2003

Road rave
Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot (top) raced the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston in 2:10:11. Svetlana Zakharova, at a water station in Wellesley, led the women's division in 2:25:20. (Globe Staff Photos / Barry Chin and Jonathan Wiggs)				MEN'S CHAMPION Cheruiyot head of Kenyan class All the way down Beacon Street, Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot kept glancing anxiously over his shoulder, as if he were being chased by the Headless Horseman or the ghost of Clarence DeMar. But no one was there. WOMEN'S CHAMPION Zakharova distances herself from pack Svetlana Zakharova won the women's division of yesterday's 107th Boston Marathon in 2:25:20 -- a minute and a half ahead of countrywoman Lyubov Denisova. Zakharova, her country's national record-holder, became the first Russian woman to win here since Olga Markova in 1992-93.

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ON RUNNING Kenyan dominance hasn't run its course It was somewhere around the 10- or 15-kilometer mark, with all those reed-thin Kenyan guys looking as if they hadn't yet even exhaled, never mind break a sweat, that the thought crossed my mind. Can't someone from around here do that? MEN'S RUNNER-UP Kimutai got over the hump It only seems as if most East Africans feel at home with the Boston Marathon course. The fact is, some of their elite runners are much less familiar with it than the average West Newtonian. WOMEN'S RUNNER-UP Denisova knew her place: 2d Lyubov Denisova settled for second in 2 hours 26 minutes 51 seconds, 34 seconds off her personal best set in last year's New York City Marathon, where she finished second to Joyce Chepchumba. TOP US WOMAN Runyan finishes fifth after an uphill battle For more than 2 1/2 hours and 26 miles yesterday, Marla Runyan was on her own. Amid a sea of human interest stories at the 107th running of the Boston Marathon, Runyan stood out as a solitary profile in courage. TOP US MAN Old master Hellebuyck leads way In a race that hasn't had an American winner in 20 years, it was left to veteran Eddy Hellebuyck to author the best finish by a US male runner in yesterday's Boston Marathon. WHEELCHAIRS Ripp, Van Dyk: Spin control Christina Ripp, the 22-year-old winner of the women's wheelchair division yesterday, can't escape the shadow of eight-time Boston winner Jean Driscoll. More 2003 marathon news

2003 TOP TEN MEN R. Cheruiyot 2:10:11 Benjamin Kosgei Kimutai 2:10:34 Martin Lel 2:11:11 Timothy Cherigat 2:11:28 Christopher Cheboiboch 2:12:45 Fedor V. Ryzhov 2:15:29 Rodgers Rop 2:16:14 David Kiptum Busienei 2:16:16 Elly K. Rono 2:17:00 Eddy Hellebuyck 2:17:18 | Men's Top 25 | 2003 TOP TEN WOMEN Svetlana Zakharova 2:25:20 Lyubov Denisova 2:26:51 Joyce Chepchumba 2:27:20 Margaret Okaya 2:27:39 Marla Runyan 2:30:28 Albina Ivanova 2:30:57 Firaya Sultanova-Zhdanova 2:31:30 Milena Glusac 2:37:32 Jill Gaitenby 2:38:19 Esther Kiplagat 2:38:43 | Women's Top 25 | 2003 MEN'S WHEELCHAIR Ernst F. Van Dyk 1:28:32 Krige Schabort 1:30:07 Kelly Smith 1:30:52 | Complete list (men & women) | 2003 WOMEN'S WHEELCHAIR Christina Ripp 1:54:47 Cheri A. Blauwet 1:54:57 Edith Hunkeler 1:56:54 | Complete list (men & women) | Search BAA database of all finishers