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Setting New Course Record, Kenya's Mutai Wins Boston Marathon

Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya breaks the tape to win the men's division at the finish line of the 115th Boston Marathon.
Charles Krupa
/
AP
Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya breaks the tape to win the men's division at the finish line of the 115th Boston Marathon.

Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai won the Boston Marathon and finished in 2 hours 3 minutes and 2 seconds. That's more than two minutes better than the record set by his fellow countryman Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, last year.

It's also faster than any human has ever run 26.2 miles on record.

The AP reports:

The previous best of 2:03:59 was by Haile Gebrselassie in Berlin 2008. Because Monday's race had a strong tailwind on a downhill course, Mutai's run does not qualify as the fastest time ever.

...

Fellow Kenyan Caroline Kilel won the women's race, outsprinting American Desiree Davila to win by two seconds, in 2:22:36. Davila led as late as the final stretch on Boylston Street and ran the fastest time ever for a U.S. woman, surpassing the 2:22:43 by Joan Benoit in 1983.

The Boston Globe reports that American Ryan Hall finished fourth but also set a record with a finish time of 2:04:55:

It's the all-time fastest marathon time by a US runner under all conditions.

"I knew right away [it was going to be a good day]," said Hall. "I knew early as I was running through the streets and getting high fives and encouragement that it was going to be something special. . . . Everyone was out there was like my brothers and sisters cheering me on. It was awesome."

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Eyder Peralta
Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.