View source for 2012 Boston Marathon

{{short description|Footrace held in Boston, Massachusetts}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Infobox athletics competition
|competition = 2012 Boston Marathon
|image = Wesley Korir 2012 Boston Marathon.jpg
|caption = Kenyan [[Wesley Korir]] celebrates his victory in the men's race
|venue = [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]]
|dates = April 16
|men = [[Wesley Korir]]
|men_win_value =2:12:40
|women= [[Sharon Cherop]]
|women_win_value = 2:31:50
|wheelchair_men = [[Josh Cassidy]]
|wheelchair_men_win_value =1:18:25
|wheelchair_women = [[Shirley Reilly]]
|wheelchair_women_win_value =1:37:36
|prev = [[2011 Boston Marathon|2011]]
|next = [[2013 Boston Marathon|2013]]
}}
The '''2012 [[Boston Marathon]]''' took place in [[Boston, Massachusetts]] on Monday April 16, 2012. It was the 116th edition of the mass-participation [[marathon]]. Organized by the [[Boston Athletic Association]], it was the first of the [[World Marathon Majors]] series to be held in 2012. A total of 22,426 runners started the race. The competition was held in hot running conditions, reaching {{convert|88|F}} that afternoon, and some of the 27,000 registered runners opted to take up the organizers' offer to defer their entry until the 2013 race.<ref>[http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2012/04/16/boston-marathon-results-kenya-wesley-korir-cherop-win/ Boston Marathon Results Kenya's Wesley Korir, Cherop win] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420073450/http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2012/04/16/boston-marathon-results-kenya-wesley-korir-cherop-win/ |date=April 20, 2012 }}. ''Fox News'' (April 16, 2012). Retrieved on April 27, 2012.</ref><ref name=IAAF>Morse, Parker (April 16, 2012). [http://www.iaaf.org/Mini/LRR12/News/NewsDetail.aspx?id=64608 Korir and Cherop the best as warm weather slows Boston]. IAAF. Retrieved on April 28, 2012.</ref>

[[Wesley Korir]] and [[Sharon Cherop]] won the elite men's and women's races respectively. [[Josh Cassidy]] and [[Shirley Reilly]] were the winners of the [[wheelchair racing]] section. In the [[masters athletics|masters]] section, [[Uli Steidl]] won the men's marathon and [[Svetlana Pretot]] (ninth overall) was the women's champion.<ref name=Men/><ref name=Women>Huebner, Barbara (April 2012). [http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/results-commentary/2012-womens-story.aspx It was a duel to the finish, as Kenya's Sharon Cherop unleashes kick on Boylston Street to pull away from Jelagat Sumgong] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423031901/http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/results-commentary/2012-womens-story.aspx |date=April 23, 2012 }}. Boston Athletic Association. Retrieved on April 27, 2012.</ref>

==Race description==

===Build up===
The champions from 2011, [[Geoffrey Mutai]] and [[Caroline Kilel]], announced their intentions to try to defend their titles at the start of the year.<ref>[http://www.iaaf.org/LRR11/news/newsid=63283.html Mutai and Kilel to defend titles in Boston]. [[IAAF]]/BAA (January 5, 2012). Retrieved on April 28, 2012.</ref> A large number of fast elite runners were invited to compete at the event, most of them being Ethiopian or Kenyan. Mutai was the pre-race favourite, with his two most prominent rivals being 2010 Boston winner [[Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot]] and 2010 [[New York City Marathon]] champion [[Gebre Gebremariam]]. [[Levy Matebo]] and [[Wilson Chebet]] were the other fastest runners, who entered the competition with personal bests under two hours and six minutes. Defending women's champion Kilel was not the fastest entrant in her section: Russia's [[Galina Bogomolova]] and Ethiopians [[Aselefech Mergia]] and [[Mamitu Daska]] had better personal bests. [[Sharon Cherop]] (third at the 2011 race) and [[Firehiwot Dado]] (reigning New York champion) were also prominent competitors.<ref>[http://www.iaaf.org/Mini/LRR12/News/NewsDetail.aspx?id=63531 Boston Marathon announces elite fields]. IAAF (February 9, 2012). Retrieved on April 28, 2012.</ref><ref name=Prev>Morse, Parker (April 13, 2012). [http://www.iaaf.org/Mini/LRR12/News/NewsDetail.aspx?id=64554 Mutai is the outstanding favourite in Boston - PREVIEW]. IAAF. Retrieved on April 28, 2012.</ref>

