Kenyan athletes took the 2017 Boston Marathon by storm winning in both men’s and women’s divisions, thanks to Geoffrey Kirui and Edna Kiplagat.
Kirui clocked 2 hours, 09 minutes and 37 seconds to win men’s race after pulling away from three-time U.S. Olympian Galen Rupp with two miles giving Kenya its first men’s victory in five years.
Kiplagat on the other hand finished in 2:21:52 to win her Boston debut, adding the victory to two world championships and wins in London, New York and Los Angeles.
The 38-year old mother of two, pulled ahead of Kenyan born Rose Chelimo of Bahrain in the Newton hills to win by 59 seconds.
It was a bragging right restoration for Kenya who have won either the men’s or women’s race every year since 1991 before being shut out in 2014 and again last year.
Kenya had taken both titles six times since 2000, before surrendering the trophy to Ethiopians after Rita Jeptoo was stripped of her 2014 title for failing a drug test and it was handed to Ethiopia’s Buzunesh Deba in December 2016.
