, took off for good.
Linden said afterward that had someone else come forward to set an honest
pace, she would have happily tucked in, but that she refused to let the
pace get too soft and had no regrets.
Asked how the race compared to her near-triumph four years ago, Linden
said, "2011 was definitely a highlight for me. I hope it isn't the
highlight of my career, but that's why I keep coming back. Today was huge
for me, being injured in 2012 (and forced to drop out of the Olympic
Marathon). I'm really proud of myself. Today was just as big personally as
2011 was."
About the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.)
Established in 1887, the Boston Athletic Association is a non-profit
organization with a mission of promoting a healthy lifestyle through
sports, especially running. The B.A.A.'s Boston Marathon is the world's
oldest annual marathon, and the organization manages other local events and
supports comprehensive charity, youth, and year-round running programs.
Since 1986, the principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon has been John
Hancock Financial. The Boston Marathon is part of the Abbott World Marathon
Majors, along with the international marathons in Tokyo, London, Berlin,
Chicago, and New York City. More than 60,000 runners will participate in
B.A.A. events in 2015. The 119th Boston Marathon will be held on Monday,
April 20, 2015. For more information on the B.A.A., please visit
wwww.baa.org
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