Three Thoughts About The 2014 Boston Marathon Field
by LetsRun.com
January 21, 2014. Updated 3/21/04
John Hancock, which is responsible for securing the elite field for the BAA’s Boston Marathon, released the full 2014 Boston Marathon elite field today.
Here are three quick takes.
Quick Take #1: The men’s field certainly is legit.
With the top two ranked marathoners in the world from 2013 by Track and Field News (TFN) in Dennis Kimetto and Lelisa Desisa, there can be no claiming that an unlikely American victory by Meb Keflezighi was achieved over a less than stellar field.
While there is no doubt that annually the London marathon is the most competitive marathon in the world, the 2014 Boston marathon is quite strong and actually has more sub-2:06 men from 2013 than London.
| The World’s Sub 2:06 Guys in 2013 | 2014 Spring Marathon | |||
| 1 | 2:03:23 | Wilson Kipsang | KEN | London |
| 2 | 2:03:45 | Dennis Kimetto | KEN | Boston |
| 3 | 2:03:52 | Emmanuel Mutai | KEN | London |
| 4 | 2:04:05 | Eliud Kipchoge | KEN | Rotterdam |
| 5 | 2:04:45 | Lelisa Desisa | ETH | Boston |
| 6 | 2:04:48 | Berhanu Shiferaw | ETH | Rotterdam |
| 7 | 2:04:49 | Tadesse Tola | ETH | Tokyo |
| 8 | 2:04:52 | Endeshaw Negesse | ETH | Dusseldorf |
| 9 | 2:04:53 | Bernard Koech | KEN | Rotterdam |
| 10 | 2:05:16 | Sammy Kitwara | KEN | Tokyo |
| 11 | 2:05:36 | Wilson Chebet | KEN | Boston |
| 12 | 2:05:38 | Peter Some | KEN | Tokyo |
| 13 | 2:05:38 | Tilahun Regassa | ETH | Boston |
And more 2:07 and 2:08 as well.
|
Boston vs London 2014 |
Boston |
London |
|
#sub 2:04 PBs |
3 |
3 |
|
#sub 2:05 PBs (cumulative) |
3 (5) |
3 (6) |
|
#sub 2:06 PBs (cumulative) |
3 (8) |
1 (7) |
|
#sub 2:07 PBs (cumulative) |
3 (11) |
1 (8) |
|
# sub 2:08 PBs (cumulative) |
4 (15) |
3 (11) |
Of course, times aren’t the best way to rank people, however. In terms of runners ranked in the top 10 in the marathon world rankings by TFN, Boston has two and London has four.
Judging marathons by people’s marathon times ignores the fact that 2014 London is serving as the marathon debut for the top two 10,000 men on the planet Mo Farah and Ibrahim Jeilan, who were ranked #1 and #2 in the world in the 10,000 last year. One could argue London has six ranked in the top 10 whereas Boston has two. Boston, however, has the big two from 2013.
Quick Take #2: The Boston women’s field also is very strong. It includes five of the top 10 fastest women from 2013.
| The World’s 2:23:00 Women in 2013 | 2014 Spring Marathon | |||
| 1 | 2:19:57 | Rita Jeptoo | KEN | Boston |
| 2 | 2:20:15 | Priscah Jeptoo | KEN | ?? |
| 3 | 2:20:48 | Jemima Jelagat | KEN | Boston |
| 4 | 2:21:06 | Feysa Tadesse | ETH | ?? |
| 5 | 2:21:13 | Florence Kiplagat | KEN | ?? |
| 6 | 2:21:32 | Edna Kiplagat | KEN | ?? |
| 7 | 2:22:28 | Sharon Cherop | KEN | Boston |
| 8 | 2:22:34 | Caroline Kilel | KEN | Boston |
| 9 | 2:22:46 | Mariya Konovalova | RUS | ?? |
| 10 | 2:23:00 | Filomena Chepchirchir | KEN | Boston |
In terms of TFN world rankings, the 2014 Boston field has three women ranked in the top 10 for 2014 (R. Jeptoo #2, Jelagat #4, Cherop #7). The 2014 London women’s field hasn’t been announced yet.
Dennis Kimetto in Tokyo last year. *More 2013 Tokyo Marathon Photos
Quick Take #3: Tokyo, what are you waiting for. Let’s see what you’ve got for next month’s race.
Tokyo is actually the next World Marathon major and the race is next month (February 23rd). Last year, they didn’t release their field until January 23rd. Shouldn’t they do it earlier than that? At least before London and Boston?
We thought the defending men’s Tokyo champ Dennis Kimetto might return to Tokyo, but instead he’s on the Boston start list.
There were two strong reasons for Kimetto to go back to Tokyo.
One, he’s the defending champion.
Two, Tokyo is easier to win and a repeat win in Tokyo would put Kimetto in a very strong position to win the $500,000 2013-2014 World Marathon Majors points title as he’d have three victories in three races, with only one remaining. Last year, Tokyo only had four runners in the men’s field with personal bests under 2:06 (nine under 2:07).
More: Boston Marathon Releases Fastest Field Ever For 2014 Race
*MB Talk: Ritz is going to get rocked at Boston