South African Ernst van Dyk and Japan’s Wakako Tsuchida led all the way in winning the Boston Marathon wheelchair divisions on Monday.
Van Dyk finished in one hour, 26 minutes and 49 seconds to win in Boston for the seventh time. Though it was the second slowest time of his seven victories, no one was near him when he crossed the finish line on Boylston Street.
Last year, Van Dyk failed in his bid for a record seventh straight Boston victory, losing to Japan’s Masazumi Soejima.
Tsuchida won her second straight title, finishing in 1:48,32, besting her time from last year by five minutes.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s Robert Cheruiyot won the men’s marathon title, his fourth in six years, on Monday in an unofficial time of two hours, seven minutes and 46 seconds.
After a slow start, Cheruiyot pulled away from the elite field well before the finish and was on pace to break his own race record of 2:07:14 until the final mile, when he slowed to miss the mark by 32 seconds. — Sapa-AP, AFP