Defending champions Yuki Kawauchi and Des Linden head a stacked elite field for the 123rd edition of the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15.

Japan’s Kawauchi and USA’s Linden were the surprise 2018 winners as they battled through the rain and blustery winds while many of the favourites faltered in the far from ideal racing conditions.

Kawauchi leads a formidable men’s field that includes 15 men who have run sub 2:08 marathons. Joining the Japanese star for Monday’s race are former Boston champions Geoffrey Kirui of Kenya, Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia, Lemi Berhanu of Ethiopia and 2012 winner Wesley Korir of Kenya.

Among those chasing the former champions are 2:04 marathoners Lawrence Cherono of Kenya, a two-time Amsterdam champion, and Ethiopians Sisay Lemma and Solomon Deksisa. The Japanese pair of Hiroto Inoue and Hayato Sonoda also race.

From Eritrea, 2015 World Championships marathon gold medalist and 2016 New York City champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie will be in contention as will countryman Zersenay Tadese, a former world record holder in the half marathon.

American athletes include third place finisher last year, Shadrack Biwott, Olympians Dathan Ritzenhein, Abdi Abdirahman, and Jared Ward, as well as Jeffery Eggleston, Elkanah Kibet, Timothy Ritchie, Scott Fauble, Aaron Braun and Brian Shrader.

Among those making their Boston debuts are Rotterdam winner Kenneth Kipkemoi of Kenya, compatriot Benson Kipruto and Beirut winner Mohamed Reda El Aaraby of Morocco.

Also joining the field is British Olympian Scott Overall, who has a best of 2:10:55 from 2011, and 2:06 Kenyan marathoners Felix Kandie, Festus Talam and Philemon Rono.

In the women’s elite race, organisers have assembled an star field that includes 15 athletes who have run inside 2:25, 11 of whom have personal best times under 2:23:00.

Photo: Boston Marathon

Leading the way is 2018 winner Linden, 2017 Boston champion Edna Kiplagat of Kenya, 2015 Boston winner Caroline Rotich of Kenya and 2012 Boston champion Sharon Cherop of Kenya.

Challenging the Boston champions are 2:19 Ethiopian marathoners Aselefech Mergia, Mare Dibaba and Worknesh Degefa.

Last year’s second and third place finishers, Sarah Sellers of the United States and Krista DuChene of Canada return. American athletes also set to race in Boston include Jordan Hasay, third in 2017, Sara Hall, Lindsay Flanagan, Becky Wade, Sarah Crouch and Sally Kipyego.

Photo: Chicago Marathon

Joining them will be a trio of sub 2:23 Ethiopians: Meskerem Assefa, Belaynesh Oljira and Marta Megra.

Olympian Aly Dixon, who ran her best of 2:29:06 in London two years ago, leads the British hopes in Boston, while Ireland’s Fionnuala McCormack makes her return to the marathon looking to improve on her 2:31:22 best from the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Full elite men’s field

Full elite women’s field

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Ireland’s Fionnuala McCormack has been added to the elite field for the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15.

McCormack last raced over 26.2 miles at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 where she finished 20th in a personal best 2:31:22.

The 34-year-old, who has competed at three Olympic Games and a record 15 European Cross Country Championships, became a mother for the first time last autumn.

Following the arrival of her daughter, McCormack made a return to racing at the Northern Ireland International Cross Country in January, finishing in sixth place.

Most recently, the two-time European Cross Country Champion clocked 33:21 to take the win at the Enniscorthy 10k road race.

In Boston, McCormack will come up against 11 female athletes who have personal best times under 2:23:00, including 2018 winner Desiree Linden of the United States and compatriot Jordan Hasay.

They join four women who have run under 2:20 including 2017 Boston champion Edna Kiplagat of Kenya and Ethiopian trio Aselefech Mergia, Mare Dibaba and Worknesh Degefa.

The previously announced Boston Marathon elite fields can be found here.

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Organisers have announced the complete elite fields for the 123rd edition of the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15.

Nine Boston Marathon champions and seven Boston Marathon wheelchair champions will challenge their respective fields.

Desiree Linden and Yuki Kawauchi were the surprise 2018 winners as they battled through the rain and blustery winds while many of the favourites faltered in the far from ideal racing conditions.

The duo will return to defend their crowns to lead a combined field that has won more than 200 international marathons and includes Olympic and Paralympic medalists, World Championships Marathon medalists and Abbott World Marathon Majors champions.

Yuki Kawauchi heads men’s field

Leading a formidable field of 29 elite men are: 2018 Boston winner Yuki Kawauchi of Japan; 2017 Boston and 2017 IAAF World Marathon Champion Geoffrey Kirui of Kenya; two-time Boston champion and 2018 New York City Marathon champion Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia; 2016 Boston victor Lemi Berhanu of Ethiopia; and 2012 Boston champion Wesley Korir of Kenya.

