Boylston Street filled with tens of thousands of pedestrians once again as the world’s oldest marathon took place this Monday. Cops swarmed the premise as hordes of people swarmed into the crowded street. People packed the sidewalks to the brim, desperately jostling one another in attempts to catch a glimpse at the runners heading to finish line at Copley Square. Per usual, the Boston Marathon was a crowd of cops, bar-hoppers, tourists, families, and overall pure chaos.
This year, Ethiopia filled the winners podium as the nation swept the marathon for the first time in history. On the men’s side, Lemi Berhanu Hayle earned himself gold, while Atsed Baysa snatched the gold medal for the women. The two were part of the group that made history in a full out Ethiopian sweep. No nation has ever accomplished this at the Boston Marathon.
Men’s Top 3
Hayle came in with time of 2:12:45, winning himself the elite men’s division. Ethiopa followed up Hayle with a podium sweep, bringing in two more Ethiopian runners at second and third. Hayle managed to distance himself from last year’s champion, Lelisa Desisa, in the last couple miles of the race. Second place went to Desisa (2:13:32), while Yemane Adhane Tsegay earned himself the bronze (2:14:02).
Women’s Top 3
Baysa was behind for much of the race, coming from behind with a late push of energy. In the final stretches, around the twenty-first mile, Baysa managed to push past her exhaustion in order to steal the gold medal. She managed to win the elite women’s division with a time of 2:29:19. The silver medal went to Tirfi Tsegaye (2:30:03), and Kenyan Joyce Chepkirui snagged the final spot on the podium (2:30:50).
Both said that the journey to the gold was far from easy. The training that the athletes endure pushes the body the brink of exhaustion and breakdown. Baysa told WBZ that she was “very happy, (and) very lucky” to win the race this year.
“To win Boston is not easy,” the runner stated. Hayle described his race as “very difficult.” Despite the hardship, the Ethiopian managed to finish the race before any other runner.
Boston Marathon Stats
Three years after 2013’s Boston Marathon bombings, the city came together to celebrate the oldest marathon in the nation.
