Rochester Hills’ Desiree Davila falls just short of historic Boston Marathon victory
By The Detroit News
Rochester Hills resident Desiree Davila finished second in the Boston Marathon on Monday, falling two seconds short of becoming the first American woman to win the prestigious race since 1985.
The California native, who moved to Michigan seven years ago to train with Keith Hanson, co-owner of Hanson's Running Shops in Metro Detroit, finished the race with an unofficial time of 2:22:38. Caroline Kilel of Kenya finished first in a time of 2:22:36.
Davila led as late as the final stretch on Boylston Street and ran the fastest time ever for a U.S. woman, surpassing the 2:22:43 by Joan Benoit in 1983.
No American — man or woman — has won the Boston Marathon since Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach of Battle Creek in 1985.
Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai has won the men's race in 2:03:02 — the fastest anyone has ever run the 26.2 mile distance.
The previous best of 2:03:59 was by Haile Gebrselassie in Berlin 2008. Because Monday's race had a strong tailwind on a downhill course, Mutai's run does not qualify as the fastest time ever.
But Mutai was almost three minutes better than the course record set just last year by Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot.
Kilel and Mutai each earn $150,000 for the win, and Mutai gets $50,000 for the world best and another $25,000 for the course record.
Photo caption: Desiree Davila of Rochester Hills leads the pack during the final few miles of the Boston Marathon. Davila finished second. (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)
