MILLETTE CHIONGBIAN FINALLY CONQUERED BOSTON

Millette Chionbian and her husband Frederick in this file photo of the 2008 Mizuno Shell Half-Marathon organized by the Cebu Executive Runners Club (CERC). Photo courtesy of John Pages

 

She finally conquered Boston!

Millette Chiongbian ran the 115^th Boston Marathon yesterday April 18. She finished in 4:02.58 – her official time – as posted in the Boston Marathon website.       

We all know what she went through to qualify, run and finish the Boston Marathon - the marathon of all marathons. At first try, she missed the qualifying time by a couple of minutes. Last year, in LA, she finally nailed it by finishing in 3:43:06.

            That wasn’t over yet for Millette as far as running the actual Boston Marathon. She qualified but registering was another challenge.

            Millette (and a lot other runners) had to agonize through some rule changes arbitrarily imposed by the BAA. They flip-flopped on qualifying procedures and received a ton of criticisms for it.

            Yesterday, however, we finally could write it in our running record books – Millette Chiongbian – the first Cebuana runner to run the Boston Marathon.

Goeffrey Mutai crosses the finish in a blistering time of 2:03.02 in this year's Boston Marathon. Photo courtesy of Boston Athletic Association.

             Goeffrey Mutai of Kenyan won the men’s division with the fastest time of 2:03.02! So fast that it broke the record of 2:03.59 set by Haile Gebrselassie in Berlin in 2008. But here’s a catch. Mutai’s time isn’t recognized as the new marathon record. Boston Marathon’s terrain, according to officials, is a downhill course dropping to at least 16 feet or well above the regulation 1 foot per kilometer drop.

            But the blistering pace by Mutai is no joke. Officials could say whatever they want to say but to break the existing time by 57 seconds is no walk in the park. Moses Mosop, another Kenyan, came in second with another record-breaking time of 2:0:06.

            This brings the question: Will any man ever run a sub-2 marathon? Let’s discuss that in another blog.

            Here’s the top ten men’s finishers.

1.      Geoffrey Mutai KEN 2:03:02

2.      Moses Mosop KEN 2:03:06

3.      Gebregziabher Gebremariam ETH 2:04:53

4.      Ryan Hall USA 2:04:58

5.      Abreham Cherkos ETH 2:06:13

6.      Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot KEN 2:06:43

7.      Philip Kimutai Sanga KEN 2:07:10

8.      Deressa Chimsa ETH 2:07:39

9.      Bekana Daba ETH 2:08:03

10.  Juan Carlos R. Cardona, Sr. COL 2:12:17

Caroline Kilel outsprinted Desiree Davila of the US to rule the women's division with a time of 2:22:36. Photo courtesy of Associated Press (AP).

 

Caroline Kilel made it a sweep by the Kenyans as she crossed the finish line in

2:22:36 out sprinting Desiree Davila of the US by merely .02 of a second! Davila gave it all but couldn’t keep up with Kilel in the last 200 meters where Kilel dashed to the finish line. The last time an American (man or woman) won in Boston was in 1985.

            Here’s the complete women’s result.

1.      Caroline Kilel KEN 2:22:36

2.      Desiree Davila USA 2:22:38

3.      Sharon Cherop KEN 2:22:42

4.      Caroline Rotich KEN 2:24:26

5.      Kara Goucher USA 2:24:52

6.      Dire Tune ETH 2:25:08

7.      Werknesh Kidane ETH 2:26:15

8.      Yolanda B. Caballero COL 2:26:17

9.      Alice Timbilili KEN 2:26:34

10.  Yuliya Ruban UKR 2:27:00

For the benefit of those who want to run the next Boston Marathon, here are the qualifying times for 2012 and 2013.

Minimum Boston Marathon Qualifying Times 2012

Age - - - - - Men - - - - - Women

18-34 - 3hrs 10min - 3hrs 40min
35-39 - 3hrs 15min - 3hrs 45min
40-44 - 3hrs 20min - 3hrs 50min
45-49 - 3hrs 30min - 4hrs 00min
50-54 - 3hrs 35min - 4hrs 05min
55-59 - 3hrs 45min - 4hrs 15min
60-64 - 4hrs 00min - 4hrs 30min
65-69 - 4hrs 15min - 4hrs 45min
70-74 - 4hrs 30min - 5hrs 00min
75-79 - 4hrs 45min - 5hrs 15min
80&up - 5hrs 00min - 5hrs 30min

Minimum Boston Marathon Qualifying Times 2013

Age - - - - - Men - - - - - Women

18-34 - 3hrs 05min - 3hrs 35min
35-39 - 3hrs 10min - 3hrs 40min
40-44 - 3hrs 15min - 3hrs 45min
45-49 - 3hrs 25min - 3hrs 55min
50-54 - 3hrs 30min - 4hrs 00min
55-59 - 3hrs 40min - 4hrs 10min
60-64 - 3hrs 55min - 4hrs 25min
65-69 - 4hrs 10min - 4hrs 40min
70-74 - 4hrs 25min - 4hrs 55min
75-79 - 4hrs 40min - 5hrs 10min
80&up - 4hrs 55min - 5hrs 25min

             

            The BAA allows only 25,000 runners thus qualifying and actually running the Boston Marathon could be tricky. I included the 2013 times because the start of registration for 2012 is September 2011. I’m not sure if any of us here in Cebu could beat that schedule. Aside from that, you need to run in a Boston qualifying marathon such as the Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon to qualify. You can’t just run a marathon and say you had this time.