In a truly historic achievement, Meb Klefezighi, 38, became the first American man since 1983 – that’s more than 30 years, folks! – to win the Boston Marathon as he ran the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston, Mon., April 21, in 2:08:37. 

He would win by 11 seconds, reaching the sanctuary of the finish line and his victory for the ages ahead of two hard-chasing Kenyans, Wilson Chebet abd Frankline Chepkwony, bent on catching him to undo an early tactical mistake late – but to no avail.

Mebrahtom (Meb) Klefezighi, the much-decorated road warrior, was born in Eritrea on May 5, 1975, which makes him 38, came to America with his refugee family when he was only 12, and became an American citizen in 1998. Six years later he won the silver medal in the marathon at the 2004 Olympics, and then finished fourth in the event at the London Olympics in 2012. He now lives and trains at altitude in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., but following his victory at Boston and the way he did it, the man affectionately known as Meb resides at an altitude equivalent to Everest in the American consciousness – and we’re not just talking about the running community.

It was Klefezighi’s friend and training buddy at Mammoth Lakes, Josphat Boit, 30, originally from Kenya, who stayed in stride with Meb as they opened a 10-second lead over the star-studded field between 10 and 15 kilometers. It’s not that the two of them speeded up, but rather that the others inexplicably let them go. Why they would let Meb Klefizighi, of all people, get away that early in a marathon is a puzzle – as someone later said of Meb: “He’s won a silver medal in the Olympic marathon, he finished fourth in the marathon at the next Olympics, he’s won the New York City Marathon, now he’s won Boston. The guy’s good.”

Boit and Keflezighi were still together at the halfway mark, which they reached in 1:04:21, some 30 seconds ahead of the chasing group behind them, now being led by Ethiopian Markos Geneti.

Meb was on his own at 25 kilometers, which he reached in 1:16:00. Boit was now second in 1:16:06, Ukrainian Vatiliy Shafar third in 1:16:51, with a whole pack of Africans grouped at 1:16:57-1:16:58. In other words, Meb was now leading this group, from which the eventual second- and third-place finishers would eventually emerge, by almost a minute! 

The order was the same at 30 kilometers, which Meb reached in 1:31:10, Boit in 1:31:58, Shafar in 1:32:30, with the pursuing group right there another seconds behind. Thus Meb's lead over the main group had now swelled to approximately 1 minutes, 20 seconds. 

That lead started to shrink after that as Meb was clocked at 1:46:37 for 35 kilometers, which put him 51 seconds ahead of Geneti and three Kenyans, Dennis Kimetto, Wilson Chebet and Frankline Chepkwony, all four now running together in second. Boit and Shafar had now fallen behind the four Africans.

Over the next five kilometers Chebet and Chepkwony emerged from the chasing group to give serious chase to Keflezighi. Chebet particularly pulled out all the stops, running the 5K between 35 and 40K in 14:29(!), to kill off all but eight seconds of Meb’s previous 1-minute, 20-second lead. Meb was clocked in 2:01:49 at 40K, having run his last 5K in a steady-as-you-go 15:12, Chebet was timed in 2:01:57, Chepkwony in 2:02:13 (his last 5K had been 14:45), Geneti in 2:02:48 and Shafar in 2:02:58. Boit, who went past 40K in 2:02:43, was now 7^th and fading, running his last 5K in only 15:35.

One thing you don’t do with a wily veteran like Meb Klefezighi in the marathon is spot him the kind of big lead that the Kenyans and the other fast closers did in this race. Showing he still had plenty in the gas tank, so to speak, Meb hung tough and ran strongly to the finish, even adding a second or two to his lead over Chebet by the time they reached the finish line on Boylston Street.

Meb looked over his shoulder several times over the last mile to gauge exactly where his pursuer was, and when he finally realized he would not be caught, he raised his sunglasses, began pumping his right fist in the air and made a sign of the cross.

His time at the finish, 2:08:37, was his personal best – how about that just one year and two weeks before turning 40! – and the second fastest time ever by an American at Boston. Meb’s victory was also the first time an American had won in Boston since Greg Meyer did it in 1983. At that time Meb Keflezighi was only seven years old! Meb, of course, also won the New York City Marathon in 2009.

But on this memorable day it wasn’t only that Keflezighi was the first American to win the Boston Marathon in such a long time that was significant, but furthermore what it represented to Meb and indeed the country.

After he crossed the finish line, he looked up at the sky, knelt down and kissed the ground three times. He bowed to the crowd, and then, overwhelmed by his emotions, he put his hands over his face and broke into tears.

Meb, who lives in San Diego with his wife and three daughters when he isn’t training at Mammoth Lakes, had been a spectator at the finish line of last year’s Boston Marathon and left just five minutes before the bombs exploded on that fateful day. He said following his victory on Monday: “When the bombs exploded, every day since I’ve wanted to come back and win it (the Boston Marathon).

“When the Red Sox won it (the World Series) and put the trophy right here (pointing to the finish line), I wanted to win it for the people of Boston. It’s beyond words. The laurel wreath. The trophy.”

Meb, who wore a red and white top and blue shorts in the race, was not expected to win on Monday, given his age and the illusion that his best days were behind him. Plus the fact that Kenyan runners have had something of a stranglehold on the race, winning it 19 times since 1991.

But as basketball coach Rudy Tomjanovich once said, “Never underestimate the heart of a champion.” Meb Keflezighi gave added meaning to that statement on Monday, and after the race he even had a chance to hug Greg Meyer, the last American man to win at Boston.

