Ndereba beats heat, Alemu

BOSTON — They call her Catherine the Great. And at yesterday’s 108th Boston Marathon, she demonstrated why.

Catherine Ndereba barely overcame Elfenesh Alemu in the final mile, then barely overcame the oppressive heat, struggling the final 500 meters of Boylston Street as both her calves cramped.

In the end, the 31-year-old Kenyan crossed the finish line in a painful 2 hours, 24 minutes, 27 seconds and became the fourth woman to receive the laurel wreath in Boston three times.

“Well, I started feeling that I was getting cramps when I pushed the pace,” said Ndereba, who also won in 2000 and 2001. “But when I started moving, I moved comfortably for a kilometer or so, and then at the finish I was really hurting.”

Countryman Timothy Cherigat pulled away after about 20 miles and took the top honors for the men in 2:10:37. Six other Kenyans placed in the top 10. A Kenyan has won the men’s competition in 13 of the last 14 years.

Ndereba and Cherigat earned $80,000 each for their victories.

The high temperatures hampered the entire field. It was 83 degrees at 11:30 a.m. when the women’s race started.

For Ndereba, the race eerily resembled her first Boston experience in 1999, when she suffered dehydration and finished sixth in her first marathon. Just like that day, she wound up with a trip in a wheelchair to the medical tent yesterday.

“In the marathon I ran in 1999, I didn’t do enough training, whereas in this marathon, I did enough training and I knew I would have to run smart and go out very fast,” said Ndereba, the 2003 world marathon champ whose goal is to win the Olympic gold in Athens. “However, my body was very cramped, and the heat was also tough.”

According to Ndereba’s coach, El-Mostafa Nechchadj, the plan was for Ndereba to run a 2:25 marathon, leaving any remaining competitors at 23 miles. She was right on pace, but she could not shake the pesky Alemu when she quickened the pace from 5:38 a mile in the 23rd mile to 5:21 and 5:24 in the next two downhill miles.

With exactly a mile to go, Ndereba shifted gears. Within a couple hundred meters, she secured her sixth win in 12 career marathons.

Alemu closed hard as the cramping Ndereba looked back several times in the last mile. Alemu finished in 2:24:43. The 16-second gap tied Ndereba’s 2000 win as the narrowest margin of victory in the 33 years of the women’s race here.

“The weather gave us a good picture. In Athens, it will be worse,” Nechchadj said.

Cherigat was not interested in close finishes, not after his misfortune last year, when eventual winner Robert Kipkoech Cheriuyot surged with five miles to go and Cherigat was the only runner to go with him. He paid dearly, ending fourth.

The 27-year-old Cherigat was not denied yesterday, splitting up the lead pack of four at 20 miles and leaving them behind by more than 100 meters by the 22nd mile. Three other Kenyans trailed to the finish, Robert Cheboror in 2:11:49, Martin Lel in 2:13:38 and Stephen Kiogora in 2:14:34.