2018 Boston Marathon & B.A.A. 5k/MileApr 16, 2018 by Kevin Sully
Linden, Kawauchi Shock Marathon World In Boston
Linden, Kawauchi Shock Marathon World In Boston
Check out live updates from every mile at the 2018 Boston Marathon!
Desiree Linden and Yuki Kawauchi both pulled monumental upsets on a cold, wet and windy day in Boston. Check out the live mile-by-mile recap to see how they did it.
| Women | |
| Mile | |
| 1 | Weather at the start is the coldest this race has seen in 30 years -- a chilly 38 degrees, 31 with the wind chill. As expected, the pace is slow at the start as the elite field is adorned with jackets, hats and even a few plastic bags to keep off the rain. Two minutes into the race Aselefech Mergia of Ethiopia breaks away from the group and has some separation on the rest of the women's field. Mergia's first mile was 6:24. |
| 2 | The group has caught Mergia and now Ethiopia's Buzunesh Deba is in the undesirable position as the race leader. Mergia is also at the front as is Kellys Arias of Colombia. All the Americans are in the pack, though none seem keen to lead. The women run the second mile in 6:06 and are at 12:30 through two miles. |
| 3 | No major changes with Deba, Arias and Mergia at the front. Huddle is running just behind Arias. Linden and Flanagan are farther back in the pack, as is defending champion Edna Kiplagat of Kenya. The women ran 6:09 for the third mile and hit the first 5K in 19:17. |
| 4 | Mamitu Daska of Ethiopia takes her turn at the front and is followed by Mergia and Deba. This looks like the first serious escalation of pace. Huddle and Flanagan follow and the group goes from a large mass to a more orderly two-across. Mile four was 5:51. |
| 5 | Daska is running on the opposite side of the street and has about a 5 second lead on Mergia and the rest of the pack. 5:48 at mile 5 for an overall time of 30:17. |
| 6 | It's Daska with a gap on Mergia and then another gap back to the main pack that contains about 12 women. Daska runs 5:34 for that mile. 37:07 for 10K. |
| 7 | 14 women all together now as they are scattered across the road. It looked like Flanagan and Linden were chatting with each other. Nobody wants to lead so they are spread six or seven across the road. 5:52 for the seventh mile. |
| 8 | No changes to the lead pack. Linden is blowing on her hands. Edna Kiplagat is at the front but nobody wants to lead. Deba wants someone to take the lead but isn't getting any takers. 6:12 for the eighth mile. Gladys Chesir is the leader for the moment. |
| 9 | 13 women are all together. Chesir and Deba are 1-2. 6:23 for that mile, 56:15 for 15K. |
| 10 | 6:20 for mile 10, Edna Kiplagat leads but everyone is still in the main pack. The projected finish time is 2:38:14. |
| 11 | The pace hasn't dropped to anything dramatic yet, but it's important to note how much leading Deba has done thus far. She's in front of the pack once again with Kiplagat behind her. 6:21 for the 11th mile. |
| 12 | After having a brief conversation with Linden, Flanagan makes a stop in the porta-potty. Haven't seen that before, we will see if she can re-join the pack. 6:13 for the 12th mile and the 20K split is 1:15:45 with Daska at front. |
| 13 | Flanagan has come charging back and is joined by Linden as the two women try to chase down the leading pack of seven. Halfway split is 1:19:41. |
| 14 | Daska has made a move and has broken away. Behind her is a seven-woman chase pack. Linden is off the back for the moment as they run through sheets of rain and wind. 5:37 for Daska in that mile. |
| 15 | Daska has a lead of 14 seconds as the conditions deteriorate. Still lots of running left, especially in this weather. 8 women in the chase group including Flanagan, Linden and Huddle. 6:05 for mile 15 for Daska. |
| 16 | 25K split is 1:33:48 for Daska, 27 seconds ahead of the chasers. Liden showing signs that she can bridge the gap along with Edna Kiplagat and the lead has shrunk to 18 seconds. 5:45 for mile 16. |
| 17 | Daska still leads, but there is a clear second pack with Linden, Gladys Chesir of Kenya and Enda Kiplagat. There's a gap from there back to Flanagan and Huddle. Now Linden and Chesir have separated from Kiplagat and are clearly in second and third. 6:09 for Daska in that mile. |
| 18 | It looks like Daska's lead is holding steady at about 20 seconds as she takes off her gloves and runs a 6:08 mile. No sign of the others at this point. Daska's 30K split is 1:52:32, Chesir is 1:52:56 and Linden is 1:52:57. Huddle, Yoshitomi and Kiplagat are running 4-5-6 at 1:53:35. Flanagan is in 8th with a time of 1:53:52. |
| 19 | Daska runs 5:56 for the 19th mile and she has a lead of 17 seconds. |
| 20 | Daska passes 20 miles in 2:00:57, but Chesir is only 17 seconds back. Linden is eight seconds behind Chesir. Huddle is in fourth, 1:04 behind Linden and Flanagan is in sixth 15 seconds behind Linden. Daska's split was 6:19 and now she is taking on Heartbreak Hill. |
| 21 | Chesir passes Daska and Linden is lurking in third and looks poised to pass Daska as well. |
| 22 | Linden in front! She moves assertively to pass Chesir. This is a serious gap, 6:08 last mile. |
