There's a $1 million payoff waiting for an American marathoner to claim. Nobody, however, appears capable of taking it.
Before the start of the year, New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc., offered the whopping bonus to the man or woman who breaks the U.S. record by the largest margin in the marathon between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31.
So far, no one has come close to the men's mark of 2 hours, 8 minutes, 47 seconds, by Bob Kempainen at Boston in 1994 or the women's record of 2:21:21 by Joan Benoit Samuelson at Chicago in 1985.
Americans get another crack at the money in today's 101st Boston Marathon, and neither the men's nor women's record is expected to fall. That, despite the presence of some of the nation's elite runners.
The men's field includes 1996 Olympian Keith Brantly and 1993 world champion Mark Plaatjes, and the women's entries include 1996 Twin Cities Marathon champion Olga Appell, 1991 and 1993 Boston runner-up Kim Jones and 1994 Chicago Marathon champion Kristy Johnston.
``I have to get to 2:10 before I can get to 2:08,'' said Brantly, whose best marathon time is 2:12:48.
``If I have a great day, if the wind is favorable, if the weather is correct, and if I can go through the half-marathon in 1:04, then it (the record) will be on my mind. But I probably will go through in 1:05:00 or 1:05:30.
``Running 2:10 would be a momentous day for me. If I run 2:08, I could run for president.''
Jones and Johnston agree that Samuelson's record - the second-fastest women's marathon time ever - is hardly attainable.
``The bonus is on everyone's mind,'' Jones said, ``but Joanie made it very difficult for all of us - and I told her that. Everything has to be just perfect for that runner, including a tailwind at Boston.''
``I'm not fit to do that now,'' Johnston said. ``I don't know if I'll ever be able to do that. If one day I can, it will be in steps.
``I ran 2:31 in October, so there's no reason to think I can take 10 minutes off my time in seven months.
``Olga Appell is very talented and so is Anne Marie Lauck (the 10th-place finisher at last year's Olympics). They're the two most likely candidates to break the record. But I don't think they can do it yet.''
No American has won at Boston since Greg Meyer ran 2:09:00 in 1983, and no American woman has finished first since Lisa Weidenbach's pedestrian 2:34:06 in 1985, one year before the race became a big prize-money event.
The race's total purse this year is $500,000, with $75,000 each to the first-place man and woman.
Both fields are exceptionally strong. The men's includes the first five finishers from last year - defending champion Moses Tanui, Ezekiel Bitok, three-time winner Cosmas Ndeti, Lameck Aguta and Sammy Lelei, all Kenyans - plus a trio of talented Mexicans - three-time London Marathon winner Dionicio Ceron, two-time New York City Marathon champion German Silva and 1993 New York winner Andres Espinosa.
Three-time defending champion Uta Pippig of Germany tops the women's field, which also includes Olympic gold medalist Fatuma Roba of Ethiopia, two-time world cross country champion and 1992 Olympic 10,000-meter gold medalist Derartu Tula of Ethiopia, world half-marathon record-holder Elana Meyer of South Africa, 1993 world champion Junko Asari of Japan, 1996 Berlin Marathon winner Colleen De Reuck of South Africa and 1995 road racer of the year Delillah Asiago of Kenya.
Tulu and Asiago are making their marathon debuts.
``I don't know if there's ever been a better women's field assembled,'' Jones said. ``It's incredible. Boston always has incredible fields, but this time, it has outdone itself.''
