Organisers of the Boston Marathon have announced the elite US field for the 119th edition of the IAAF Gold Label Road Race on 20 April.Defending men&rsquo;s champion Meb Keflezighi leads the US entries and he is joined by Shalane Flanagan, Dathan Ritzenhein, Desiree Davila-Linden, Amy Hastings, Nick Arciniaga, Jeffrey Eggleston and Fernando Cabada.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve witnessed performances by many of the world&rsquo;s best marathoners at Boston, and seeing more Americans contend in recent years &ndash; and ultimately win &ndash; always adds to the anticipation and the excitement for our runners, our spectators and all of our audiences,&rdquo; said Boston Athletic Association executive director Tom Grilk.Keflezighi is one of USA&rsquo;s most decorated marathoners. In 2014 he beat the fastest elite men&rsquo;s field ever assembled for the Boston Marathon to become the first US male winner since 1983. Before the start of the race, Keflezighi wrote the names of the victims of the 2013 race day tragedy on his number and said he was determined and inspired to win to honour all of those affected.&ldquo;I am so excited to run the 2015 Boston Marathon,&rdquo; said Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist and 2009 New York Marathon winner. &ldquo;My win at the 2014 Boston Marathon will always be the most significant victory of my career. But I still aspire to get the best out of myself, run personal bests, win races and inspire all people to get the best out of themselves in running and in life.&nbsp; There is no better platform for these goals than the Boston Marathon.&rdquo; Flanagan, who last year ran the fastest time ever by a US woman on the course (2:22:02), is also set to return to Boston. Leading for most of the way last year, she was instrumental in pushing ten women to run faster than 2:24:00 for the first time in the history of the sport. After Boston, Flanagan placed third at the Berlin Marathon in 2:21:14 and set a US 25km record along the way.&ldquo;Boston brings out the best in you, because it demands the best of you,&rdquo; said Flanagan, the 2008 Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist. &ldquo;I grew up on the sidelines of this race and from the intimidating course to the fierce competition, this marathon represents at its very core what it means to run with everything you have. Last year that&rsquo;s what I did and this year will be no different, because this is Boston and that&rsquo;s just what you do.&rdquo;Ritzenhein will be making his Boston Marathon debut. The 2009 world half-marathon bronze medallist is the third-fastest US marathon runner of all time and he is coached by 1982 Boston Marathon champion Alberto Salazar.&ldquo;The Boston Marathon is the most iconic marathon in the world and I can't wait to toe the line this year,&rdquo; said Ritzenhein, recent winner of the Campaccio cross-country meeting. &ldquo;I have wanted to run Boston for a very long time and I will give it everything I have on race day.&rdquo;Davila-Linden, the fourth-fastest US marathon runner of all time, returns to Boston seeking another chance at the title. In 2011 she narrowly missed winning the race by two seconds, running a then US course record of 2:22:38. Last year in Boston she ran 2:23:54 and followed it with a fifth-place finish in New York City.&ldquo;The 2014 Boston Marathon really changed the game for women's marathon running,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Running respectable there and finishing a distant 10th really kept me hungry all year and raised my own level of expectations. After a consistent 2014, I've built great momentum and feel like a breakthrough is possible this spring.&rdquo;Hastings joins Linden and Flanagan for her Boston Marathon debut. At the Chicago Marathon last year, Hastings finished fifth as she matched her 2:27:03 best.Arciniaga also returns to Boston after finishing seventh last year. The 31-year-old won the US marathon title in 2013 and competed in the marathon at the 2011 World Championships.Eggleston returns after finishing eighth overall last year in Boston, after which he finished runner up at the Gold Coast Marathon in a 2:10:52 personal best. Eggleston was the top US finisher in the marathon at the 2013 World Championships, where he placed 13th.In 2014 Cabada improved his marathon best to 2:11:36 at the Berlin Marathon with an 11th-place finish. The former North American 25km record-holder won the US marathon title in 2008.The complete international field for the 2015 Boston Marathon will be announced in mid-January.Organisers for the IAAF<h3>US elite fields</h3>Men Dathan Ritzenhein 2:07:47 Meb Keflezighi 2:08:37 Jeffrey Eggleston 2:10:52 Nicholas Arciniaga 2:11:30 Fernando Cabada 2:11:36Women Shalane Flanagan 2:21:14 Desiree Davila Linden 2:22:38 Amy Hastings 2:27:03

Organisers of the Boston Marathon have announced the elite US field for the 119th edition of the IAAF Gold Label Road Race on 20 April.

