Eighth is not enough for Gilmore
Peter Gilmore's goal in the 111th Boston Marathon was to finish as well as or better than last year, when he took seventh place in a personal best of 2 hours 12 minutes 45 seconds.
But in exceptionally poor weather conditions, Gilmore had to settle for eighth yesterday in 2:16:41, more than 2 minutes behind winner Robert Cheruiyot (2:14:13). But Gilmore had the distinction of being the top American in the men's open race.
The second American was Cecil Franke, who was 16th in 2:20:43.
Unlike last year's race, which was rich with top American runners, this year's lineup was sparse in the men's field because some opted to sit out the spring marathon season to concentrate on the Olympic Trials at the New York City Marathon in November, or to run the fast and flat London Marathon Sunday.
Despite the strong headwind, cold temperatures, and intermittent rain, Gilmore spent much of the race in a pack that included the top finishers. But the San Mateo, Calif., resident began to have difficulty with his legs in Newton.
"It was strange," said Gilmore, 29. "This was my 10th marathon that I've finished, and this was really unique. I've never had a race where I've felt so in control, as far as breathing and heart rate and all those kinds of things. But my legs were in such pain and just would not function.
"My brain would tell them what to do but they just wouldn't respond. Especially from Heartbreak Hill on, that's where [the top finishers] left me. Before that, I was able to cover the moves pretty well. I think it was just the cold, the cold got to my legs." As it has on many great marathoners, Heartbreak Hill took a toll on Gilmore.
"It was a hard charge up that thing, and about halfway up, I got peeled off the back of the group and that was it," said Gilmore. "That was the last time I saw them."
On Friday, Gilmore had said he likely wouldn't wear a watch because of the forecast of wet weather. Unlike last year, when the weather was ideal for running (53 degrees, no wind), Gilmore knew the elite runners would have their work cut out for them but he decided to wear the watch anyway.
"I hit the split button on maybe 10 of the mile marks," he said. "The first couple I did, it was like 5:20, 5:30, 5:15. It was pretty pathetic. I thought, 'That's stupid, why worry about it?' I wore it, but it was irrelevant. And when it was raining, you couldn't even see much anyway. So I didn't worry about it."
Gilmore was disappointed he didn't finish higher.
"I was seventh last year and I wanted to finish seventh or higher," he said. "I got eighth, so that was kind of a bummer."
Gilmore was among the leaders at 20 kilometers, dropped 33 seconds behind Cheruiyot at 35 kilometers and was 2 minutes behind at 40K. He said he tried to break away from the pack around the 20K mark but it wound up backfiring.
"I made a little bid for breaking away with Jason Lehmkuhle right around Wellesley College," he said. "The pace had gone real slow, and Jason and I were kind of in the back of the pack. We had a little powwow back there. I said, 'Hey, if I go, will you go?' He said, 'Yeah, for sure.' "We went hard for about a mile. I kept looking back because I knew if we didn't gain a lot of ground in that first mile, and those guys decided to pick it up even mildly, that it wasn't going to be a successful break. And it wasn't."