| 23 | 6:01 for Linden this mile and her lead is in excess of 100 meters ahead of Chesir. She's pulling away running 6-minute miles. Linden's lead is 20 seconds. |
| 24 | 5:54 for Linden and she's two miles away from history. |
| 25 | At 40K Linden is at 2:31:13. Nobody in sight. Linden's last mile was 6:24. |
| 26 | Linden has Boylston Street to herself. The 33-year streak is snapped. Linden will win. |
| Finish | Linden's finish time is 2:39:54, but the time means nothing. She is immediately embraced by her husband once she crosses the line. |
| Men | |
| Mile | |
| 1 | 38 degrees at the start, same as the women who started 30 minutes ago. Yuki Kawauchi is unbothered by the weather and shoots directly to the front. Is he going for a 1500 PR? The prolific marathoner from Japan has an enormous lead as he passes the first mile in 4:37, 25 meters ahead of the chasers. |
| 2 | Kawauchi still leads though his advantage isn't as big as it was after the first mile. Leading the chasers looks to be Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia and Evans Chebet of Kenya. 4:51 for that second mile for Kawauchi. |
| 3 | Kawauchi is 15:01 at 5K (5:00 minutes for the third mile), four seconds ahead of Chebet. Tola has returned to the pack. |
| 4 | Evans Chebet has caught Kawauchi and then it's a ways back to the rest of the race. 4:57 for Chebet and Kawauchi for the fourth mile. |
| 5 | The chasers have caught Chebet and Kawauchi and now Tola is at the helm. 4:53 split, but that one is hard to parse out since the leaders were caught. |
| 6 | Men's lead pack is at eight and it includes all the familiar names. Tola still is in front with Geoffrey Kirui in second. Galen Rupp is behind Kirui, running off his left shoulder. 4:46 for the sixth mile and the leaders hit the 10K in 30:15. |
| 7 | They are only running two across with every man trying to get as much relief from the wind as possible. Kirui and Tola are bearing the brunt of the wind at the moment and keeping the pace honest despite the horrible conditions. 5:01 for that mile split. |
| 8 | Men's projected finish at 10K was 2:07:39, they seemed to have slowed down from there. Felix Kandie of Kenya is at the front. 5:17 for the eighth miles, 39:30 through eight miles. |
| 9 | 5:13 for Felix Kandie and he's joined by Nobert Kigen and Lemi Berhanu. 15K split is 46:25. |
| 10 | Things aren't nearly as dramatic in the men's race. There's a healthy pack with Geoffrey Kirui making frequent appearances at the front. 5:07 for the men in that mile as there is a pack of 15 now. |
| 11 | 5:18 and Kandie is leading a pack of 15. No major changes. |
| 12 | Kawauchi is recreating his mile 1 mojo as he surges to the front. Projected finish is now 2:10:35. Kawauchi's time at the front was short lived as Lemi Berhanu and co. swallow him up, though Kawauchi has hooked on to Berhanu and Kirui. Split is 5:07 and overall time is 60:17. |
| 13 | Kirui leads through 13 miles with a 5:04 mile, still accompanied by a big pack. Halfway split is 1:05:59. |
| 14 | Kandie is running on the left side of the street while the rest of the group is on the right. Other than that, not much has changed. 5:19 last mile. |
| 15 | Men run 5:37 for the 15th mile. The 25K split is listed at 1:19:04 and Kawauchi has broken free again! |
| 16 | 5:01 for the men and Kawauchi has been reeled in again. Rupp is drifting back off the pack as Shadrack Biwott is at the front. |
| 17 | Geoffrey Kirui takes the lead around the 17-mile mark and this race is rapidly changing. Rupp is reportedly 100 meters back at this point. That was a 5:24 mile for Kirui. Rupp is outside the top five. |
| 18 | Kirui's lead is 15 seconds and the chase pack behind him is a bit scattered. 5:01 for him that mile as he runs effortlessly through the rain. Kirui is at 1:34:58 at 30K. Nageeye is in second and Kawauchi is in third. Shadrack Biwott is the top American in fourth, 28 seconds back of Kirui. Galen Rupp is in ninth, 1:05 back from Kirui. |
| 19 | A 4:50 mile for Kirui as he tries to put this race to bed. The lead is reportedly 200 meters at this point. |
| 20 | Kirui runs 5:02 for mile 20 and has a lead of 70 seconds over Kawauchi and Biwott. |
| 21 | Kirui puts up a 5:24 mile and has a lead of 1:23 ahead of Kawauchi. Biwott the top American in third (1:31 behind Kirui). |
| 22 | 5:04 for Kirui and he's still all by himself as he has the last five miles. No puddles on the road, but the wind hasn't abated. |
| 23 | Not much has changed with Kirui posting a 5:19 mile. No splits for Rupp since 30K. Biwott and Tyler Pennel are the top Americans. |
| 24 | 5:31 for Kirui -- and the defending champion looks vulnerable. Kawauchi is cutting into his lead and closing hard. This isn't over. Kirui suddenly looks spent. |
| 25 | Kirui had a 20 second lead at 35K. It's gone now. Kawauchi has passed him. This is unbelievable. |
| 26 | Kawauchi's lead is 20 seconds with one mile to go. He will be the first Japanese man to win the race since 1987. |
| Finish | Kawauchi wins the race and has a look of complete disbelief. 2:15:54 is his finishing time. Kirui shuffles home in 2:18:21 and Shadrack Biwott takes third in 2:18:32. Tyler Pennel takes fourth in 2:18:57. |