Chasing the champions are 2:04 marathoners Lawrence Cherono of Kenya, a two-time Amsterdam, two-time Honolulu, Seville and Prague champion; Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia, winner of Carpi, Warsaw, Vienna, Frankfurt and Ljubljana; and Solomon Deksisa of Ethiopia, winner of Mumbai and Hamburg.

The Japanese pair of Hiroto Inoue and Hayato Sonoda also join the team. Inoue won the 2018 Asian Games Marathon and Sonoda was runner up in Beppu-Oita last year.

From Eritrea, 2015 World Championships Marathon gold medalist and 2016 New York City champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie will be in contention as will countryman Zersenay Tadese, a four-time Olympian, former world record holder in the half marathon and winner of six World Championships titles.

The previously announced American athletes include third place finisher last year, Shadrack Biwott; Olympians Dathan Ritzenhein, Abdi Abdirahman, and Jared Ward; as well as Jeffery Eggleston, Elkanah Kibet, Timothy Ritchie, Scott Fauble, Aaron Braun and Brian Shrader.

Among those making their Boston debuts are several men who ran their personal best times in 2018: Rotterdam winner Kenneth Kipkemoi of Kenya; two-time Toronto champion Benson Kipruto of Kenya; and Beirut winner Mohamed Reda El Aaraby of Morocco.

Also joining the international field is British Olympian Scott Overall and 2:06 Kenyan marathoners Felix Kandie, the Athens and Prague champion; Festus Talam, a two-time Eindhoven winner; and Philemon Rono, a two-time Toronto champion.

11 sub 2:23 women set for Boston

On the women’s elite team, John Hancock has assembled an accomplished field of 22 elite athletes, 11 of whom have personal best times under 2:23:00.

Leading the way is 2018 winner Desiree Linden of the United States; two-time World Championships Marathon gold medalist, three-time Abbott World Marathon Majors series winner and 2017 Boston champion Edna Kiplagat of Kenya; 2015 Boston, Prague and Las Vegas winner Caroline Rotich of Kenya; and 2012 Boston, Hamburg, Toronto, Torino and Singapore winner Sharon Cherop of Kenya.

Challenging the Boston champions are 2:19 Ethiopian marathoners Aselefech Mergia, a London champion and three-time winner of Dubai; Mare Dibaba, the 2015 World Championships Marathon gold medalist, 2016 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist, Chicago Marathon champion, Beijing and two-time Xiamen winner; and Worknesh Degefa, a Dubai champion.

Last year’s second and third place finishers, Sarah Sellers of the United States and Krista DuChene of Canada return to improve their positions. They join Olympic and World Championships silver medalist in the 10,000m, Sally Kipyego of the United States; and previously announced U.S. elites: Jordan Hasay, third at Boston in 2017; Sara Hall, 2017 national champion; Lindsay Flanagan; Becky Wade; and Sarah Crouch.

Photo: Chicago Marathon

Joining them will be a trio of Ethiopians: two-time Olympian Meskerem Assefa, winner of Rotterdam and Frankfurt; Olympian Belaynesh Oljira, 2015 World Championships 10,000m bronze medalist; and Marta Megra, a Toronto champion.

Rounding out the field and new to the Boston course are Olympian Betsy Saina of Kenya, a Paris champion; Olympian Eva Vrabcova of the Czech Republic, the bronze medalist in the 2018 European Marathon Championships; Olympian Aly Dixon of Great Britain; and making her marathon debut is Mary Wacera of Kenya, the World Championships Half Marathon silver medalist in 2014 and bronze medalist in 2016.

Wheelchair fields

In the men’s wheelchair race, defending champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland looks to earn his fifth wheelchair title and is part of a stellar international field featuring 10-time winner Ernst van Dyk of South Africa.

Joining Hug and van Dyk are fellow Boston winners Masazumi Soejima and Hiroyuki Yamamoto (both from Japan) as well as former course record holder Joshua Cassidy (Canada). British stars David Weir and Johnboy Smith; Japan’s Hiroki Nishida, Ryota Yoshida, and Kota Hokinoue; Canada’s Tristan Smyth; and Ireland’s Patrick Monahan round out the international men’s field.

American men’s contenders Daniel Romanchuk, Joshua George, Aaron Pike, James Senbeta, Krige Schabort, and Brian Siemann are all entered as well. Romanchuk won the 2018 New York City and Chicago Marathons.

Manuela Schar of Switzerland returns to the scene of her course record and world best performance in the women’s wheelchair race.

