The Boston Marathon 1990
(Monday, April 16, 1990)

The start of the Boston Marathon 1990. Among the favorite runners were: Greg Meyer (10), Salvador 'Halcón ' García
of Mexico (red /black), Rob DeCastella (photo 2) and Geoff Smith (GBR), Ibrahim Hussein (2), and Gelindo Bordin from Italy (5).




The record field of 9,362 started out from Hopkinton at noon




In the first miles the leaders are: I. Hussein (Ken), Simon R. Naali (Tan)
K. Kimeli (Ken) Ikangaa (Tan), and Bordin (Ita).
Leading the 2nd. pack was Robert DeCastella (Aus)



The Leaders were running below 5:00 / mile in the initial stage...
Among the leaders also were Zeleke Metafaria and Tesfaye Tafa (20) of Ethiopia



Ikangaa took the lead with a relentless pace. The pace was too much for Naali at Wellesley.
''It was crazy,'' said Bordin to the Boston Globe... ''Especially in the first mile. It's all downhill.
My plan was to run 14:30 for 5 kilometers. They were 14:04...''




Juma Ikangaa of Tanzania led the way through the half-marathon in 1:02:01.
Naali left the pack just before 11 miles (51:48) in Natick Square. Metafaria dropped off 20 kilometers into the race (58:41),
and Tafa Tesfaye dropped off just before the 14th mile

Robert DeCastella later said...''It never ceases to amaze me the aggressiveness of the African runners, they either have
a very short memory of previous marathons or they don't hold the marathon in very high respect..."




Kipkemboi Kimeli (right) from Kenya, a bronze medallist in the Seoul Olympic Games
in the 10,000 meters stayed with the leaders... This was his first attempt in a Marathon.




'Boston' Billy Rodgers at 20 Km (12.4 miles) running as a master runner. He was 36th place running 2:20:43 (fifth in
the masters division). John Campbell (2:11:04) from New Zealand broke Jack Foster's world master's record of 2:11:19 run
on Jan. 31, 1974,.




Ikangaa, Hussein (DNF) and Kipkemboi Kimeli (DNF)

Ikangaa broke away and was 30 yards ahead of Hussein and Kimeli. The diminutive Tanzanian army major had opened
a 23-second lead as he turned off Route 16 and onto Commonwealth Avenue by the Newton Fire Station and prepared
to head into the critical uphills of Newton




Gelindo Bordin, of Milan and the training grounds of Pisa, Italy, was patient in the 60-degree sunshine, convinced the relentless
pace of Ikangaa would slow later




Gelindo Bording closing the gap to Ikangaa at Heartbreak Hill




Bordin executed the game plan he and coach Luciano Gigliotti drew up to perfection for the 94th Boston Marathon.
When he finally overhauled Ikangaa at the crest of Heartbreak Hill to take a lead he would never
surrender over the final 6 miles.




Bordin became the first Olympic gold medalist to win history's oldest continuing marathon,
and he did it in the second-fastest time (2:08:19) run on the course.




''...If Gelindo ran today in Rotterdam where the world's three fastest times have been recorded under normal conditions
with a good pace, he would run 2:06:30...," said Luciano Gigliotti, his trainer.



Final Results of the 1990 Boston Marathon

Name	Country	Time
Gelindo Bordin	Italy	2:08:19
Juma Ikangaa	Tanzania	2:09:52
Rolando Vera	Ecuador	2:10:46
John Campbell	New Zealand	2:11:04
Rob DeCastella	Australia	2:11:28

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