ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 16, 1996 TAG: 9604160084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BOSTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
GERMAN RUNNER Uta Pippig wins the Boston Marathon a third straight time by summoning some intestinal fortitude.
Weakened by an upset stomach and menstrual cramps, two-time defending champion Uta Pippig kept falling farther behind in Monday's 100th Boston Marathon.
She almost dropped out after four miles and even after 24 it seemed as if maybe she should have. But Pippig, a heavy favorite to capture a third straight title, overcame a 30-second deficit with 2.2 miles to go and won by 1 minute, 25 seconds.
``I felt not nice,'' the 30-year-old German said. ``I was thinking several times to drop out because it hurt so much. But in the end, I'm OK because I won.''
Moses Tanui pulled away from three-time defending champion Cosmas Ndeti at the end of Heartbreak Hill and led a 1-2-3 Kenyan sweep of the men's race. He finished in 2 hours, 9 minutes and 16 seconds, 10 seconds ahead of Ezekiel Bitok. Ndeti was third in 2:09:51.
``We feel that was the start of the race,'' said Tanui, who cramped on the 187-foot hill between the 20th and 21st mile last year and finished second to Ndeti by a minute.
They call the climb Heartbreak Hill because it can spoil the dreams of pretenders who think the course's worst is behind them. But Ndeti refused to be heartbroken.
``I'm not disappointed. Losing is not a big shock,'' he said after failing in his effort for an unprecedented fourth consecutive Boston Marathon crown. ``I can still say I am the best because I hold the course record and I won here three times in a row.''
This was the sixth straight year a Kenyan man has won in Boston. Kenya used this race for its Olympic trials. Tanui said he would skip the marathon at Atlanta in favor of the 10,000-meter run.
Pippig, who blew kisses to the crowd in her first two victories, hammed for the cameras with a mile to go before the finish in Copley Square. She was timed in 2:27:12, short of her course record of 2:21:45 set in 1994.
Tegla Loroupe of Kenya was second among the women in 2:28:37, followed by Nobuko Fujimura of Japan in 2:29:24.
Kevin Collins of Cicero, N.Y., was the top U.S. finisher, in 31st with an unofficial time of 2:18:54. Sharon Stubler of Minnetonka, Minn., also finished 31st, coming in unofficially at 2:42:34 to lead the U.S. women.
Jean Driscoll of Champaign, Ill., won an unprecedented seventh consecutive wheelchair race and Heinz Frei of Switzerland took the men's wheelchair division, leading the official record field of 38,706 across the finish line.
Driscoll finished well ahead of her closest pursuer with a time of 1:52:56. Only Clarence DeMar, who won seven non-consecutive men's races, has captured as many titles in this race.
With some 1.5 million spectators lining the course, Pippig fell 12 yards behind at 20 miles, then 80 yards, 190 yards and 220 yards behind Loroupe at the 23-mile mark. But she sailed by the Kenyan as they crossed the Massachusetts Turnpike on their way into Kenmore Square.
Pippig's three consecutive victories is an official record for the women's division. But in fact it puts her only in the top three. Roberta Gibb won from 1966-68 - the first after a race official tried to chase her off the course - and Sara Mae Berman won it the next three years, when women were not yet allowed to race. The race was opened to women in 1972.
This year there were more than 9,800 women in the field.
The race started in Hopkinton in excellent weather. Temperatures warmed to the 50s, and only a slight head wind was expected to slow the runners in their 26.2-mile commute.
As the leaders crossed the 5-mile mark, some runners at the back of the pack hadn't started yet. For those near the rear, it took 28 minutes to reach the starting line.
A 61-year-old Swedish man died after collapsing of an apparent heart attack at the finish line. Humphrey Siesage of Stockholm was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 6:06 p.m.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Jean Driscoll of Champaign, Ill., celebrates afterby CNBwinning the women's wheelchair division at the Boston Marathon.
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