ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 22, 1997 TAG: 9704220101
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BOSTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Uta Pippig of Germany is denied a record fourth women's title in the Boston Marathon, finishing fourth.
The second century of the Boston Marathon began the same way the race's first century ended - with a Kenyan as champion.
Lameck Aguta, the fourth-place finisher the past two years, became the seventh consecutive Kenyan winner and the third different champion in three years. The 25-year-old pulled away toward the end, finishing in 2 hours, 10 minutes, 34 seconds on Monday in the 101st running of the world's oldest continuous marathon .
Among the women, Ethiopia's Fatuma Roba confirmed her Olympic victory last year was no one-race breakthrough. She became the first African woman to win the Boston Marathon, finishing in 2:26:23.
``It is magic,'' Aguta said. ``I have been waiting all my life for this.''
Aguta trained with two of the world's greatest distance runners, Moses Kiptanui, the world record-holder and three-time world champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Daniel Komen, the world record-holder at 2,000 and 3,000 meters.
Roba, 26, was extremely confident despite never having run the demanding and undulating course, known for its steep hills, including the famed Heartbreak Hill.
Through a translator, she joked before the race, ``I am told there is a hill, but I didn't find it.''
Uta Pippig of Germany, trying to become the first four-time women's winner, finished fourth in 2:28:51. She did not decide to seek a fourth consecutive title until March 7.
Pippig has been beset by physical problems. She was forced to drop out of the Olympics because of a stress fracture while leading, then developed another stress fracture four weeks later.
Aguta and Roba each received $75,000 from the purse of $500,000. Their victories seemed to signal the end of en era not only for Pippig, but Kenya's Cosmas Ndeti, the Boston champion from 1993-95 and third-place finisher last year. Ndeti, never in contention, finished 27th in 2:22:56.
``My training didn't go as well as the last four years,'' said Ndeti, who set the course record of 2:07:15 in 1994. ``The other guys still have some homework to do, though, because they didn't break the course record.''
Aguta's winning time was the slowest since Hussein's 2:11:06 in 1992, but the runners were plagued by a headwind throughout the 26 miles, 385 yards.
As expected, no U.S. runner came close to breaking the American record and collecting a $1 million bonus.
The first American finisher was Danny Gonzalez of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., 19th in 2:18:30, nearly 10 minutes off the record of 2:08:47 by Bob Kempainen at Boston in 1994.
Kim Jones of Spokane, Wash., was the first U.S. women's finisher, ninth at 2:32:52, 11 1/2 minutes off Joan Benoit Samuelson's record of 2:21:21 at Chicago in 1985.
Two of the top American men failed to finish. Keith Brantly, the first U.S. finisher (28th) at the 1996 Olympics, dropped out after nine miles, and Mark Plaatjes, the 1993 world champion, quit after 18 miles.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Aguta, Robaby CNB