Kenya's Chebii and Chelimo Win 18th Annual B.A.A. Half Marathon

The winners of the men's and women's 2018 B.A.A. Half Marathon are Daniel Chebii and Joan Chelimo respectively. Chebii, a Kenyan man who has run the half marathon twice and won the B.A.A. 10k twice, won the men's race in 1:03:08. "To be a champion is something very great," he said. "So I am happy to be in Boston." To prepare for the half marathon, Chebii ran 21, 25 and 30ks. He says he is happy to be back in shape. helimo, also from Kenya, won the women's race in 1:09:34. She said her three-year-old daughter Ariana motivates her to keep going. "When I get tired in the race, like the last three days, I just think about her," Chelimo said. According to officials, 6,530 runners from 40 states and nearly 90 countries participated in this year's event.Many of the runners are raising money for cancer research. The race's director, David McGillvray, says charity is central to this race. "It's a combination of raising the level of self-esteem and self-confidence of people. But also it's about feeling good, feeling good that they are in good shape, they're in good health, and then being able to use that to give back and to raise money for those who are less fortunate."

posted Sunday October 7th