Ethiopia’s Deriba Merga forgot his Olympic disapointment when he won Monday’s 113th Boston Marathon ahead of Kenyan Daniel Rono and Ryan Hall of America.
Merga,, who faded in the heat of Beijing to finish fourth in the 2008 Summer Games, went clear before ‘Heartbreak Hill’ and finished almost a minute clear in two hours eight minutes 42 seconds. Rono clocked 2:09.32 with Hall another eight seconds adrift and the only non-African competitor in a top 10 that included five Kenyans headed by Rono and with Robert Cheruiyot finishing fifth. Kenya’s Salina Kosgei took the women’s title by just one second in a relatively slow time of two hours 32 minutes 16 seconds — with all the drama reserved for the last few strides. Kosgei edged Ethiopia’s 2008 champion Dire Tune — she won last year by a two-second margin — collapsed after finishing in 2:32.17 and required medical attention. American Kara Goucher, who led with a mile to go, faded and finished third in 2:32.25 with Bezunesh Bekele of Ethiopia fourth
