Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Kenyan dominance par for the course

Kenyan dominance par for the course

Boston has always run in cycles

By John Connolly

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Marathon running, like life, can be one big circle. What goes around often comes back around. It’s why the sport of marathoning carries cyclical overtones with regard to domination by a particular country. The issue comes to the forefront when considering the 18 titles won at the Boston Marathon by Kenya in the men’s open division, all since 1988 when Ibrahim Hussein outkicked Tanzania’s Juma Ikangaa by one second in a magnificent stretch run to begin the trend.

Now, the question begs: Is the domination by the Kenyans unique?

A cursory glance at the history of the 115-year-old Hopkinton-to-Boston footrace would indicate the answer is no. There have been other countries which at various times have shown superiority, albeit not to the extent of the deep Kenyan running machine.

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