Ethiopian runner Sisay Lemma attacked from the start and maintained his position to finish ahead in the Boston Marathon, Monday (15/4) WIB after failing to finish last year.
Lemma immediately kicked off in the first kilometer of the race and widened the gap to more than 2 minutes in the middle of the race before finishing with a record time of 2 hours, 6 minutes and 17 seconds.
When other runners started to try to cut into Lemma’s lead, they were too late and the Ethiopian finished ahead, 41 seconds ahead of compatriot Mohamed Esa who was followed by Kenyan Evan Chebet, who had won the Boston Marathon two years earlier.
Lemma almost broke the record for the best Boston Marathon time set by Kenyan runner Geoffrey Mutai in 2011 with a time of 2 hours, 3 minutes and 2 seconds.
However, the climb in the second half of the race made the Ethiopian runner slow down. Even so, Emmas was still able to maintain his position when Esa attacked to move up from fifth to second.
This victory was very satisfying for Lemma after he failed to finish twice and had to settle for 30th place at the 2019 Boston Marathon.
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“I succeeded in paying for my failure. I am very happy,” said Lemma.
“I actually wanted to break the record but the route was very uphill and that made me tired,” he added.
Lemma said the Boston Marathon was part of his preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“I’m competing here because the Boston Marathon is similar to the Paris Marathon, both have lots of ups and downs. That will be very helpful,” emphasized Lemma. (AFP/Z-1)
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