Boston Marathon: Ryan Hall, Kara Goucher Both Finish 3rd for U.S.
Why
The Boston Marathon -- a Patriot Day staple -- took place Monday and the results were, well, both shocking and encouraging for the U.S. Ethopia's Deriba Merga and Kenya's Salina Kosgei were the winners of the men's and women's races, respectively, but America managed to place third in each division as well, as Kara Goucher and Ryan Hall led the way for the U.S. Perhaps third is not what most competitors strive for, but America's finish is the best in quite some time, considering that no American has won the event since 1985 when Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach took home the women's title. Kosgei, the women's winner, said the weather made finishing the race difficult. "I decided I must try. So, I tried," she said in a television interview. "The wind was a bit stronger. ... So, it was very hard." The weather didn't seem to bother the Americans too much, though, as Hall finished the race 62 seconds off the winning pace (2:09:40), while Goucher finished just nine seconds behind Kosgei (2:32:25). Ultimately, though, Ethiopa and Kenya dominated the races, placing a ridiculous 14 runners total in the top-10 of both the men's and women's races, and showed that America still has some ground to make up when it comes to marathon racing.
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References:
http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/04/20/boston-marathon-kara-goucher-ryan-hall-place-for-u-s-merga/,http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_12183590?source=rss
