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Trailing the leaders by 200 yards when the Boston Marathon slogged through Heartbreak Hill, Wesley Korir passed them one by one until he took the lead on his way out of Kenmore Square.
That’s when leg cramps forced him to slow down and relinquish the lead.
“It’s hot out there, in case you didn’t know” – he told reporters after enduring temperatures in the mid-80s to win the 116th Boston Marathon yesterday. “I knew it was going to be hot, and one important thing that I had to take care of today … was really hydrate as much as possible. I guess my biology degree kicked in a little bit.”
Singing religious songs as he trudged along the scorching pavement, the native Kenyan — a permanent resident of the United States — retook the lead from Levy Matebo in the final mile to cross the finish line in 84,8-degree temperatures with a time of 2 hours, 12 minutes, 40 seconds.
It was almost 10 minutes behind the world best established here a year ago by Geoffrey Mutai and the second-slowest Boston victory since 1985. Mutai, who was hoping a repeat victory would earn him a spot on the Kenyan Olympic team, dropped out after 18 miles with stomach cramps.
Instead, it was Korir who may have won a ticket to the London Games.
“To me, I think running the Boston Marathon is an Olympic event” – he said. “I don’t care what comes up after this, but I’m really, really happy to win Boston.”

Boston Marathon.

While the Boston Athletic Association offered deferrals to qualified runners, many had already trained hard for the race and had travel plans.
“You make it out here, you’re going to go all the way” – Jesse Sweeney of Brighton, Mich., said as she waited to start the race in Hopkinton.
Austin Braithwait of Kansas, running for Children’s Hospital Boston, said he learned his lesson from 2004 and would slow down for the heat.
“I was cocky in 2004 and I paid for it” – the seven-time Boston Marathoner said, describing how he “crashed and burned” after a fast start, but still finished.
While the Boston Marathon start line puts Hopkinton in the limelight and is a source of pride for the town, residents also have to put up with a few inconveniences and annoyances each year as hosts.
So Jeanne Westbury of Hayden Rowe Street in Hopkinton was nonplussed when local health agents shut down a lemonade and baked goods stand run by her daughter and friends at the end of the driveway. The agents told the group they lacked a permit to sell cookies, brownies, banana bread and other items.
“We had done this every year” – daughter Eliza Westbury, a sixth-grader, said, citing no previous problems and plans this year to donate to the Relay for Life cancer fundraiser.
Down the street, meanwhile, a High School Relay for Life bake sale encountered no problems despite also lacking a permit. Hopkinton Town Hall was closed yesterday for Patriots Day, and the Board of Health could not be reached.

There are races to run fast, and there are races just to finish. With temperatures hitting the 80s, Monday’s Boston Marathon was the latter.
Nearly 22.500 participants braved unseasonably balmy conditions at the 116th running of the storied 26,2 mile race. Organizers stocked extra water and pleaded with runners to slow their pace to avoid heat stroke. Some 4.300 participants registered to run opted to sit out.
“It was brutal, just brutally hot” – said 38-year-old runner Jason Warick of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who took an ice bath before the race to cool his body. “Around 15 miles the wheels just came off. Then it was just about getting home.”
Organizers said that as of Monday evening, just under 2.000 participants had received some level of medical attention, and about 120 were taken to hospitals in ambulances. One person was taken from the course in serious condition in Wellesley, though the details of their condition were unavailable Monday.
Medical volunteers scanned the finish line for runners displaying signs of heat stroke, assisting those in need to nearby medical tents. By mid-afternoon, dozens of wheelchairs carrying pale and weakened runners stretched outside the tents.
Wesley Korir won the marathon with the second-slowest victory since 1985. Trailing the leaders by 200 yards when the marathon slogged through Heartbreak Hill, Korir passed them one by one until he took the lead on his way out of Kenmore Square.
That’s when leg cramps forced him to slow down and relinquish the lead.