Last year's race drew 2,136, the second largest field in the history of the race, but that was attributed largely to the 100th Boston Marathon the following month, for which a lot of runners were in training. Still, the finish was the third closest finish in the history of the race, thanks to post-entry Lhoussine Siba of Kingston, N.Y., via Morocco. Siba outkicked Gary Giffen of Brighton in the last half-mile to win by six seconds. Valery Svytogor of St. Petersburg, Russia, finished a disappointing sixth, but tiny Tatiana Ivanova of St. Petersburg lived up to advance notices with a 40-second victory over Julie Peterson of Beverly in the women's race. And I think it's a good idea.
Runners look at the times down here and figure they've got a shot at a thousand dollars.
Despite the flawless operation of the race Sunday, the race committee will still look for ways to improve the race next year. They always do. We have a good crew. Everybody knows what to do and everybody works together. It's very satisfying.