Boston.com / Sports / Boston Marathon / 2003 Stories

But the race is never predictable, and Russian women proved it as Svetlana Zakharova overcame cramps and the favorite -- the 2002 winner, Kenyan Margaret Okayo -- to come in first, while Lyubov Denisova crossed the tape in second place. Kenyan Joyce Chepchumba was third, Okayo fourth, and the American runner Marla Runyan, who suffers from macular degeneration and is legally blind, came in fifth.

Runyan's determination to compete despite the condition that allows her only peripheral vision is one of the more dramatic examples of why each marathon is as unique as the individual athletes gutting out those 26.2 miles. Runyan competes with an assistant on a bicycle who warns her of hazards, and she sometimes missed when reaching out for cups of water offered by spectators.

While the men's wheelchair victory may have looked like a sure bet as South African Ernst Van Dyk held a strong lead for his third straight win, his body was tense all the way, and he often looked over his shoulder even though nobody could gain on him. His face was a study in focused pain and captured the essence of why a person goes through this agony: to prove something to oneself.

That concentration was on every face yesterday in a race that was much more about runners going for their personal best than it was about the Kenyan domination of the course for the past 13 years. A marathon is an exercise in human endurance. It is man, or woman, against the pavement, the elements -- and against all the logic in the world that says it's crazy to try to do this.

Cheruiyot, a 24-year-old farmer from Kenya who was running his first Boston Marathon, did not look confident until he crossed the finish line. Runners coming down Boylston Street in the lead usually look nervous and seem to fear that the victory can be snatched away no matter how far ahead they might be -- and they're right.

Cheruiyot did not start emerging as the leader until the 20-mile mark. Before that, the 2002 winner, Rodgers Rop, seemed to be in control of the field -- but that was only after the early leader, Vincent Kipsos, who ran 30 yards ahead of the pack for 9 miles, fell back with what appeared to be cramps.

There's a saying among marathon runners: ''The race begins at 20 miles.'' A lot of spectators can't even imagine walking that far. On this day of swollen feet, burning blisters, and agony for the more than 20,000 runners who competed, we salute them all and wish them well-earned ice packs. There's a saying among marathon runners: ''The race begins at 20 miles.'' A lot of spectators can't even imagine walking that far. On this day of swollen feet, burning blisters, and agony for the more than 20,000 runners who competed, we salute them all and wish them well-earned ice packs.