Cheruiyot, Tune Win Boston

Cheruiyot win gives Kenya 15 of the last 17 marathons

(NEWSER) - Robert K. Cheruiyot won the Boston Marathon on a cold and windy day, albeit with a slower time than the record he set last year. Cheruiyot also won last year's Chicago Marathon, at which he memorably fell down and concussed himself while crossing the finish line. This makes 15 Kenyan-won Boston Marathons in the last 17. More»

(AP) - Samuel Wanjiru pulled away over the final few kilometers to become the first Kenyan in the storied running history of that nation to win an Olympic marathon. The 21-year-old negotiated the 26.2-mile course through Beijing streets in bright Sunday morning sunshine in an Olympic record of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 32 seconds. This was just the third marathon for Wanjiru, who twice broke the world half-marathon record last year. More»

(NEWSER) - Despite the advent of what has been hailed as a storm of historic proportions on the East Coast, some are predicting tolerably mediocre weather for today's Boston Marathon. The forecast for calls for clouds, winds and temperatures in the 40s, but nothing that will drown the runners. More»

Blows by previous mark by more than 2 minutes

(AP) - Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya has won the New York City Marathon in a course record time of 2 hours, 5 minutes, 6 seconds today, crushing the previous mark of 2:07:43 set by Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia a decade earlier. The 30-year-old has established himself as the favorite at next summer's Olympics after two landmark performances this year. More»

$400M, or 380 tons of food, needed in Eastern Africa

(AP) - An estimated 4.5 million Ethiopians are in need of food assistance, says a government official—an increase of 40%. Nearly $400 million is needed to fill the country's food gap, adds Ethiopia's state minister of agriculture, who says Ethiopia needs to distribute 380 metric tons of food. A drought centered in the triangle where Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia meet has sent tens of thousands of people pouring into refugee camps in search of food . The director of the US government aid mission in Ethiopia says US officials are concerned that the severity of the drought is being underestimated. More»