Erika Kemp Wins the 2024 Boston 10K for Women, presented by REI
rika Kemp Wins the 2024 Boston 10K for Women, presented by REI
Kemp holds off Annie Rodenfels and wins her second Boston 10K for Women in 31:48
BOSTON – It was a return to glory for Erika Kemp for Providence, who won the 48th Boston 10K for Women in a personal best time of 31:48. Kemp, who also won the 2022 event in a then-PR of 32:15, outlasted 2023 champion Annie Rodenfels who finished in 31:54. Emily Venters of Salt Lake City finished third in a time of 32:11.
Under a postcard perfect autumn day, temperatures hovered in the 50s as more than 5,000 registrants from 40 states gathered at the second longest-running all-women’s race in the country. Following her fourth-place last year, it was course experience and lessons learned that fueled Kemp’s winning strategy.
“Winning is always so fun, but winning here is a little extra special,” said the 29-year-old Kemp, who earned $10,000 with the win. “Right before the race, one of the volunteers told me I had to do it for the women today, and I was like ‘we’re all here for the women,’ and he said, ‘but you have to do it more,’ and I really took that to heart.”
Kemp, Rodenfels, Venters, and Bethany Jerde represented a four-woman pack that sped through a 5:01 first mile, splitting a canyon of foliage on Beacon Street, before turning right onto the Massachusetts Avenue bridge. As they crossed the Charles River into Cambridge, a 5:11 second mile thinned the chase pack, and four leaders had a six second lead on fifth place.
“I took it out a little hard which I wasn’t necessarily meaning to do,” said Rodenfels, who lives in Boston and earns $5,000 with a second-place finish. “But I felt good, and I thought we would kind of burn [the competition] out a little sooner than if we went out conservatively.”Approaching mile three, Kemp took on a slight headwind and carried the hot pace westward along the Charles River with a 5:01 mile. Jerde fell off the pack as the Memorial Drive course dipped below Massachusetts Ave. “I was a little bit haunted by my fourth-place finish last year,” said Kemp. “I vividly remember going under that underpass around mile three, and that tiny uphill right after the bridge. In those moments last year, I backed off when I should have pushed harder. So this year I stepped on the gas a little more.”
As the three runners switched back to the eastbound direction at the 3.5 mile mark, Kemp and Rodenfels exchanged surges, and Venters fell three seconds behind. Turning back onto the Massachusetts Ave. bridge and heading toward Boston, Kemp, Rodenfels, and Venters were greeted by a roar of thousands of women running in the other direction.
“Coming over that bridge around mile four, running past the field of women – their energy will literally push you through those last two miles,” said Kemp. “And it was on another level today.”
Kemp led by two seconds as the runners re-entered Back Bay, and turned left onto Commonwealth Ave., with Kemp dropping another 5:01 mile between four and five. But Rodenfels would not quit. “She’s a hard competitor,” said Rodenfels of Kemp. “She does not give up and I know that.”
Streaking down Commonwealth Avenue, Rodenfels continued nipping on the heels of Kemp – from Fairfield to Exeter and Dartmouth to Clarendon, the two athletes pushed each other towards new PRs. “It was a good sign that I was with her for that long, Rodenfels added. “And that I was able to keep pushing and maintain a small gap and not let it get bigger and bigger as it went on.”
Kemp was simply too strong. Circling the Boston Public Garden, and before turning left onto the closing stretch on Charles St., Kemp did not waiver and broke the tape in front of a roaring crowd. “It feels great,” said Kemp of her victory and new 31:48 PR. “Winning once is super cool, but now, they’re going to keep saying I’m a two-time champion and that just sounds a lot better.”
In the wheelchair division, 15 year-old Maddie Wilson broke the tape in a time of 34:57. For Wilson, this is a race with which she has grown familiar, having competed on its course since she was just six years old. In the Masters Division, Leslie McCarthy of Milton, MA earned $500 with a time of 39:56.The race is enthusiastically supported by a group of sponsors, led by REI and PUMA, who brought enormous energy to the day’s activities. Formerly known as the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women, the race is New England’s largest all-women’s sporting event the second longest-running all-women’s race in the country. For the fourth consecutive year, the race saw a rise in participation, this year with a 24% increase in registrations from 2023. “What a wonderful day for our city and our sport, exclaimed Dusty Rhodes, who founded the race in 1977. “To see so many families, first timers, and long timers all here together smiling wide at the finish – it is just so gratifying. What an honor it is to help host this event.” With today’s race, Rhodes extends her legacy as the longest-running female race director in the country.
posted Sunday October 13th