Defending champion Keflezighi leads US field for Boston Marathon

Marathon debutant Silah Limo of Kenya took down a strong field, the race record and Robert de Castella’s Australian all-comers' record all in one go when winning the 2014 Gold Coast Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in 2:09:14 on Sunday (6).The Kenyan, who came into the race with a recorded history of just three half marathon performances, stole the show from just before the halfway point when he took a narrow lead after one of the race favourites, Japan’s defending champion Yuki Kawauchi, fell just before the halfway point, grazing his hip and knee.Limo pressed harder as the kilometres went by, gradually stretching his lead. By the 30km mark, the race was his to lose; at the finish it was his to savour. Not just a win, but a course record and Australian all-comers record of 2:09:14.No one quite knew who the quiet Kenyan was. Commenting for the race’s livestream coverage, Steve Moneghetti said he assumed it was his first marathon as they could find no results for him at the distance.Indeed, the only results shown for Limo on a reputed statistics site are three half marathons, two in Kigali, Rwanda in 2013 and 2014, and one in Wuzhong, China in 2013. His best is 1:01:41 in the Rwanda race last year.So, to the rest of the world, truly an unknown, or at best little known, African runner. For those with a historical bent there is a link to de Castella’s previous all-comers record of 2:09:18. On that day, in the days before the internet and widespread social media, Juma Ikangaa was first assumed to be the pacemaker for his Tanzanian teammate and defending Commonwealth marathon champion Gidamis Shahanga.As Ikangaa hung in longer and longer and eventually broke away from Shahanga, it was evident he was no rabbit. Cue another Moneghetti statement. If someone is there at 10km, don’t worry about them, he once said. If they’re still there at half-way, they can run a bit. If they’re still there at 30km, start worrying.Limo was away by that point, the only question being how fast he would run. He had run from 15 to 30km in a little over 45 minutes. Final kilometres the killerAt 35km he was still on track for a sub-2:08, but he faded a little over the final kilometres which are a bit more exposed to the elements.“I feel so happy because I have run my best in my first race on the Gold Coast,” Limo said.“I was aiming to run 2:10. That was my hope today. I tried to push and push.“I felt that is great for my first time. But, if there were pace makers, I think I can go 2:06.”De Castella, universally known as Deek, was on hand as a race ambassador but not disheartened at seeing his record go.“It was time. It is significant for the Gold Coast, because now it is officially the fastest course in Australia. We always knew the course here was quick but now we have the time to prove it.“But we should still be aiming to run 2:08 or 2:07 especially with the calibre of the African fields we are getting here.“There is still work to do, but this is a great step. The record was 32 years old and was well overdue to be smashed.”Limo collected $35,000 – $15,000 for the race win and an additional $20,000 for breaking the all-comers' record.US runner Jeffrey Eggleston was second in 2:10:52, taking just over a minute off the personal best he set in Boston earlier in the year. Kawauchi dropped back to just inside the top 10 after the fall but came back to finish third in 2:11:27.Japan’s Asami Kato produced a personal best of 2:28:51 to win the women’s race, a popular win at an event which has had strong Japanese links throughout its 35-year history.Kato was followed home by her compatriot Rika Shintaku and Tsehay Desalegn of Ethiopia. “This was my first time for this race and I am very happy because it was a PB for me,” said Kato, whose previous best had been a 2:29:08 in Nagoya earlier this year.Shintaku also recorded a personal best, her 2:30:37 just over half a minute quicker than her 2:31:15 in Tokyo this year. Desalegn almost made it three for three in the personal best stakes, her 2:31:41 was just 16 seconds outside her previous best.Len Johnson for the IAAF

Marathon debutant Silah Limo of Kenya took down a strong field, the race record and Robert de Castella’s Australian all-comers' record all in one go when winning the 2014 Gold Coast Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in 2:09:14 on Sunday (6).

Defending champion Keflezighi leads US field for Boston Marathon

Unknown African takes Deek’s record on debut at Gold Coast Marathon