Tune Wins Closest Women’s Boston Marathon in History; Cheruiyot Wins His Fourth

When Dire Tune, (pronounced "Deer-ay Too-nay), decided to wait until the end and try to outkick her opponent, Alevtina Biktimirova, when she couldn't pull ahead of with a few miles left in the Boston Marathon. The plan barely worked – but it worked. The two women ran shoulder to shoulder from Heartbreak Hill to the end, exchanging the lead from time to time before Tune pulled away on the final turn to win in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 25 seconds today to take the closest women's race in Boston Marathon history. Ms. Biktimirova finished 2 seconds later. Ms. Tune, a 22-year-old Ethiopian remarked through a translator, “I tried to run away from her for the last miles, but she’s very strong. I was confident when I was not able to run away from her, I could save myself for the final kick.” This was her first try at Boston

Tune and Biktimirova were part of a group of 10 women who immediately broke from the pack within the first mile and stuck together until about mile 15. One by one the others dropped back until only Tune and Biktimirova were left. Tune and Biktimirova seemed to get stronger, matching each other stride for stride. Ms. Tune at one point appeared to give up an edge when she nearly missed one of the final turns.

The previous closest women's finish was 10 seconds in 2006, when Kenya's Rita Jeptoo beat Latvia's Jelena Prokopcuka. The two finished third and fourth respectively, today. The top American finished 15th overall in 2:48.43. Most of the top American women ran in Sunday's Olympic trials in Boston. It probably wouldn’t have made a difference because women from African and the former Soviet Union have dominated the race in recent history.

Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya won the men’s race in 2 hours, 7 minutes and 46 seconds. It was his fourth win in five tries. After crossing the finish line, he dropped to his knees to kiss the ground before standing up and counting off his four victories with an upraised arm. Cheruiyot's third straight victory gave Kenya its 15th men's title in 17 years. Kenyans also finished sixth through ninth. But Cheruiyot's countrymen struggled more than usual overall, with just the one man in the top five - the fewest since 1992 - and one woman in the top 10. Cheruiyot couldn't say whether the performance was related to the post election violence back home, in which some of his country's top runners have been killed and threatened. Cheruiyot missed two months of training because of the unrest before his coach moved their camp to Namibia.

More than 25,000 runners started the race for the second-largest field ever. Among entrants in this race were cyclist Lance Armstrong and astronaut Sunita Williams, who ran a simulated Boston Marathon last year while in orbit on the International Space Station.