Kenya's Mutai wins Boston Marathon

BOSTON -- Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai ran the fastest 26.2 miles in history to win the Boston Marathon yesterday. Then his claim to a world record was swallowed up by the hills.

Not the inclines of Heartbreak Hill that have doomed so many runners before him.

It was the downhill part of the race that makes his time of 2 hours, 3 minutes, 2 seconds ineligible for an official world record. In short: IAAF rules have deemed the oldest and most prestigious marathon in the world -- long considered one of the most difficult -- to be too easy.

"You don't look at world records. You just go," Mutai said. "If you are strong, you push it. But if you put it in your head, you can't make it."

Mutai outsprinted Moses Mosop down Boylston Street to win by four seconds as the two Kenyans both beat Haile Gebrselassie's sanctioned world record of 2:03:59.

Four men, including third-place finisher Gebregziabher Gebremariam of Ethiopia and American Ryan Hall, broke the course record of 2:05:52 set just last year by Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot.

Caroline Kilel won the women's race to complete the Kenyan sweep, outsprinting American Desiree Davila to win by two seconds in 2:22:36. Davila led as late as the final stretch on Boylston Street and ran the fastest time ever for a U.S. woman, five seconds faster than Joan Benoit, now known as Joan Samuelson.

Kara Goucher ran a personal best 2:24:52 to add a fifth-place finish to her third in 2009. No American -- man or woman -- has won Boston since Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach in 1985.

"It was the most excitement I've had in a race ever and just really carried me the last six miles," Davila said. "I felt that energy, and I felt comfortable at the front and pushing the pace."

Kilel and Mutai each earn $150,000 for the win, and Mutai gets $50,000 for the world best and another $25,000 for the course record. Mutai is not related to fellow Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai, who won the London Marathon on Sunday.