Plenty of runners had speed and stamina. Ibrahim Hussein and Olga Markova also had the smarts to survive a brisk early pace.
They lurked hundreds of yards behind the early leaders, saving their energy and waiting for the pacesetters to poop out. Then they spurted ahead and galloped the final six miles unchallenged in the Boston Marathon.And both crossed the finish line Monday with fantastic times.
Hussein, a Kenyan who won his third Boston Marathon and second in a row, had the second best men's time of the 96 races in the event's history, 2 hours, 8 minutes, 14 seconds.
Markova, a Russian making her first Boston appearance, won in 2:23:43, the second best women's time in Boston since 1972, when women became official competitors in the race, and the best women's time in the world in five years.
Their rewards were impressive - $60,000 each for winning. So were their victory margins - a 2-minute, 25-second advantage for Hussein over Joaquim Pinheiro of Portugal and a 2-minute, 43-second gap between Markova and Yoshiko Yamamoto of Japan.
The weather - cloudy skies and a temperature of 58 degrees at the start - was conducive to a fast pace.
Uta Pippig of Germany, one of the women's favorites and a victim of the early pace, realized her mistake when she tried to keep up with leader Wanda Panfil in the early stages.
The pace, she said, "was crazy. ... I was so tired."
Panfil, the favorite and defending champion, later succumbed to the speed as Markova went by her just after the 18-mile mark of the 26-mile, 385-yard endurance test. Pippig recovered to finish third, while Panfil ended up sixth.
"She's really happy she didn't run with Wanda on the first part because the second part is very hard," a translator said for Markova moments after she crossed the finish line.
The pace was even faster among the men as Simon Karori of Kenya covered the first 10 kilometers, just over 6 miles, in 28:43, one second faster than the former Boston record for that checkpoint.
He had charged in front at the start and held a lead of up to 200 yards over a pack that ranged from four to eight other runners, all Africans. But at 13 miles, Hussein, three other Kenyans and three-time runner-up Juma Ikangaa of Tanzania caught him and Karori was never a factor after that.
Hussein, who beat Ikangaa by one second in 1988 in the closest finish ever in Boston, ran with Ikangaa and Boniface Merende of Kenya to the 20-mile mark.
Then Ikangaa faded. One mile later, Merende dropped back, leaving Hussein striding strongly accompanied only by the throng that cheered from the sides of the road. Ikangaa finished fourth and Merende sixth.
Hussein was confident Karori couldn't last at his fast pace.
"I wasn't worried about him," Hussein said. "I would have been worried if he were still in the lead at 16 miles.
The rapid pace also carried over into the wheelchair competition where the winners set world records in the men's and women's division.
Defending champion Jim Knaub of Long Beach, Calif., won his fourth men's title in 1:26:28. Heinz Frei set the previous record of 1:27:53 last year. Jean Driscoll of Champaign, Ill., won the women's division in 1:36:52, breaking the mark of 1:42:42 she set in last year's Boston race.
Americans weren't a threat in the open divisions as the U.S. men had their Olympic trials April 11 and the women had theirs in late January.
The top American male finisher Monday was Doug Kurtis, of Northville, Mich., who finished second in the masters division and 19th overall in 2:17:03. Jane Welzel, of Fort Collins, Colo., was the top U.S. woman, finishing 10th in 2:36:21.