Boston Marathon 2011
Apr. 21st, 2011 08:07 amI'm still really happy about the 2011 Boston Marathon. Such an exciting race!
I had seen one video of the women's finish but it just showed the very end where Caroline Kilel (Kenya) is in front of Desiree Davila (USA) for the whole clip. But that leaves out all the exciting surges where Davila kept pushing on the uphills. This clip here (embedded below) still leaves out a lot of those final surges but it does include a lot of key moments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYrvIRe0zTc
Some things to watch for:
- 0:00 The start with great running conditions: 46F, 42% humidity, and a 14mph tail wind
- 0:36 Kim Smith (New Zealand) off to a fast start, opening a big lead on the pack right from the beginning
- 0:55 Kara Goucher trailing the lead pack but still going
- 1:10 Smith stumbling...calf pains
- 1:27 Smith getting passed by the pack. She tries to keep running on it and will eventually drop out.
- 1:38 Pause here to look for runners behind the pack
- 1:43 See Davila in the white top pulling forward to catch and then lead the pack? Go Davila!
(on left side of screen in Men's race, we see Ryan Hall (USA) leading the men's pack)
- 2:18 Getting close to the end. Lead pack down to 3. Davila in front!
- 2:28 Kilel surges back to take back the lead
- 2:44 Davila puts on another burst of speed -- pulls in front again!
- 3:24 Kilel wins by 2 seconds and sinks to the pavement.
Kilel on the ground makes sense to me. She just ran 26.2 miles at an average pace of 5:26 per mile! I don't think you really get a true sense of how fast these elite runners are going when you watch it on TV. One of my old offices was along the Boston Marathon route and we didn't get Patriot's Day off. So on Marathon Mondays, we would have a barbecue for lunch and watch the runners go by. First time I saw the elites run past, I was blown away. I wouldn't be able to keep up for just 10 yards.
Here's a shaky amateur video but the first 2 minutes give you a little more of a sense of the speed of these runners.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsEtkk7Fhfo
What a day for US runners! The Boston Marathon hasn't been won by a US runner since 1985. Davila came close this year and she's young so maybe next year... Kara Goucher, placed 5th and set a PR (Personal Record). Her blog post says it just wasn't her day -- but I still think she ran a phenomenal race. After all, she just had a baby last September!
For the men's race:
Let's think for a moment about this race. Moses Mosop (Kenya) in his first marathon race breaks the course record AND beats the world record time -- and still comes in second place to Geoffrey Mutai (Kenya). Unbelievable. And when they finish, they're both still standing, looking strong, and exchange congratulations. I'd have collapsed to the ground. They averaged 4:42 per mile. Can you imagine sprinting for over 2 hours straight? They have such beautiful strides coming down the finish too.
You can even admire their strides in slow motion!
Slow-motion of the Men's top finishers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7E6Qi5ifg (22 seconds)
Slow-motion of the Women's top finishers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kky1ufm0uyQ (33 seconds)
Ryan Hall (USA) finished 4th in 2:04:58, breaking his own record of fastest marathon time by any American. As far as holding the world record though, Mutai doesn't get to officially claim the world record because the course in Boston doesn't fulfill the various requirements. You can read more about that here.
Cross-posted to runners community: http://runners.livejournal.com/5067840.html
I had seen one video of the women's finish but it just showed the very end where Caroline Kilel (Kenya) is in front of Desiree Davila (USA) for the whole clip. But that leaves out all the exciting surges where Davila kept pushing on the uphills. This clip here (embedded below) still leaves out a lot of those final surges but it does include a lot of key moments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYrvIRe0zTc
Some things to watch for:
- 0:00 The start with great running conditions: 46F, 42% humidity, and a 14mph tail wind
- 0:36 Kim Smith (New Zealand) off to a fast start, opening a big lead on the pack right from the beginning
- 0:55 Kara Goucher trailing the lead pack but still going
- 1:10 Smith stumbling...calf pains
- 1:27 Smith getting passed by the pack. She tries to keep running on it and will eventually drop out.
- 1:38 Pause here to look for runners behind the pack
- 1:43 See Davila in the white top pulling forward to catch and then lead the pack? Go Davila!
(on left side of screen in Men's race, we see Ryan Hall (USA) leading the men's pack)
- 2:18 Getting close to the end. Lead pack down to 3. Davila in front!
- 2:28 Kilel surges back to take back the lead
- 2:44 Davila puts on another burst of speed -- pulls in front again!
- 3:24 Kilel wins by 2 seconds and sinks to the pavement.
Kilel on the ground makes sense to me. She just ran 26.2 miles at an average pace of 5:26 per mile! I don't think you really get a true sense of how fast these elite runners are going when you watch it on TV. One of my old offices was along the Boston Marathon route and we didn't get Patriot's Day off. So on Marathon Mondays, we would have a barbecue for lunch and watch the runners go by. First time I saw the elites run past, I was blown away. I wouldn't be able to keep up for just 10 yards.
Here's a shaky amateur video but the first 2 minutes give you a little more of a sense of the speed of these runners.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsEtkk7Fhfo
What a day for US runners! The Boston Marathon hasn't been won by a US runner since 1985. Davila came close this year and she's young so maybe next year... Kara Goucher, placed 5th and set a PR (Personal Record). Her blog post says it just wasn't her day -- but I still think she ran a phenomenal race. After all, she just had a baby last September!
For the men's race:
Let's think for a moment about this race. Moses Mosop (Kenya) in his first marathon race breaks the course record AND beats the world record time -- and still comes in second place to Geoffrey Mutai (Kenya). Unbelievable. And when they finish, they're both still standing, looking strong, and exchange congratulations. I'd have collapsed to the ground. They averaged 4:42 per mile. Can you imagine sprinting for over 2 hours straight? They have such beautiful strides coming down the finish too.
You can even admire their strides in slow motion!
Slow-motion of the Men's top finishers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV7E6Qi5ifg (22 seconds)
Slow-motion of the Women's top finishers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kky1ufm0uyQ (33 seconds)
Ryan Hall (USA) finished 4th in 2:04:58, breaking his own record of fastest marathon time by any American. As far as holding the world record though, Mutai doesn't get to officially claim the world record because the course in Boston doesn't fulfill the various requirements. You can read more about that here.
Cross-posted to runners community: http://runners.livejournal.com/5067840.html