Japan\u2019s Yuki Kawauchi won the men\u2019s race at the 122nd Boston Marathon in such dramatic fashion that it will surely be recalled alongside such epics as the Duel in the Sun of 1982 and the Johnny Kelley\/Ellison Brown battle of 1936. A customarily deep field ensured that the mano a mano competition would always be the focus of the day; but, with conditions ranging from consistently heavy rain to a veritable monsoon, it was undeniable that the weather was enormously significant in the outcome.<\/p>\n
Even Kawauchi assented. \u201cI think the conditions were instrumental in pulling off this victory,\u201d he stated after crossing the Boylston Street finish line in a time of 2:15:58, the slowest winning time since 1976 (when it was blazing hot), but still almost two and a half minutes up on second placed Geoffrey Kirui, the defending champion (2:18:23) and a further twelve seconds ahead of third placed Shadrack Biwott (2:18:35).<\/p>\n
The race may have been slow, but the manner of Kawauchi\u2019s victory was enthralling. As he conceded, \u201cI bet there\u2019s not a single person in Boston who thought that I would win today.\u201d Saliently, he added, \u201cBut, in the marathon anything can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t just the fact of the upset, it was the manner in which the win was earned. Always in Boston, a runner bolts off the finish line, into a sizeable lead, only to fade and never be seen again. Kawauchi was that runner this year, defying the torrential rain and blustery winds and blasting through the first mile in 4:37 with a 13 second lead over a pack of 25 runners that included Kirui (KEN), 2016 winner Lemi Berhanu (ETH), 2013 and 2015 winner Lelisa Desisa (ETH) and 2017 Chicago champ (and Boston second placer) Galen Rupp. One mile later (9:30), the gap was down to eight seconds, and the inevitable seemed about to happen. Except that it didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n