Schar timed a blistering 1:28:17 from Hopkinton to Boston in 2017, becoming the first woman ever to dip under the 1:30 barrier in Boston. She’ll be joined on the starting line by compatriot Sandra Graf; Madison De Rozario and Eliza Ault-Connell of Australia; Margriet Van Den Broek of the Netherlands; Diane Roy of Canada; and Aline de Rocha of Brazil.

Five-time winner and defending champion Tatyana McFadden fronts the American charge, leading Susannah Scaroni, Amanda McGrory, Arielle Rausin, Katrina Gerhard, and Michelle Wheeler.

Full elite men’s field

Full elite women’s field

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You will now need to run five minutes quicker to have a chance of a place in the Boston Marathon in 2020.

Male runners aged 18-34 will be required to have run a sub-3 hour marathon, while women aged 18-34, need to have posted a sub-3:30 marathon.

The changes to the qualifying standards across all age groups were announced after the organisers revealed 7,384 runners who achieved the qualifying time for 2019 were not offered a place due to demand.

A total of 30,458 applications who had met the qualifying standards for the 2019 Boston Marathon were received.

Even though more than 30,000 met the mark, the race was unable to admit all qualified runners, allowing the fastest qualifiers to register first.

This resulted in 23,074 qualifiers who were four minutes, 52 seconds (4:52) or faster than the qualifying time for their age group and gender being accepted.

This is a growing pattern for the sixth year in a row, prompting organisers to reevaluate the qualifying times.

RELATED: Desi Linden and Yuki Kawauchi battle conditions to win Boston Marathon

“The B.A.A. has worked hard to ensure an equitable and fair process for gaining entry into the Boston Marathon,” said Tom Grilk, B.A.A. Chief Executive Officer. “Due to the unprecedented support and interest in being part of next year’s race, the B.A.A. unfortunately is unable to accept all deserving participants who achieved hard-earned qualifying times. We thank them for their running efforts and desire to run with us.

Grilk continued: “We have adjusted the qualifying standards for the 2020 Boston Marathon, as the number of marathoners who have submitted applications to run the Boston Marathon has increased significantly during the most recent two registration years. “We forecast the interest in running Boston as continuing.

“We know that the running community pays close attention to our qualifying times for their age group because they are important factors in their training, racing and race selection. As such, for the 2020 Boston Marathon, adjustments to all age group qualifying standards will be five minutes (5:00) faster than previous standards.”

The 2020 Boston Marathon qualifying standards are listed below.

The qualifying window for the 2020 Boston Marathon began on Saturday, September 15, 2018, and will continue through the conclusion of 2020 Boston Marathon registration next Autumn.

For reference, qualifiers needed to be three minutes, 23 seconds or faster than their age group and gender for the 2018 Boston Marathon; two minutes, nine seconds or faster for the 2017 Boston Marathon; two minutes, 28 seconds or faster for the 2016 Boston Marathon; one minute, two seconds or faster for the 2015 Boston Marathon; and one minute, 38 seconds or faster for the 2014 Boston Marathon.

Earlier this year, the London Marathon announced changes to its Good for Age qualification process to ensure a closer ratio of applications from men and women.

Among the amendments, the time required for male runners aged between 18 and 39 was reduced by five minutes to a sub 3-hour marathon. Additionally, male runners who achieve the qualifying time will no longer be guaranteed an entry, while the time for female runners within this age group will stay at a 3:45 marathon with the entry guaranteed.

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Both champions fought the coldest start to the Patriots Day marathon in years, along with the winds and downpour of rain, and while Linden will rightly gain widespread adulation as the first American female winner in 33 years, Kawauchi equally made history as the first Japanese champion since 1987.

That’s not it all though. And while today was “by far the best day” of his life, Kawauchi’s story and list of achievements didn’t start on 16th April 2018.

Here’s what you should know about the marathon cult hero.

Kawauchi is a world record holder, holding the record for the most sub 2:20 marathons ever completed. His 2018 Boston Marathon victory in 2:15:58 brings his tally up to 79.

Most club marathoners would chop their arm off for just one of those.

The citizen runner

In Japan, Kawauchi is known as the ‘citizen runner’ as he refuses to run professionally. He works full-time in a government job and pays for training and racing out of his own pocket.

In a nation that has a huge amount of professional athletes running Ekidens (Japanese relay races) for businesses like Honda and Toyota, the ‘citizen runner’ wants to retain the freedom running gives him.

UPDATE: Shortly after the Boston Marathon, Kawauchi announced he hopes to turn professional in 2019

He has no coach, no training groups. He does it all his own way and with a smile.

The 31-year-old has a personal best of 2:08:14, at the Seoul International Marathon in 2013 and he has run 25 marathons under 2:12.

He has also represented Japan at a World Championships and has a 62:18 half marathon PB. For a ‘part-time runner’, those times are legit.

