Teyba Erkesso to defend Boston Marathon title

Boston, USA – Defending champion Teyba Erkesso of Ethiopia will defend her title at the 115th running of the Boston marathon race on Monday 18 April 2011.

The Boston Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.

Men’s Category

The major challenge for defending champion Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya will come from fellow compatriot Geoffrey Mutai, who is the second fastest man in the world last year with a 2:04:55, followed by top American Ryan Hall and Tadese Tola of Ethiopia.

Women’s Race

The women’s race has been the highlight of the Boston Marathon for the past 3 years as the winners have been decided by merely seconds apart. In addition, the organizers have assembled top notch athletes this year, including defending champion Teyba Erkesso, last year’s runner-up Tatyana Pushkareva (Russia), who finished just 3 seconds behind, past champion Dire Tune of Ethiopia, Catherine Ndereba (Kenya/The Netherlands) and American Kara Goucher.

This year’s race features 15 women athletes who have ran the marathon in 2:26.30 or under.