Boston Marathon Winner Finishes In Record Time, But Not “Officially”
Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai won the Boston Marathon today, finishing in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 2 seconds, the fastest 26.2 miles in history.
But, alas, there's a catch: Even though Mutai beat the previous record by 57 seconds, because there was a strong tailwind on a downhill course, Mutai's time won't be recognized. In fact, 2011 Boston Marathon runner-up and fellow-Kenyan Moses Mosop also surpassed the world record, finishing only four seconds behind Mutai.
On the woman's side, Caroline Kilel, also a Kenyan, had the best time, at 2 hours, 22 minutes, 36 seconds.
Although Mutai won't officially be recognized as a world record holder, he does get $50,000 for his world's best time and another $25,000 for the course record. This comes in addition to the $150,000 he received for the winning the race. So, not too bad.
After running a measly ONE mile today, which took me almost 20 minutes and created a 2-hour hacking session, I would be one P.O.'ed little girl if I was told that my time wasn't "official" because of the wind. Huh, I wonder if my CASA 5K time of 55:45 is "official"! : )
[Yahoo]