Mekonnen Captures Marathon

BOSTON--Ethiopia's Abebe Mekonnen made up for missing the Olympics, and Ingrid Kristiansen made up for missing history by defeating rival Joan Benoit Samuelson yesterday in the Boston Marathon.

Mekonnen broke away from Juma Ikangaa with less than a mile left in the 26-mile, 385-yard test from the town green in Hopkinton to the Back Bay, crossing the finish line at 2:09:06.

The 25-year old Ethiopian missed the 1988 Olympic marathon because his country joined North Korea's boycott of the Seoul Games. And though Mekonnen said he was happy he won yesterday, he said: "I don't consider it my Olympic race."

This was the first time since 1963 that Ethiopia had sent a delegation to the Boston Marathon. That year, 1960 Olympic gold medalist Abebe Bikila--who also won in 1964--and Mamo Wolde--who went on to win the 1968 Olympics--competed but didn't fare well.

Mekonnen made up for those failures.

He also completed a sweep by Ethiopian runners in the weekend's major marathon races: Belaine Densimo, the world's fastest marathoner, won the Rotterdam Marathon Sunday, and Keleke Metaferia led a 1-2 finish in the International Amateur Athletic Federation World Cup Marathon at Milan, Italy.

This year's second- and third-place finishers were the same as last year's: Ikangaa in 2:09:56 and Ireland's John Treacy in 2:10:24.

Kenya's Ibrahim Hussein, last year's Boston champion and the first African to win the race, placed fourth with a time of 2:12:41, followed by John Campbell, 40, of New Zealand, in 2:14:19. Campbell's time smashed the Boston course record in the Masters division (2:17:53), set last year by Ryszard Marczak of Poland.

Kristiansen's Kick

Kristiansen not only earned a victory over Samuelson, she also sent her rival into temporary retirement.

"I'm going to take an indefinite rest and let Mother Nature do the healing," the injury-riddled Samuelson said after finishing ninth in 2:37:51. "It could be one year or five years."

Samuelson, 31, the 1984 Olympic marathon champion, admitted that while she was "duly humbled out there," her racing career was not over.

"I think a lot of people were expecting me to say I was going to retire, but I won't be," she said, with tears in her eyes. "This is not the end of Joan Samuelson's career. I have some very good races in me."

This was not one of them.

Though Kristiansen failed in her quest to break the two-hour, 20-minute barrier, the victory was her first over Samuelson in three tries. She led every step of the women's race and was not seriously challenged after the early stages, finishing in at 2:24:33, the third-fastest time for a woman.

"[Samuelson] didn't affect my race," Kristiansen said. "I was in better shape than her."

It was Kristiansen's 12th victory in 20 marathons and her second at Boston. She won her first Boston title in 1986.

Marguerite Buist of New Zealand finished second among the women in 2:29:04 and Kim Jones of Spokane, Wash.--the fifth-place finisher in last year's U.S. Olympic Trials--was third in 2:29:34.

While the women's race was no contest, the men's race was a tough, searing duel.

After the early pretenders were dismissed, it came down to a battle between the tireless, unflappable Mekonnen and the hard-working Ikangaa.

They were ahead of the field by the 18-mile point and ran together for about the next six-and-a-half miles, exchanging the lead occasionally, although Ikangaa was in front most of the time.

Mekonnen--winner of five of his six previous marathons since 1986--made the decisive break and raced away to victory, as Ikangaa, lacking a strong finishing kick, fell back.

A year ago, Ikangaa was outkicked by Hussein in the final five to 10 meters and lost by one second, the closest finish in Boston history.

"He is a good runner, but he has no good finish," Mekonnen said of Ikangaa.

"This a great victory, coming after the two in Rotterdam and Milan," he added. "It helped a lot during the race. It gave me a good impression. That's why I won today."

Mekonnen, whose previous victories came in the 1986 Montreal, Addis Ababa and Rotterdam marathons and the 1988 Beijing and Tokyo marathons, called the undulating Boston course difficult.

"Too many uphills and downhills," he said.

Hussein, another non-finisher in the Olympics, said he was happy with finishing in the top five because of his Olympic failure.