Ethiopian Worknesh Degefa took command of the elite women’s race by the 7 mile mark and built it to over two minutes by half way

Worknesh Degefa built up a commanding lead and even through Edna Kiplagat closed the gap in the last few miles Degefa went on the win clocking 2:23:31 at the 2019 Boston Marathon.  Edna Kiplagat finished 44 seconds back clocking 2:24:14.  Jordan Hasasy from the US finished third.   

Going into the race Degefa was ready to run well.  This January in Dubai, Worknesh Degefa set an Ethiopian national marathon record with her 2:17:41 second place finish. With that result she became the fourth fastest women’s marathoner in history. Historically a half marathon specialist, Degefa’s top ten half marathon times (2013-2016) were run with an average time of 67:30. Her personal best was recorded at the 2016 Prague Half Marathon where she finished second in 66:14. She earned the silver medal at the 2015 All African Games Half Marathon. Degefa made her debut in the marathon in 2017 with a win at the Dubai Marathon, which she says is her proudest accomplishment. 

Degefa trains in the Oromia region of Ethiopia in Arsi and Assela because of its altitude and good weather for training. Her coach is Gemedu Dedefo. Her favorite foods are rice and pasta and she enjoys traveling in Europe.

Jordan Hasay finished third again this year.  Choosing Boston to make her debut in 2017, Jordan Hasay ran 2:23:00 to finish third. She set an American women’s debut record by three minutes and recorded the fourth fastest time ever run in the race by an American woman behind Shalane Flanagan, Desiree Linden and Joan Benoit Samuelson. After Boston, Hasay ran the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and once again finished third, but improved her time to 2:20:57, becoming the second fastest American woman marathoner of all time. Besides making the podium in both the Boston and Chicago Marathons, Hasay set a half marathon personal best time of 67:55 with her sixth-place finish at the 2017 Prague Half Marathon. During the race she set a 15K personal best of 48:21 and a 20K personal best of 64:32. She also won the 2017 U.S. national titles in the 20K, 10 Mile and 15K. Hasay was injured during 2018, but after surgery on her foot has made a complete recovery.

As a junior competitor, she won the silver medal in the 1,500m at the 2007 IAAF World Youth Championships and finished fourth in the 1,500m at the IAAF World Junior Championships in both 2008 and 2010. As a U23 competitor, she won the gold medal at the 2012 NACAC Championships in the 1,500m. At the 2013 IAAF World Championships she placed 12th in the 10,000m. She says her proudest running accomplishment was helping her teammates win the NCAA Division I Cross Country team title for the University of Oregon, where Hasay was an 18-time All-American.

Hasay has been running since she was 12 years old and grew up in Arroyo Grande, California. 

Last year's winner Desiree finished fifth clocking 2:27:00.

posted Monday April 15th