Byline: DAN STEINBERG Washington Post
BOSTON - In a city famous for its athletic dynasties, one reign continued Monday at the 109th running of the Boston Marathon while another suffered what could prove to be a symbolic blow.
Kenya's Catherine Ndereba, a former world record holder dubbed 'Catherine the Great,' used a devastating charge in the hills west of the city to win at Boston for the fourth time this decade. She became the race's first four-time women's champion, winning in 2 hours 25 minutes 13 seconds.
Hailu Negussie, a rising Ethiopian talent, disrupted a different sort of dynasty on a clear and sunny day in which the mercury inched up to 70. Kenyan men had won here 13 times in 14 years until 25-year-old Negussie burst away from a pack of Kenyan challengers coming out of those same Newton hills to finish first in 2:11.45. Each winner earned $100,000.
There were other signs of cracks in the Kenyan men's supremacy. Spurred on by crowds chanting his name and that of his country, Alan Culpepper, 32, became the first American to crack the top five since 1987. He took fourth, less than two minutes behind Negussie.
Kenyans had swept the top four spots in the men's marathon for three straight years. Runner-up Wilson Onsare - who was 36 seconds back - and Benson Cherono (third) were by themselves in the top four.
The Kenyans were book-ended by Negussie, the first Ethiopian winner since 1989, and Culpepper, part of an ever more impressive American marathon resurgence. Two more Americans - Peter Gilmore and Ryan Shay - were 10th and 11th, less than a year after Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor both medaled at the Olympic Marathon.
No American has won at Boston since 1983, but Culpepper, who was 12th in Athens, said, 'it could happen any year now. We have the ability, we have the talent.... I think it's in the works for sure.'
Ndereba's performance was the most striking on a day that began with a celebration of the late Johnny Kelley, the marathon's most vibrant personality for much of the past century.
Kelley, who died in October at the age of 97, had finished this race 58 times, winning twice and coming in second seven times. This year, his face was drawn onto the starting line in Hopkinton and his signature tune - 'Young at Heart' - serenaded the 20,453 entrants.
Ndereba's four wins here tied her with Gerard Cote and Bill Rodgers. Clarence H. DeMar holds the record of seven wins in the early 20th century.
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BIZUAYEHU TESFAYE/ASSOCIATED PRESS MORE THAN 20,000 PEOPLE crowded the streets of Hopkinton, Mass., for the 109th annual Boston Marathon.
