BELAYNE REPEATS AS BOSTON HALF MARATHON CHAMPION
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used by permission.
BOSTON (09-Nov-09) — Ethiopia’s Fantaye Belayne repeated as Boston Half Marathon women’s champion this morning, running a patient race and ultimately winning with a powerful sprint for the ribbon. The 25-year-old, who represents adidas, clocked 1:08:51, just two seconds ahead of compatriot Melknath Voodoo. He posted the fourth-fastest winning time on the hilly and winding course that passes through some of Boston’s most beautiful parks and residential neighborhoods. He won $15,000 in prize money.
“I’m so happy and I’m excited to win back-to-back,” a smiling Belayne told Race Results Weekly through a translator.
Belayne was content to stay in the lead group for most of the race. Evalyn Chirchir of Kenya and Megan Saylor of nearby Dorchester set the early pace. The first five kilometers, which contained many hills, was completed in 16:23. Chirchir, Saylor, Voodoo and Kenyans Mercy Chelangat, Grace Loibach and Monica Ngige were part of the ten-woman lead group. Three other Americans, Molly Bourne, Kira D’Amato, and Everlynn Camboy, were part of the main group.
Sailor went through the fourth mile in a brisk 5:11. The pace was heating up a bit for D’Amato, who is training for the Valencia Marathon on December 7. The 41-year-old decided to backtrack.
“Having dropped out of the pack, I felt I had no other option, unfortunately,” D’Amato told Race Results Weekly. “Going through the lonely hills and the wind was a battle in itself.”
The first real push came in the sixth mile, where Chircheer, Belaine and Voodoo sped up. Running single file, the three ran a 5:02 split in the sixth mile and crossed the 10-K line in 32:27. That reduced the leading group to six: Chirchir, Voodoo, Belainen, Chelangat, Loibach and Ngige. Camboy was behind but lost contact and Saylor was 11 seconds back. D’Amato and Bourne ran ninth and tenth respectively.
The pace slowed by the ninth mile to a pedestrian 5:30. That was the signal for Belayne to take another step. He rushed to the front and tried to open the gap. Voodoo followed carefully at first, but then turned away. Despite running 5:02 for the tenth mile, Belayne’s move fell short. Leubach was the only one to drop out (he would eventually finish seventh in 1:10:00).
“The move I made, I wanted to go out and finish,” Belaine said later. “That’s why I decided to go ahead.”
But with five women left in contention and five kilometers to go, Belaine decided she would wait until the final meters to decide the race. By the 20-K mark (1:05:33), the pack was down to four. Belayne, Voodoo, Chirchir and Ngige. Belayne liked his chances.
“I’ve been training really well,” he said. “I knew I could become a winner.”
The final kilometer is uphill, and using his knowledge of the course, he waited for the short, flat section at Franklin Park just before the finish line. He stepped on the gas and only Voodoo managed to stay close.
“It worked out well,” Belayne said of his recent sprint. “Then God helped me and I won.”
Chirchir, who had led the way today, finished third in 1:09:01. Ngige was fourth in 1:09:07 and Chelangat 5th in 1:09:09. Behind the action at the front, Saylor, who was doing a great job running the tangents, passed Leubach by the 20-K mark to finish sixth in a personal-best 1:09:39. He is running for the Boston Athletic Association High Performance Team, coached by Irish Olympian Mark Carroll.
“My goal going in was just to commit,” Sailor told Race Results Weekly. “I think I did a great job going the first five miles and then they dropped it and it was a little aggressive for me at that point. I knew as long as I held strong throughout, I would come home strong.”
Bourne finished eighth (1:10:11) in his half-marathon debut, Kemboi finished ninth (1:10:18) and D’Amato rounded out the top 10 in 1:11:18, a time that would have won him here on eight previous occasions. D’Amato was optimistic about his race.
“It was a good grind, a really good grind,” D’Amato said. “I felt like I ran inside and strong. The hills got me a little and my glutes closed up a little. But that’s okay. That’s all you’ll experience in a marathon.”
The men’s race broke even faster. Only four athletes remained in the lead group at 10-K (28:49): Kenyans Isaiah Lasoy and Andrea Kipto, American Chandler Gibbons and Eritrea’s Yemane Haiselassie, the race’s defending champion. Santiago Catrofe of Uruguay returned in fifth place, nearly six seconds back.
Lasoy, who entered today’s race with the fastest personal best of 58:10, set the pace at 10 miles (46:14), with only Kipto trailing behind him. Haileselassie was 12 seconds off, with Gibbens back about 21 seconds. Katroff had overtaken Gibbens and was running in fourth place. By the 20-K mark (57:53), Lasoy had opened up a 25-second gap on Kipto, and none of his competitors were going to catch him today. He clocked 1:00:59, the third-fastest winning time in the event. Like Belayne, he won $15,000 in prize money.
“This is my first time (in Boston),” Lasoy said. “From 17-K to completion, it was a difficult process. Hilly.”
Lasoy hoped to run faster.
“My goal was to break the course record,” says the adidas-sponsored athlete. “When I see (the time) in 15-KI, I decided to go for the win. I tried to push it.”
Katroff had a great second half, going from sixth with a 10-K to second in the final stretch. He was still in third place at the 20-K mark, but passed Kipto in the final kilometer to record a personal best of 1:01:23. Kipto, making his debut at the distance, finished third in 1:01:30, while Haileselassie finished fourth in 1:01:45, a second faster than his winning time a year ago.
Gibbens, who is preparing for the USATF Cross Country Championships on Dec. 6 in Portland, Ore., had a solid second half. He finished fifth in a personal best time of 1:01:57. He basically ran the first 10-K in 28:49 and basically ran the second 10-K in 29:52.
“You can feel the hills,” said Gibbens, who represents Saucony. “I mean, it felt good until it happened, and then it was just going the rest of the race, just like cross country and you put your nose in it.”
American Yen Hoang (1:01:02) and Miguel Vergara (49:06) became the professional wheelchair champions. Both athletes won by a comfortable margin (Vergara won by five and a half minutes), and each earned $5,000 in prize money.
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Today’s race had just under 7,000 finishers, compared to about 6,500 last year. It was the third and final event in the 2025 Boston Athletic Association’s jumble of distances, which began with the Boston 5-K last April and continued with the Boston 10-K last June. Next year’s series begins Saturday, April 18, with the Boston 5-K, two days before the Boston Marathon.
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FINISHING
