When Africans Wither, Bordin Wins in Boston

It is by now a familiar sight: the start of a marathon, one of sport’s most grueling trials, and runners from Africa shoot off the line, sprinting, with 26 miles to the finish.

It is a style uniquely African, and one that has proved ultimately successful. The world record-holder, Belayneh Dinsamo of Ethiopia, grinds down his opposition in this manner.

Thus, when eight African runners started Monday’s 94th Boston Marathon at a shocking pace, there was little surprise. That the pace was not maintained was no surprise, either. Juma Ikangaa of Tanzania led the race to a halfway time of 1 hour 2 minutes 1 second, an improbable 2:04 pace.

Gelindo Bordin of Italy has seen it before, too. The Olympic champion resisted the urge to go with the leaders and, after their energy or legs failed them, Bordin patiently moved up, utilizing the fast pace to win in 2:08:19, a personal best and an Italian record. The world record is 2:06:50.

The stampede at the start was an impressive sight on a warm, sunny Patriots Day, with more than a million spectators lining the streets to watch this annual spectacle.

“It never ceases to amaze me the aggressiveness and the abandon with which the Africans attack a marathon,” said Rob de Castella of Australia, who won here in 1986. He placed fifth Monday. “They just go as hard as they can and keep on going as long as they can. It’s inspirational.”

The women’s race had no such wild abandon. Prerace favorite Rosa Mota of Portugal won in 2:25:24. Uta Pippig, who fled East Germany just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, was second in 2:28:03, and Maria Trujillo of Phoenix was third in 2:28:53. Kim Jones of Seattle, ranked No. 3 in the world, was fourth in 2:31:01.

John Campbell of New Zealand set a world master’s record in placing fourth in 2:11:04. Campbell, 42, bettered Jack Foster’s record of 2:11:19. Mustapha Badid of France won the men’s wheelchair race in 1:29:53 and Jean Driscoll from Champaign, Ill., won the women’s wheelchair race in 1:43:17.

Bordin and Mota each won $50,000, and Mota became Boston’s first female three-time winner.

Ikangaa, 29, has a history of finishing second in big races. In 1988, he was passed by Ibrahim Hussein in the last steps of this race: Hussein won by one second. Ikangaa was the runner-up here last year, losing to Abebe Mekonnen of Ethiopia. Mekonnen also beat him by 11 seconds in Tokyo in 1988, and Ikangaa was beaten by three seconds in Fukuoka in 1983.

Asked the obvious question about placing second here for the third year in a row, Ikangaa paused then said: “Yes, it is very disappointing. But I will keep trying until I win.”

Bordin and the rest of the field watched in amazement as a pack of nine runners, including Salvador Garcia of Mexico, bolted from the start, covering the first mile in 4:26.

The usually effusive Bordin had this simple assessment of the strategy: “Those guys were crazy.”

Perhaps, but Bordin went with the leaders for the first few miles, while de Castella headed up the distant second group, a more sensible group he would later say.

“I knew they were running fast, because I was running fast and they were out of sight,” de Castella said.

The lead pack was, for most of the race, an all-African group. In fact, it was an all-Rift Valley group, with two runners each from Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia. Ikangaa moved into the lead at four miles, and the group settled into an easy rhythm, passing water and sponges among themselves and, despite the torrid pace, looking comfortable and in control.

The group was more than a minute under world-record pace early and showed no sign of breaking up. In the group were these surprises: Kip Kimeli of Kenya, the 1988 Olympic 10,000 meter champion; Tesfaye Tafa of Ethiopia, running in his first marathon, and Simon Robert Naali of Tanzania, a once-lightly regarded runner who placed third at the Commonwealth Games in January.

By 10 miles, Naali dropped off the pace. Of those in the lead group, only Ikangaa and Hussein--old adversaries in this race--looked prepared to keep the pace as it was. Their half-marathon time of 1:02:1 was one of the fastest halfway marks ever. Steve Jones of Wales ran 1:01:42 in Chicago in 1985, but most runners say that such a pace frightens them.

Bordin was hanging back, 46 seconds behind at the midway point, still not believing the pace. “I thought, ‘This is crazy,’ ” he said. “I ran too fast the first half. If someone would run a 2:04, I would shake his hand. But I really thought something would happen.”

It did. Ikangaa first broke off from his pack, but as he gathered himself for his own long kick, his body unraveled.

At 16 miles, Ikangaa made his move, dropping Hussein and pushing the pace for two more punishing miles, just to make sure.

“I wanted to keep that pace,” Ikangaa said. “I was thinking of a record. About that time, someone held up a sign that said we were on 2:05 pace. I was thinking 2:07.”

Such thoughts were short-lived, however. Running alone and squinting into a bright sun, Ikangaa had no idea what was unfolding behind him. Hussein and Naali dropped out. Bordin was methodically picking off the remnants of that first pack and came within sight of Ikangaa. Someone shouted to Ikangaa that Bordin was behind him, and both raced up Heartbreak Hill with six miles to go.

Bordin passed Ikangaa just after they crested the hill. Then it was Ikangaa’s turn to be left behind. The Tanzanian was unable to go with Bordin, he said, because of a cramp in his left calf. At that point, he began to worry about being caught for second.

He never was as he finished in 2:09:52. Rolando Vera of Ecuador, running in his first marathon, was third in 2:10:46.

Mota emerged from an emotional week, culminating in a long-sought agreement with the Portuguese federation. The agreement allows her to choose where and when she will run, a freedom she has not enjoyed in the past.

Mota said she was unsure if she could set aside her emotions in time for the race.

“I felt very nervous before the race because I didn’t know if I could concentrate with everything that has happened,” she said. “When I started running, I forgot everything and ran a good race. I came here today to win, not break my fastest time.”