Three takeaways from Marathon Monday in Boston
Boston never disappoints, and the oldest running marathon in the country added another awesome chapter on Monday
As the oldest running marathon in the United States, Boston is a mecca for runners. They want to experience all it has to offer, from the course to the crowd to the opportunity to run in the same race as the best athletes in the world. The 2024 version didn’t disappoint, and I left the race feeling great about the state of marathoning and pumped up for what the sport has in store for 2024.
Sometimes Going Full Send Pays Off
There’s always someone who decides to come out of the starting gate at a blazing pace in Boston, and this year it was Sisay Lemma. I’ve seen many a runner try to do this in Beantown, where the course begins downhill. Their strategy? Run like hell, hope you can hold on to the lead, and when the inevitable slow down comes in the Newton Hills around mile 20, you don’t implode or get caught but someone running a smarter race than you.
Lemma made his move early and went full send from the start, and led the race from start to finish. Here are his splits (via the BAA website):
As ESPN host Jon Anderson pointed out, an average pace of 4:49 per mile is spicy. I wasn’t alone in thinking he would get caught, or worse start to wobble and collapse. The ESPN analysts and Citius Mag alternate broadcast both were anticipating his demise, and wondering who would take advantage of the aggressive move. We were all wrong.
At one point, Lemma led the field by a full 3 minutes. He ultimately did slow down, beating second place finisher Mohamed Esa by a 41-second margin. Maybe if the race was slightly longer, he would have gotten caught. Sometimes running a race on the edge blows up in your face, but on the right day, it can all work out. He told interviewers after the race he set out to run a course record, and while he didn’t quite hit it, a 2:06 finish ain’t too shabby and is the 5th fastest time ever run in the 128-year history of the race.
Racing is fun, and when you come for the best, you best not miss
Hellen Obiri won the 2023 Boston and New York Marathons and was back to defend her crown on Monday. If you were betting on who would come out victorious in the women’s race, she would be one of the top contenders (yet, she hasn’t been named to her country’s Olympic team for the Paris games, which seems like a lack of foresight with only 100-some days to go). Yet she, along with what seemed like the entire women’s elite field, ran in a pack for nearly 20 miles, waiting for someone to make a move and start racing.
Finally, American Emma Bates made her move and jumped ahead. Just as soon as she took the lead, she lost it. The group swallowed her up and pushed her to the back of the pack, and lo and behold, Obiri, along with Edna Kipligot and Sharon Lokedi were racing for the finish line. At the end of the day, Obiri crossed the line victorious again and is now looking at the chance to 3-peat in 2025.
With 3 marathon victories in 4 attempts, we may be watching the best female marathoner (runner?) to ever lace up a pair of running shoes. She’s won championships on the track before turning to the marathon and now is dominating the road. When she inevitably heads to Paris, she will be the odds-on favorite for the gold. And a quick word to the competition: if you come for the best, you best not miss.
The women’s race also proved how exciting marathoning is when the field races each other, and not a clock. For two-thirds of the race, viewers were left wondering who was best positioned to win since runners were so tightly grouped, along with a slower-than-normal pace. At that point, it seemed like anyone could win, and as the drama built, it became evident that the runner with the best strategy and the most left in the tank was going to win. At this level, every one of the women in the field was going to have the fitness to run a great time, but not all of them had the strategy or mental fitness to make it their day. More of this, please.
We’re (finally) getting better at televising marathons, and Running is in the perfect position to showcase its talent
I know that watching a marathon isn’t the most entertaining thing you could do with your day. But as the day’s broadcast pointed out, it is the fastest-televised sport out there! When was the last time you watched a baseball, basketball, or football game that took 2 hours? You haven’t because they don’t exist.
ESPN broadcasts 2 of America’s major marathons (New York and Boston), and coverage has been an evolution, to say the least. What started as all feel-good stories and the equivalent of a televised turkey trot, with little analysis and perspective has turned into coverage that mirrors other major sports. They’ve added hosts and analysts who care about running, have won big races, and can communicate what is going on mentally and physically with runners. After placing former elite and well-known marathoners on the course to offer insight, viewers can see what it’s like to be in the lead pack. And, finally, they have found a way to mic the course so that viewers can feel the energy of race day. Added with some amazing personal-interest stories, there is a recipe for success.
Getting this right couldn’t come at a better time. Marathoning is booming across the country among normal runners, and the pro fields run deep with talented up-and-comers, along with the veterans still in the game. Sports are ultimately a TV show for the people who aren’t competing, and as the entertainment value gets better, it has the opportunity to showcase the amazing things going on in this sport.
This all makes me think of F-1, and the popular Netflix series Drive to Survive. Running, specifically marathoning, is in the perfect position to take advantage of this type of show and could be a great next step, given the runners and their personalities. 2024 is an Olympic year, raising the stakes of the other major marathons. Races in Boston, New York, Chicago, Tokyo, Berlin, and London provide 6 chances to follow the best marathoners in the world, learn about them, and see what makes them great. There is drama, given that all of these athletes represent the biggest shoe companies in the world, all competing in the shoe technology arms race and. And to top it all off, we are on the edge of seeing someone run a sub-2-hour marathon, pushing the limits of athletic performance to a level never seen before. Someone get the cameras rolling for season 1. show