Marathon focus on Boston

A record 36 000 runners, to include those who could not finish last year due to the bombs, will tackle to world's oldest continuous marathon which commenced in 1896.

South Africa’s Lusapho April is amongst the elite and will be will be hoping to capitalize on his recent 21km improvement in the world half-marathon championships in Denmark.

April, who is based in the  Eastern Cape, is expected to have very favourable weather condition for the downhill race, although there is said to be a 25% chance of some light early rain. This could see April running under 2:06 which would be a faster time than the current SA record held by Gert Thys.

In 2011, Geoffrey Mutai ran the fastest ever marathon time of 2:03:03 due to a massive tail-wind blowing the runners from Hopkinton to Boston. It seems unlikely to be repeated in 2014, but the course is faster than most and is the race where Elana  Meyer ran a 2:25, although it cannot stand as an SA record due to both the drop and the A to B nature of the course.

South African, Ernst van Dyk, who has won multiple times in Boston, is expected to challenge for yet another title in the wheelchair event.

(File Photo:Gallo Images)

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