At the Boston Marathon on Monday, American runners finished third in both the men’s and women’s races—the highest place for Americans in decades.
Ryan Hall clawed his way to third place after falling back from the lead pack with 20 miles to go. He mustered a gutsy finish and crossed the line in 2:09:40, less than a minute behind Ethiopian champion Deriba Merga (2:08:42) and only eight seconds behind second place Kenyan Daniel Rono (2:09:32).
But the most dramatic race was in the women’s field, where four Americans led the first 10 miles of the race. 45-year-old Colleen DeReuck led all the way through mile 18, when fellow American Kara Goucher began pushing the sluggish pace. Goucher, running in only her second marathon ever, led the race into the final mile. However, the defending champ, Kenya’s Dire Tune, and Ethiopian upstart Salina Kosgei pulled away from Goucher on Boylston Street. In one of the closest finishes in Boston history, Kosgei edged Tune by less than a second for the win in 2:32:16, with Goucher taking third only nine seconds behind in 2:32:25. De Reuck held on for eighth place.
Read more stories from the marathon and view complete results here.
