Ryan Hall, Kara Goucher lead Americans at 113th Boston Marathon

Press Release Courtesy of USA Track & Field.

NIDANAPOLIS - The B.A.A. Boston Marathon has seen a great deal of running history in 113 years and Monday’s race will no doubt see more.  The top U.S. entries, Ryan Hall (Big Bear Lake, Calif.) and Kara Goucher (Portland, Ore.) have already made marathon history of their own but will look to add to their list of accomplishments as they make their bids to be the first American man or woman to win the famed race from Hopkington to Boston since 1985 when Lisa Larsen Weidenbach took the women’s title.  Greg Meyer was the last American man to win in 1983.

Following in the footsteps of legends such as Bill Rodgers and Joan Benoit Samuelson, Hall and Goucher have already created some of their own marathon history. With only five total marathons between them, both started their marathon careers by turning in the fastest debut marathon ever by an American man or woman.

From there Hall ran an Olympic Trials Marathon record in only his second attempt and then went on to run the second fastest time ever (2:06:17) for an American at last year’s Flora London Marathon.

Though Boston will be only her second run at the distance, Goucher’s marathon debut at last fall’s ING New York City Marathon got the world’s attention as she ran a remarkable 2:25:53 to become the first U.S. women to finish in the top-three at New York in 14 years.

Despite their obvious talent and ability at the marathon distance, Hall and Goucher will each face competitors that that have made Boston history of their own.

The men’s field will feature four-time champion and course record holder Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot of Kenya while the women’s field will feature defending champion Dire Tune of Ethiopia who won last year’s race by a mere two-seconds, the closest finish in the history of the women’s race.

Universal Sports presents LIVE TV and online coverage of the historic Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest annual marathon, on Patriot’s Day, Monday at 9:30 a.m. ET. Emmy Award-winning announcers Al Trautwig and Larry Rowson will provide commentary of the Boston Marathon for Universal Sports.
Universal Sports is the broadcast home to the World Marathon Majors (WMM) which include the Boston Marathon, London Marathon, Berlin Marathon, Chicago Marathon, and will conclude with the New York City Marathon in November.

More information, as well as highlights, full-length videos, photos, breaking news and more available at www.UniversalSports.com/marathon.

Catch Him If You Can

Who can catch Robert Cheruiyot? The Kenyan native is the Boston Marathon’s two-time defending men’s champion and is running for his fourth overall title on the Boston course. Cheruiyot is the man to beat on Monday. If competitors want to take his crown, they had better bring their best game because he’s not going down without a fierce fight.

Work productivity around the world may suffer on Monday during the running of the 112th Boston Marathon. There is an interesting and growing trend - watching online video while on the job. Because the Boston Marathon is one of the most popular running events around and a lot of people do not have Patriot’s Day off from work, we anticipate a large at-work audience to visit WCSN.com on race day.

FREE and LIVE at 9:25 a.m. ET on Monday, April 21 on WCSN.com.

Jay Hicks

Photo courtesy NBC Universal.