Tamerat and Aselefech leads Boston elites field

Organizers of the Boston Marathon have announced Ethiopian and rival Kenyan dominated full elite field for the IAAF Gold Label road race on 16 April. Between them, the elite field has won 14 global championship medals and 17 World Marathon Majors titles, six of which came from the Boston Marathon.
World marathon silver medalist and Olympic 10,000m bronze medalist Tamerat Tola is the fastest in the field. The Ethiopian won last year’s Dubai Marathon in a personal best of 2:04:11 before going on to finish second to Kirui at the World Championships in London.
Two-time Boston Marathon champion and 2013 world silver medalist Lelisa Desisa and 2016 Boston Marathon winner Lemi Berhanu are also in the men’s field. The Ethiopian duo, both of whom have sub-2:05 PBs, recently finished third and fourth respectively at last year’s New York City Marathon.
Ten of the athletes in the women’s elite field have PBs faster than 2:23, including Olympic silver medalist Eunice Kirwa of Bahrain and three-time Dubai Marathon winner Aselefech Mergia of Ethiopia. Course record-holder Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia will return to the scene of her 2014 triumph, while two-time Frankfurt Marathon winner Mamitu Daska will be making her third appearance in Boston.
Caroline Rotich, who won the 2015 Boston Marathon, returns and is joined by fellow Kenyan Gladys Chesir, who makes her Boston debut after finishing runner-up in Amsterdam last year. With a half marathon personal best of 1:06:57, Chesir could be in the chase for the title.