The most prominent American athletes, such as 2011 Boston top-five finishers [[Ryan Hall (runner)|Ryan Hall]], [[Desiree Davila]] and [[Kara Goucher]], missed the 2012 edition of the Boston race as they focused their preparations towards the marathon at the [[Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics|2012 London Olympics]] instead.<ref name=Prev/>

===Men's race===
[[File:Levy Matebo Boston 2012.jpg|thumb|Men's runner-up Levy Matebo at [[Boston Marathon#Heartbreak Hill|Heartbreak Hill]].]]
In the men's race, fifteen runners reached the halfway point in a time of 1:06:11 hours (some minutes slower than previous years). Soon after, Mathew Kisorio upped the pace and reduced the leading pack to himself, Matebo, Mutai, Chebet, Wesley Korir and Laban Korir. After {{convert|18|mi}} Kisorio and Matebo had broken away and defending champion Mutai had pulled out of the race altogether.<ref name=Men>O'Brien, James (April 2012). [http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/results-commentary/2012-mens-story.aspx Kenya's Wesley Korir pulls away in the last mile to win over Levy Matebo] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130414140513/http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/results-commentary/2012-mens-story.aspx |date=April 14, 2013 }}. Boston Athletic Association. Retrieved on April 28, 2012.</ref><ref name=SN>Nearman, Steve (April 16, 2012). [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/16/kenyans-weather-heat-win-boston-marathon/ Kenyans weather the heat to win Boston Marathon]. ''[[The Washington Times]]''. Retrieved on April 27, 2012.</ref>

As the course began its uphill stage, Kisorio slowed significantly and Matebo held a clear lead at {{convert|23|mi}}. However, he too began to slow and Wesley Korir, who had kept a more even pace, made his way up the field and took the lead at {{convert|25|mi}}. Korir won in a time of 2:12:40 hours with Matebo over twenty seconds behind. The rest of the midpoint leaders slowed in the latter stages and Kenya's [[Bernard Kipyego]] and American [[Jason Hartmann]] moved up to take third and fourth place.<ref name=Men/><ref name=SN/>

===Women's race===
The women's field was reduced in calibre before the start as Bogomolova, Aselefech Mergia and Mamitu Daska were all pre-race withdrawals. The race began slowly—the runners responding to the heat—and it was not until {{convert|12.5|mi}} that the large pack of elite runners began to break up. By the halfway point [[Agnes Kiprop]] and [[Rita Jeptoo]] had fallen half a minute behind. Upon reaching the first major uphill section after {{convert|17|mi}}, [[Caroline Rotich]], [[Diana Sigei Chepkemoi]] and [[Genet Getaneh]] progressively fell behind the leading pace. A volunteer attempting to assist the leading runners by handing them some water actually disrupted the pack at {{convert|18|mi}} and defending champion Caroline Kilel dramatically slowed soon after, eventually dropping out at {{convert|40|km}}.<ref name=IAAF/><ref name=Women/>

The final section of the race at Heartbreak Hill saw Firehiwot Dado fall out of contention, leaving just a Kenyan trio of Sharon Cherop, [[Georgina Rono]] and [[Jemima Jelagat Sumgong]] to battle out the medal positions. Cherop increased the pace and at the 25-mile mark (40&nbsp;km) Rono had slipped behind and just Cherop and Sumgong remained. The two engaged in a battle to the finish and it was the 2011 runner-up Cherop who came out on top, recording a time of 2:31:50 hours, with Sumgong finishing just two seconds behind. Rono made it a Kenyan podium sweep as she was next to cross the line just over a minute later.<ref name=IAAF/><ref name=Women/>

