Predicting the top 10 finishers in the Boston Marathon is virtually a mathematical impossibility because there are nearly 50 likely prospects.
Chasing the defending men's and women's champions Monday will be previous winners of the Amsterdam, Chicago, Florence, Frankfurt, Honolulu, Lausanne, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Seoul, Toronto and Olympic marathons."All of a sudden now, it's not a one- or two-horse race anymore," said Greg Meyer, the 1983 Boston winner.
Many of the 49 premier competitors, who wedged themselves onto a crowded stage to meet reporters Friday, also are former second-, third-, fifth-, sixth-, seventh-, eighth- and ninth-place finishers with something to prove.
"We have a lot of good challengers, a lot of great competition," said defending women's champion Uta Pippig. "It's much easier if you do it together than alone. I expect a technical and very competitive race."
The defending two-time men's champion, Kenyan Cosmas Ndeti, also will be back. If he repeats, Ndeti would become only the third man to win in Boston three years in a row in the marathon's 99-year history.
Pippig said the field has been drawn to Boston by the city's hospitality to marathon participants and by the thousands of enthusiastic spectators who annually line the entire 26.2-mile course.
"You feel Boston is proud to have this race," she said. "If you know this, then you come much easier to this race than another race."
And, she said, the money doesn't hurt.
Boston has increased its cash awards by 10 percent this year to a total of $500,000, plus $220,000 in performance bonuses - $50,000 for beating the world record and $25,000 for breaking the course record, for example. The winning men and women each get $75,000, up from $70,000 last year; the top 15 finishers also get varying amounts of cash.
Meanwhile, Olympic trials that have previously siphoned off top runners from the marathon are not until next year. So most of the athletes have no conflicting obligations.
And race sponsor John Hancock Financial Services has actively recruited not just individual runners, but entire national teams such as the top-ranked Kenyans.
"Not only do they get the good athletes, but they get the developing athletes," Meyer said. "Most places only want the one big star that they can put up there in a showcase."