Meb said afterwards, “He told me two days ago, ‘You’re the smartest guy out there.’ Then this morning before (the start), he said, ‘Go get it done. You can do it. You can do it. There can’t be a better person to pass it on.’ “

Acknowledging the crowd’s magnificent support throughout his victorious run, Meb said, “They pushed me through it. It’s just an amazing day. I’m so lucky to be the champion … I’m blessed to be an American and God bless America and Boston on this special day, Patriot’s Day. I could not think of a better day for this to happen.”

Wilson Chebet, 27, finished second in 2:08:48, and Frankline Chepkwony, 30, was third in 2:08:50. So while Chebet was chasing Meb, Chepkwony, in turns out, was actually gaining on his countrymen over the last mile or so.

Vitaliy Shafar, 32, of the Ukraine, which has been much in the news lately, of course, finished fourth in 2:09:38, and Markos Geneti, 30, of Ethiopia was fifth in 2:09:50.

The second and third Americans to finish on Monday were Nicholas Arciniaga, 31, of Flagstaff, Ariz., who was seventh in 2:11:47, and Jeffrey Eggleston, 30, also of Flagstaff, one place further back in 2:11:57.

Josphat Boit would wind up finishing 12^th in 2:12:52, but what a courageous effort!

The women’s winner in this 118^th running of the Boston Marathon was defending champion Rita Jeptoo, 33, of Kenya, who ran a brilliant 2:18:57! This was a new Boston course record and the eighth fastest time ever run in the women’s marathon!

Brilliant she had to be to win this race as two Ethiopians, Buzunesh Deba, 27, and Mare Dibaba, 25, were also flying down the hallowed Boston course as they ran 2:19:59 and 2:20:35 respectively.

First American finisher – in an outstanding 2:22:02, a personal best – was an Irish lassie to be sure, Shalane Flanagan, 33, who was raised in Marblehead, Mass., which makes her a hometown girl, but now lives and trains in Portland, Oregon.

Shalane, who holds the U.S. records for the 3000, 5000 and 10,000 meters on the track and the 15K on the roads, had said she would like to win Boston – for Boston.

This year’s race, incidentally, was run without incident. Go, Boston!

On Monday, Jeptoo was content to run in the lead pack of eight women through the halfway mark, reached in 1:09:27. That group consisted of seven Africans (Jeptoo, Sharon Cherop and Jemima Jelagat Sumgong of Kenya, Buzunesh Deba, Mare Dibaba, Belaynesh Oljira and Meselech Melkamu of Ethiopia) and the lone American, Shalane Flanagan.

That group stayed together through 25 kilometers, reached in 1:22:26, but by 30 kilometers (1:39:20) it was down to seven, Oljira having fallen back.

By 35 kilometers (1:56:22) the lead group was down to five – Jeptoo, Dibaba, Sumgong and Melkamu, with Deba a second back. Flanagan, who was now beset by stomach problems, was adrift 16 seconds back of the leaders as she passed 35K in 1:56:38.

After 35 kilometers Jeptoo took command of the race, running the 5K between 35 and 40 kilometers in 15:44  (compared to the 17:02 she had run for the previous 5k), to establish a 32-second lead over Deba, who had moved into second with a 16:16 5K split. Jeptoo was timed in 2:12:06 at 40K and Deba 2:12:39.  Dibaba was now running with Sumgong in third place, as they were clocked at 2:12:57 at 40K. Melkamu was fifth and Shalane Flanagan sixth but losing further ground as she ran the five kilometers between 35 and 40 kilometers in 17:22 to reach 40K in 2:14:00.

At the finish Jeptoo’s 2:18:57 gave her more than a minute in hand over Deba’s  2:19:59. The Kenyan star now becomes the fifth fastest female marathoner in history – behind Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain, the world recordholder in 2:15:25, Liliya Shobukova of Russia , 2:18:20, and two other Kenyans, Mary Keitany, 2:18:37, and Catherine N’deraba, 2:18:47. This was, by the way, Jeptoo’s third victory at Boston.

Dibaba’s 2:20:35 in third place gave her a six-second edge over Kenya’s Sumgong, 30, who ran 2:20:41. Ethiopia’s Melkamu, 29,  finished fifth in 2:21:28, and Aleksandra Duliba, 26, of Belarus came from behind to pass Shalane Flanagan for sixth place, as they ran 2:21:29 and 2:22:02 respectively.

Clearly, a wonderful time was had by all, pardon the play on words, as all these women ran truly superb times.

At least two other women, among the many who made themselves proud at Boston on Monday, excelled in the fast times category. Joan Benoit Samuelson, now 56, Olympic marathon gold medalist and two-time Boston Marathon champion, ran 2:52:10 to set a new women's world record for the 55-59 age group. Christine Kennedy, 59, of Los Gatos, Calif., finished second in the 55-59 age group in 2:57:44, despite the fact she got very dehydrated late in the race. Her consolation was that her time equated to the best age-graded performance in that age group -- 102.42 (Joan Benoit Samuelson's age-graded score was 101.28). Conclusion that can be drawn? These are two outstanding Masters runners! 

There were 35,671 finishers in this year's Boston Marathon -- 19,579 men, 16,092 women, all of them happy to be there on this historic, emotional day. When the first Boston Marathon was held in 1897, only a year after the marathon was introduced at the first of the modern Olympics, in Athens, Greece, the number of entrants in Boston was … 15 runners! []  

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