And so once again, Eldoret held its breath and activities were halted as the sons and daughters calling the little town home, tore the opposition at Boston Marathon in the United States.
As expected, Eldoret town, where athletics comes second to religion – affirmed the fanatic accorded to running as thousands cheered their own at the County Screen.
But the over 11,000 kilometres separating them and their brothers and sisters did not seem to matter.
It was their own running the show in international charts, just as they have been since Kipchoge Keino’s first Olympic gold in the 1968 Games and continuous athletics dominance since then.
Evans Chebet nailed his second back-to-back victory on Monday, after flooring big names, notably among others, world marathon record holder and pre-race favourite, Eliud Kipchoge, cutting the tape in 2:05:54 hours.
Chebet’s winning time is 56 seconds faster than his winning time at the course last year. The greatest marathoner of all – Eliud Kipchoge, finished sixth.
Multi-track medalist, Hellen Obiri, obliterated a big cast of seasoned marathoners, which included two-time Boston Marathon champion, Edna Kiplagat, to cross the finish line first in a personal best time of 2:21:58.
Boston Marathon 2023 results
The top three in each division:
Men’s Runners Race
- Evans Chebet (2:05:54)
- Gabriel Geay (2:06:04)
- Benson Kipruto (2:06:06)
Women’s Runners Race
- Hellen Obiri (2:21:38)
- Amane Beriso (2:21:50)
- Lonah Salpeter (2:21:57)
