Todays Boston Marathon was a bit different than runs in the past. Today, the projected highs for the premium race event were for the mid-80′s, looming to put a heat induced damper on the 22,500 runners attending the event today.
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The organizers, worried about the heat, offered waivers for folks who didn’t want to tackle the heat, to be able to come back next year, but this is an invite only kind of run where you have to have a certain qualifying time on certain courses throughout the country and is one of the premiere events of the running season.
With that said, around 4,300 folk accepted the deferment.
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To a runner, when you head out the door in 45 degree mornings, you know that within the first mile or so you warm up enough to effectively feel like it is around 20 degrees or so warmer than it really is. On a cool day.
No telling such on a hot day. And the heat had its way as it hit 87 degrees and higher.
At least fifty folk succumb to the heat, or at least that’s the official tally of runners treated that were taken to hospitals by ambulance. There’s no telling how many others were self-admitted or impacted by the heat from participating in the event.
Official tallies saw 800 folk looking for medical assitance along the course, but how many of those were heat-related, is not known, though I suspect many of them probably were.
Some local ER’s even went into emergency deferrment mode because they became too full.
And kudos to the operators of The Boston Marathon, the Boston Athletic Association and its executive director, Tom Grilk.. They had prepared for the heat and staffed their medical tents accordingly and their staff were near but not over-taxed as the stricken showed up.
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Boston Marathon Results and Winners
Meanwhile, up front, Kenyans Wesley Korir and Sharon Cherop won the event in men’s and women’s categories, but from the heat, the winning times were the slowest posted since 1985.
Men:
Wesley Korir, 2:03:02
Levy Matebo, 2:13:06
Bernard Kipyego, 2:13:13
Kenyans accounted for 7 of the top-10 finishers. United States entrant Jason Hartman finished fourth with a 2:14:31.
Women:
Sharon Cherop: 2:31:50
Jemina Jelagat Sumgong: 2:31:52
Georgina Rono: 2:33:09
The above top-3 women were all Kenyan.
The fastest 5k runner was Glenn Randall, cranking out the 5k distance in 15:04. A Palmdale, CA resident was third, with a 15:22 time. (USA entrants locked up the top three spots in Men’s 5k.)
The fastest 5k woman was Caroline Kilel, from Kenya, with … OK, hold on here…. I’m typing and reviewing as I go and there’s a one-second difference between first and tenth!
The tie was for 18:50 amongst 7 women, with Caroline Kilel being shown as the winner… somehow. Dang, that must have been a sight to see that sprint!
Results are on the front page of the 2012 Boston Marathon website.
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The local watch!
Menlo Park, CA had 13 runners participate in the 2012 Boston Marathon!
Cassandra Allread cranked out a 3:26:12
Alexander Gagnon – 3:31:45
Amy Eastwood – 3:35:52
James Schroder – 3:54:01
Scott Moffitt – 3:55:23
Rafael Ornes – 3:55:46
Laura Coppeto – 3:59:10
William Moore – 4:20:38
Glenn Hahn – 4:28:39
Good job and congrats gang! Actually, congrats to EVERYONE who ran this event. You make up the 0.10 to 0.13% of the population that have actually run a marathon. Be proud, no matter where you came in!
In fact, here’s my tribute to all marathon runners, after a race. A funny after-run video:
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Other info sources: The Boston Globe; Los Angeles Times.
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About Bruce Simmons
I've been writing newsletters since 1999. Of late, I've been focusing on the entertainment consumer angle on mostly the sci-fi, fantasy and action genres of TV, movies and books.
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