Desiree Davila's composed, well-paced and gutsy performance compelled the press room to break the cardinal journalistic rule that forbids cheering.
The race that led to that breach of etiquette was both compelling and unpredictable. New Zealand's Kim Smith took a big lead from the start, putting as much as 50 seconds between herself and the lead pack at the halfway mark, which she passed in 1:10:52. But Smith suffered what appeared to be leg cramps at roughly 20 miles, and Davila, who had been comfortably in sixth for much of the race, eventually took the lead.
Davila led three Kenyans in the four-woman pack that included Caroline Kilel, Sharon Cherop and Alice Timbilili. They passed 35k in 1:58:37 as Timbilili fell off, leaving a three-woman race remaining. At 2:10 into the race, Kilel made a break and Davila fell to third.
The first press-room gasp came with Davila moved back into the lead, but an outright cheer erupted with she surged around a right turn onto Hereford street less than a mile from the finish. Kilel took back the lead as they turned to the final stretch down Boylston, and Davila's legs looked to be tiring and appeared unlikely to be able to respond. So when the 5-2 Davila - whose leg speed was illustrated by her runner-up finish in the 3,000m at the 2010 USA Indoor Championships - came up with one more surge halfway down Boylston, the room again erupted.
Alas, the long-striding Kilel found the speed she needed to edge past Davila. At the finish Kilel collapsed to the ground in tears and was taken to the medical area. Although Davila looked relatively fresh, she admitted "I gave it all I had. It was the most incredible experience of my running career. My legs were shot. There was nothing left."
Kilel won in 2:22:36, with Davila second in 2:22:38 to become the third-fastest American woman in history behind Deena Kastor and Joan Benoit Samuelson. Cherop was third in 2:22:42, Caroline Rotich of Kenya was fourth in 2:24:26, and Kara Goucher was fifth in a personal-best time of 2:24:52. It was Goucher's first marathon since having a child in September.
Japan on the podium
Japanese athletes scored emotional victories in the wheelchair division races as that country continues to rebuild and cope with aftershocks related to the earthquake and tsunami that hit in March. Masazumi Soejima sprinted past nine-time champion Ernst Van Dyk to win the men's division in 1:18:50, with Kurt Fearnly of Australia second in 1:18:51 and Van Dyk, of South Africa, third in an identical time. Wakaka Tsuchida had a much easier time of it in the women's race, winning in a course-record 1:34:06. American Shirley Reilly was second in 1:41:01.
