Four Months Out, Boston Marathon Already Shaping Up

Boston Marathon sponsor John Hancock has announced that top American runners Meb Keflezighi and Ryan Hall will participate in the 114th running of the race in April 2010. Here, Keflezighi, second from right, and Hall, center, lead the New York City Marathon on Nov. 1. (AP)

BOSTON — The 2010 Boston Marathon is still four months away, but the field is already beginning to take shape.

John Hancock, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary as the race’s main sponsor next year, has announced that top American runners Meb Keflezighi and Ryan Hall will participate in the 114th running of the race on April 19, 2010.

Keflezighi is coming off his victory in the New York Marathon this fall. His 2:09:15 time was a personal best. Keflezighi captured the silver medal with his second place finish in the 2004 Athens Olympic Marathon and is the American record holder in the 10,000-meters.

Hall is the second-fastest American marathoner of all-time, with a 2:06:17 personal best. He holds the American records in the 20K and half marathon, and placed 10th in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Marathon.

Keflezighi and Hall have come to Boston with high hopes before, but both finished third: Hall this year and Keflezighi in 2006.

“It has always been my ultimate goal to win the Boston Marathon,” Keflezighi said. “Boston has a great tradition not only to the running community, but also the rest of the world.”

“As soon as I finished the 2009 Boston Marathon, I knew I wanted to be back for the 2010 race,” Hall said. “The energy of the crowds far exceeded my expectations, the course was even more challenging than I anticipated, I hurt more than I have hurt in any other race, yet participating in the Boston Marathon was thrilling beyond my greatest expectations.”

No American man has won the race since Greg Meyer in 1983. The last American woman winner in the race was Lisa Larsen Weidenbach in 1985.