Chebet trounces struggling Eliud Kipchoge to retain Boston Marathon

ATHLETICS Chebet trounces struggling Eliud Kipchoge to retain Boston Marathon

Kiplagat Sang • 18:50 - 17.04.2023

The 34 year-old becomes just the 6th man to win it back to back in Boston Marathon's 127 year history.

Kaptagat's finest Evans Chebet of Kenya is the winner of the men's race of the 127th Boston Marathon after clocking 2:05:54.

Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay came second in 2:06:04 and Kipruto was third in 2:06:06.

Kipchoge – who came into the marathon with hopes and determination to win - totally set the pace for the men’s elite field after 49 minutes of racing.

He led the lead pack of 11 men through the half marathon in 1:02:19 before he kicked on and left half of them behind. Six men, including Kipchoge himself, Evans Chebet, and Benson Kipruto, were at the front at this time.

As the men's pack broke apart at a water point, Gabriel Geay of Tanzania - a 2:03:00 athlete who was fourth last year here - surged ahead as Kipchoge started falling back of that pack.

At 20 miles, Kipchoge fell well off as the hilly course seemed to present a serious challenge for him. At this juncture, he was 16 seconds back and running alone.

With an hour and 40 minutes to go, Evans Chebet – last year’s winner – eased away ahead of the elite men’s leading group. Kipchoge was not in the mix at this moment.

It was surprising to see the Kipchoge drop so far back with 30 minutes remaining in the race. He was at least 100 metres behind the leading five athletes.

Chebet was ahead of Kipruto at mile 22, and then Geay followed in single file as they were on pace for a 2:05:46 finish. Potential winners at this point were Chebet of Kenya – the defending champion, Kipruto, the 2021 champion, and Tanzania’s Geay, who was searching for his first marquee win.

Chebet was out front by a metre ahead of Geay, with Kipruto tracking every move of his rivals.

At 40 kilometres training partners Chebet and Kipruto – who incredibly worked his way back up to his rivals - were running side by side ahead of Geay.

Boston is the most lucrative marathon in the world, as it comes with record-breaking prize money for its winners.

Kipchoge’s hope was to add the Boston Marathon trophy to his cabinet, but the 38-year-old struggled and failed to achieve his dream.

The legendary runner, who has never run in New York, has won two Olympic gold medals and four of the six major marathons in which he has participated.

As he attempted to beat the competition and emerge a winner on Monday, headwinds, a series of climbs, and some downpours posed a challenge to him, and he fell back despite running in the lead pack from the start in Hopkinton.