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Women Provide Thrilling Marathon Finish
Patriots Day
Lance Armstrong, center, seven-time Tour de France cycling winner and cancer survivor, crosses the start line of the 112th Boston Marathon, Monday, April 21, 2008 in Hopkinton, Mass. More than 25,000 runners participated in today's race. (AP Photo/Bizuayehu Tesfaye)
AP
Men's elite runners cross the start line of the 112th Boston Marathon, Monday, April 21, 2008, in Hopkinton, Mass. More than 25,000 runners participated in today's race. (AP Photo/Bizuayehu Tesfaye)
AP
The elite women runners start the 112th Boston Marathon in Hopkinton, Massachusetts April 21, 2008. REUTERS/Adam Hunger (UNITED STATES)
Reuters
Joan Benoit Samuelson, two-time Boston Marathon winner and 1984 Olympic gold medalist, prepares to fire the start gun for the women's race of the 112th Boston Marathon, Monday, April 21, 2008 in Hopkinton, Mass. More than 25,000 runners participated in today's race. (AP Photo/Bizuayehu Tesfaye)
AP
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., prepares to fire the start gun for the wheelchair race of the 112th Boston Marathon, Monday, April 21, 2008 in Hopkinton, Mass. More than 25,000 runners participated in today's race. (AP Photo/Bizuayehu Tesfaye)
AP
BOSTON - APRIL 21: Workers clean the finish line of the 112 Boston Marathon on April 21, 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
Getty Images
BOSTON - APRIL 21: Workers clean the finish line of the 112 Boston Marathon on April 21, 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Boston Red Sox's David Ortiz goes flying safely into home with the game-tying run during the eighth inning of their 6-5 win over the Texas Rangers in a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Sunday, April 20, 2008. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
AP
Boston Red Sox's David Ortiz, left, hugs teammate Dustin Pedroia after he scored the go-ahead run during the eighth inning of their 6-5 win over the Texas Rangers in a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Sunday, April 20, 2008. Pedroia tripled-in Ortiz to tie the game earlier in the inning. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
AP
Greg Meyer, the 1983 Boston Marathon winner, and the last American to win the race, throws out the first pitch prior to the Red Sox' 6-5 win over the Texas Rangers in a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston Sunday, April 20, 2008. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
AP
The plan worked to perfection - barely.
The pair ran shoulder to shoulder from Heartbreak Hill on, exchanging the lead from time to time before Tune pulled away on the final turn to win in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 25 seconds on Monday to take the closest women's race in Boston Marathon history.
"I tried to run away from her for the last miles, but she's very strong," the 22-year-old Ethiopian said through a translator. "I was confident when I was not able to run away from her, I could save myself for the final kick."
Tune won in her first try at Boston. Biktimirova finished in 2:25.27, with 2006 champion Rita Jeptoo third in 2:26:34.
"I was fighting until the end," said Biktimirova, who finished sixth the only other time she ran Boston in 2006. "And in the end I just didn't have enough speed."
Tune and Biktimirova were part of a group of 10 women who immediately broke from the pack within the first mile and stuck together until about mile 15. One by one the others dropped back until Tune, Biktimirova, Jeptoo and Askala Tafa Magarsa were left.
Magarsa dropped off the pace at mile 18 and Jeptoo, who had some pain in her legs, was left behind a mile later. But Tune and Biktimirova seemed to get stronger, matching each other stride for stride and running a 5:08 split at mile 22.
"If anyone moved, I was going to follow," said Tune, who has won four marathons in two years. "That was the only thing in my head."
It was no accident that Biktimirova was able to make her move in the Newton Hills. The landscape reminded her of where she trains in her native Russia. She even appeared to be smiling as she tackled the terrain, but that's just the natural expression of her face.
Did You See That?
- Did You See That?
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 04: Andrew Symonds of Australia knocks over a streaker who ran onto the field during the Commonwealth Bank Series One Day International second final match between Australia and India at the Gabba on March 4, 2008 in Brisbane, Australia. (Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)
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Michigan State senior Drew Neitzel kisses the court as he leaves his final home game during the second half of a college basketball game against Indiana Sunday, March 2, 2008, in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State won 103-74. (Al Goldis, AP)
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One of Tim Osmar's sled dogs looks out of its pen before the start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Willow, Alaska, Sunday, March 2, 2008. A record field of 96 mushers are running the 1,100 mile sled dog race to Nome. (Al Grillo, AP)
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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 03: A surfer flips upside down after riding big waves that hit Bronte Beach on March 3, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. (Ezra Shaw, Getty Images)
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Tennessee's Nicky Anosike, left, and Georgia's Rebecca Rowsey dive for a loose ball in the first half of a basketball game Sunday, March 2, 2008, in Athens, Ga. (John Bazemore, AP)
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Japan's Kan Yo serves against Serbia's Aleksandar Karakasevic in the men's team event of the 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships held in Guangzhou, southern China's Guangdong province Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008. Japan defeated Serbia 3-1. (Color China Photo/AP)
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A ribbon is worn by a band member at the Northern Illinois Huskies and Western Michigan game held at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois, on Tuesday, February 26, 2008. (Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune/MCT)
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Defensive back Tom Zbikowski of Notre Dame makes a catch during a drill at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008.(Michael Conroy, AP)
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P.J. Jones climbs from his burning truck after a crash during the Chevy Silverado 250 NASCAR Truck Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Friday, Feb. 15, 2008. (Chuck McQuinn, AP)
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University of North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough falls into the lap of North Carolina State University's head coach Roy Williams after going after a loose ball during the first half of their NCAA basketball game in Raleigh, North Carolina February 20, 2008. (Ellen Ozier, Reuters)
"It's not pain, it's not smiling," she said.
Despite their 1-2 finish, neither runner is assured of making their nation's marathon team for the Beijing Olympics. That's up to others to decide, Tune said.
"I ran a pretty good time today, but it's not enough to say whether I make the Olympic team," Biktimirova said.
The previous closest women's finish was 10 seconds in 2006, when Kenya's Jeptoo finished in 2:23.38 to beat Latvia's Jelena Prokopcuka, who finished fourth on Monday.
Biktimirova won the Honolulu Marathon in December. Tune won her second straight Houston Marathon in January and won Hong Kong in February 2006.
Ashley Anklam of Bloomington, Minn., was the top American woman, 15th overall in 2:48.43. Most of the top American women ran in Sunday's Olympic trials in Boston.
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