Suits you sir

It’s not just the multitude of marathons that places the Japanese runner in the public’s heart, it’s the joker within him too.

Setting records for the fastest half marathon in a business suit, a play on his ‘citizen runner’ title – it’s brilliant to see such a character at the front of an event, alongside professional athletes in shorts and singlets.

Earlier this year, Kawauchi also ran his hometown half marathon in a Panda suit, just because he wanted to, and yet finished second in 70:03.

That’s another reason to love this guy.

住宅街をパンダのコスプレで走る川内優輝選手来週はどうするだろう#久喜マラソン pic.twitter.com/iqoXrxWNFP

— 幸手人 (@ap745301) March 25, 2018

He’s also a pure racer and he runs hard. It’s probably why he was able to win in Boston, while so many big names decided a bit of rain was too much for them and dropped out.

Men’s dnf rate worse than women- pic.twitter.com/oBGUWIqruI

— Jon Brown (@jon_brown_) April 16, 2018

Boston aside, highlights already this year include racing a 20km Ekiden in January solo, beating all 103 teams of six.

At the Heisei Kokusai University Time Trials, he ran three separate heats of the 5000m, with times of 14:53.96, 14:36.58 and 14:37.78.

In a few days time, the Boston winner will be back in the office, just like the rest of us. That’s what endears him to the Japanese public. In a world of big bucks sponsorships and full-time athletes, people still want the underdog to win.

The 5ft 7″ runner hit the front early on in Boston, but was written off by commentators. Twitter ‘experts’ joined in the mocking and everyone expected another Kenyan win. This all came not long after we celebrated Callum Hawkins for giving it his best shot at the Commonwealth Games.

However, the late turnaround on the hills of Boston, where Kawauchi rapidly closed in on defending champion Geoffrey Kirui, before going on to take the race with no reply, must surely bring smiles to the faces of all running fans.

He showed no mercy, and we thank you (and Liden) for turning a wet and gloomy day in Boston into something special.

Just what will the Boston champion do next? Whatever he wants to do. Not tied to sponsors or team schedules, it is great to see a runner forging his own path – around his office job of course.

You can read all about the race performance here.

The post Why you should love Yuki Kawauchi appeared first on Fast Running.

To say the weather conditions in Boston were far from ideal for marathon running would be an understatement.

However, despite the rain and blustery winds, the 122nd Boston Marathon delivered with Desi Linden becoming the first American woman to win in 33 years and Japanese working class hero Yuki Kawauchi taking the men’s crown.

After a slow start and athletes wrapped up from head to toe in jackets, hats and gloves, the women’s race saw Ethiopian Mamitu Daska making a break shortly after the halfway point and by the 30k mark had a 24 second lead on Kenya’s Gladys Chesir.

Chesir, who was running in her second marathon, led the chase with USA’s Desiree Linden in close pursuit.

After the 20 mile mark and running up the famous heartbreak hill, Chesir had reduced the gap on Daska to 14 seconds, with 2017’s fourth-place Boston finisher Linden still on their heels.

Over the next two miles, the chasing pair passed the fading Daska, and Chesir looked in control before Linden made a surge of her own to take the lead aiming to become the first American winner since Lisa Larsen Weidenbach in 1985.

Linden, who was still wearing a jacket, continued to increase the gap over the closing miles and eventually crossed the finish line in 2:33:41 to win by over four minutes.

USA’s Sarah Sellers finished in second in a time of 2:44:04 and Krista Duchene of Canada completed the podium in 2:44:20.

New York City Marathon champion and pre-race favourite Shane Flanagan finished seventh in 2:46:31.

The defining moment in the men’s race appeared to be at the 25k point when defending champion Geoffrey Kirui made a big surge and broke away from the leading group, with Galen Rupp and Kawauchi among the chasers.

Kirui, who won gold at the World Championships in London last year, had a 91 second lead at the 35k split and looked to be in cruise control to retain his title.

However, Kirui was slowing and Kawauchi was getting faster, although it was not glaringly obvious to spectators with the howling winds and pouring rain.

With a mile to go the 31-year-old Japanese star, who was running in his fourth marathon of 2018, was only 19 seconds adrift.

He quickly caught Kirui to take the lead and never looked back, crossing the finish line in 2:15:58, over two minutes ahead of his rival.

Amazing Kawauchi, who loves nothing more than long distance running, clocked his 79th sub-2:20 marathon in Boston. No one would have predicted his moment of glory and he is the first Japanese man to win in Boston since 1987.

Kawauchi said afterwards: “I’ve been running for 26 years and this is by far the best day of my life”.

USA’s Shadrack Biwott finished third in 2:18:35 and Chicago Marathon champion Rupp was a DNF.

The post Desi Linden and Yuki Kawauchi battle conditions to win Boston Marathon appeared first on Fast Running.