When was the last time both an American man and an American woman won a major marathon?

i'm not sure.

greg meyer -1983 Boston.

but why bother, its going to be long time until an American wins a marathon

yeah, i guess for boston it last happened in '83 (with joan winning for the women).

has it happened more recently anywhere else?

mnnm., wrote:

i'm not sure.

greg meyer -1983 Boston.

but why bother, its going to be long time until an American wins a marathon

London and Chicago 2002 were won by an American.

Forgot to add Chicago 2005 and London 2006.

Depends on what you call "major". Olga Appell and Paul Pilkington won LA in 1994.

To be honest, is Boston still really a major marathon? I know it has the history and is in the World Marathon Majors Series, but year after year it gets squeezed out by London in terms of top class runners. Chicago, New York, Fukuoka, Belin, Dubai and now Rotterdam and Paris are all arguably harder marathons to win than Boston.

I don't blame Karen Goucher and Ryan Hall for doing their best to further their careers, but you have to wonder at the Boston race directors assembling such weak fields.

Honestly, if Ndereba is interested in running your marathon (2 x world gold medals, 1 x world silver medal and 2 x Olympic silver medal) you pay her what she asks for.

I read the question as winning the same marathon in the same year.

Me too. I was responding to the comment "it will be a long time before an American wins a major marathon."

People respond with their hearts and not their brains.

Tell me how the race plays out that allows Hall to win? Does he take it out hard? Does he wait until the hills?

Kara has a far better chance of pulling it off. Ryan Hall has no chance.

This year's Boston is not a major marathon. Both fields are weak. It is set up so an American can finally win one.

Tawny Roberts wrote:

This year's Boston is not a major marathon. Both fields are weak. It is set up so an American can finally win one.

I respectfully disagree. Isn't your assessment a bit cynical?

There is a world marathon majors champion in the Boston men's field and a very strong women's field as well.

The only unbeatable woman in the marathon is Paula and she is injured again. Ndereba is very good but you don't have to have her in the field to have a very good field. Tune is there and I forget who else but don't sleep on the women's field.

On the men's side. Cheruiyot is unbelievably tough to beat.

Sure, it's a fun little storyline to say the Boston fields are set up to be weak but when you look at it and then stop and think about it, it's a monumental task to win that marathon. It would be a monumental task to win NYC, Chicago, London, Rotterdam, the Olympics, World Champs, hell Paris even.

Boston "manned up" and got the top Americans. In my mind, a smart move. If Hall or Goucher can win (and even if they don't) I'm glad they're doing it at Boston and from my perspective they're helping the sport in the US a great deal.

This is the Boston women's field:

"In the women’s race, defending champion Dire Tune of Ethiopia will face 2008 Chicago and 2007 Boston champion Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia, as well as her teammates Galina Bogolomova, the Russian national record holder (2:20:47), and Olympic steeplechaser and World Championships silver medalist Tatyana Petrova.

Also in contention for the win are 2009 Dubai winner Bezunesh Bekele of Ethiopia, seasoned marathoner and Olympian Salina Kosgei of Kenya, and leading American Karen Goucher. In New York City this past fall, Goucher ran the fastest American debut of all time recording a 2:25:53 over the challenging course. She also competed in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Beijing Olympic Games, finishing ninth and tenth respectively.

Chasing these women are Helena Kirop of Kenya, third in Berlin the past two years; Atsede Habtamu of Ethiopia, runner up in her debut in Dubai this year; Alice Timbilili of Kenya and American and two-time Olympian Elva Dryer."

And this is the London field:

"Irina Mikitenko GER 2:19:19

Catherine Ndereba KEN 2:18:47

Zhou Chunxiu CHN 2:19:51

Berhane Adere ETH 2:20:42

Lyudmila Petrova RUS 2:21:29

Constantina Dita ROM 2:21:30

Svetlana Zakharova RUS 2:21:31

Gete Wami ETH 2:21:34

Yuri Kano JPN 2.24.27

Tomo Morimoto JPN 2.24.33

Mara Yamauchi GBR 2:25:03

Martha Komu KEN 2:25:33

Mika Okunaga JPN 2.27.52

Kirsten Melkevik Otterbu NOR 2:29:12

Inga Abitova RUS 2:33:55

Kate O’Neill USA 2:34:04

Liliya Shobukhova RUS Debut

Jo Pavey GBR Debut"

I'm actually sort of sorry that Goucher isn't at London, it will be interesting to see if anyone hangs in there with Mikitenko.

Boston is still a major marathon. NOTHING is London anymore, not even NYC. But to say Boston is not as strong as Berlin or Doha is simply not true. There is no depth in either of those races at all.