Boston Marathon Update!

Believe it or not, we are only a little over 2 months away from the 2010 Boston Marathon...and since I am not qualified to run it, I will be watching it online (hopefully).  Today was an exciting day for everyone that get's excitement out of watching a Marathon, the Boston Athletic Association and John Hancock announced their elite athlete additions to this year's race.

"John Hancock Financial today announced the return of 2009 Boston Marathon champions Deriba Merga (2009) of Ethiopia and Salina Kosgei (2009) of Kenya for the 114th running of the race on April 19.  John Hancock has also signed past champions Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot (2003, 2006-2008) and Catherine Ndereba (2000, 2001, 2004, 2005) of Kenya, Dire Tune (2009) of Ethiopia, and Lidiya Grigoryeva (2007) of Russia."

In the men's race they already had two great American runners, Ryan Hall and Meb Keflezighi (2009 NYC Winner).  In New York City Meb got a win over Cheruiyot, but he is a four-time Boston winner and holds the course records at 2:07:14.  Deriba Merga, the defending champion is a real strong runner and could definitely pose a significant challenge to Meb and Hall.  American's have not won Boston since since 1983, let's hope this year is different!

The Women's field also got a big boost with today's announcement, they will now have almost all of the former winners over the past 10 years.  I think the best part of the Women's announcement is that they have both Tune and  Salina Kosgei back at it this year.  Their finish as the closest women's finish in the history of the Boston Marathon.  We haven't had an American woman win the race since 1985, and with the absence of Kara Goucher it is unlikely that this year will change that trend.

To read more go to the Boston Marathon's Official Site or go to MarathonGuide.com