==Results==

===Elite men===
[[File:Wesley Korir winner of 2012 Boston Marathon.jpg|thumb|[[Wesley Korir]] mid-race in the leading pack of the 2012 Boston Marathon]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Place|| Athlete || Nationality||Time
|-
|  [[Image:Gold medal icon.svg]]  || [[Wesley Korir]] || {{KEN}} || 2:12:40
|-
|  [[Image:Silver medal icon.svg]]  || [[Levy Matebo]] || {{KEN}} || 2:13:06
|-
|  [[Image:Bronze medal icon.svg]]  || [[Bernard Kipyego]] || {{KEN}} || 2:13:13
|-
| 4 || [[Jason Hartmann]] || {{USA}} || 2:14:31
|-
| 5 || [[Wilson Chebet]] || {{KEN}} || 2:14:56
|-
| 6 || [[Laban Korir]] || {{KEN}} || 2:15:29
|-
| 7 || [[Michel Butter]] || {{NED}} || 2:16:38
|-
| 8 || [[David Barmasai]] || {{KEN}} || 2:17:16
|-
| 9 || [[Hideaki Tamura]] || {{JPN}} || 2:18:15
|-
| 10 || [[Mathew Kisorio]] || {{KEN}} || 2:18:15
|}

===Elite women===
[[File:2012 Boston Marathon - Cherop and Sumgong last turn.jpg|thumb|[[Jemima Jelagat Sumgong]] and [[Sharon Cherop]] racing in the final stage of the women's race]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Place|| Athlete || Nationality||Time
|-
|  [[Image:Gold medal icon.svg]]  || [[Sharon Cherop]] || {{KEN}} || 2:31:50
|-
|  [[Image:Silver medal icon.svg]]  || [[Jemima Jelagat Sumgong]] || {{KEN}} || 2:31:52
|-
|  [[Image:Bronze medal icon.svg]]  || [[Georgina Rono]] || {{KEN}} || 2:33:09
|-
| 4 || [[Firehiwot Dado]] || {{ETH}} || 2:34:56
|-
| 5 || [[Diana Sigei]] || {{KEN}} || 2:35:40
|-
| 6 || [[Rita Jeptoo]] || {{KEN}} || 2:35:53
|-
| 7 || [[Mayumi Fujita]] || {{JPN}} || 2:39:11
|-
| 8 || [[Nadezdha Leonteva]] || {{RUS}} || 2:40:40
|-
| 9 || [[Svetlana Pretot]] || {{FRA}} || 2:40:50
|-
| 10 || [[Sheri Piers]] || {{USA}} || 2:41:55
|}

===Wheelchair men===
[[File:Shirley Reilly winning 2012 Boston Marathon.jpg|thumb|[[Shirley Reilly]] beating [[Wakako Tsuchida]] to win the women's wheelchair race]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" 
!Place|| Athlete || Nationality||Time
|-
|  [[Image:Gold medal icon.svg]]  || [[Josh Cassidy]] || {{CAN}} || 1:18:25
|-
|  [[Image:Silver medal icon.svg]]  || [[Kurt Fearnley]] || {{AUS}} || 1:21:39
|-
|  [[Image:Bronze medal icon.svg]]  || [[Kota Hokinoue]] || {{JPN}} || 1:23:26
|}

===Wheelchair women===

{| class="wikitable sortable" 
!Place|| Athlete || Nationality||Time
|-
|  [[Image:Gold medal icon.svg]]  || [[Shirley Reilly]] || {{USA}} || 1:37:36
|-
|  [[Image:Silver medal icon.svg]]  || [[Wakako Tsuchida]] || {{JPN}} || 1:37:37
|-
|  [[Image:Bronze medal icon.svg]]  || [[Diane Roy]] || {{CAN}} || 1:42:37
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
;Results
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120413191941/http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/results-commentary/top-finishers.aspx 2012 Boston Marathon Top Finishers]. Boston Marathon. Retrieved on 2012-04-28.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120420073450/http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2012/04/16/boston-marathon-results-kenya-wesley-korir-cherop-win/ Boston Marathon Results Kenya's Wesley Korir, Cherop win]. ''Fox News'' (2012-04-16). Retrieved on 2012-04-27.

{{Boston Marathon}}
{{World Marathon Majors 2012}}

[[Category:2012 marathons|Boston]]
[[Category:2012 in American sports|Boston Marathon]]
[[Category:Boston Marathon]]
[[Category:2012 in Boston|Marathon]]
[[Category:2012 in sports in Massachusetts|Boston Marathon]]
[[Category:April 2012 sports events in the United States]]