BOSTON, April 22: Defending champion Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya won his fourth Boston Marathon on Monday, while Ethiopia’s Dire Tune took the women’s crown in the event’s tightest finish.

Cheruiyot, the first Kenyan man to win four Boston Marathons after victories in 2003, 2006 and 2007, controlled the pace through the hilly Boston suburbs and was followed in second place by Abderrahime Bouramdane of Morocco.

It was the 16th time since 1991 that a Kenyan has won the world’s oldest annually contested marathon.

The 29-year-old put distance between himself and a thinning pack of runners about one-and-a-half hours into the race but slowed in the final stretch to miss by 32 seconds his own 2006 course record.

Cheruiyot won the $150,000 winner’s prize and became only the fourth man to win four Boston Marathons.

He also earned a likely chance to represent Kenya at the Beijing Olympics in August.

The real drama was in the women’s field, where Tune and Russia’s Alevtina Biktimirova battled shoulder-to-shoulder through the final stages with both runners sprinting ahead of the other as they neared the finish line.

Biktimirova, 25, trailed by just two seconds, finishing in 2:25:27.

In the men’s race, Cheruiyot finished the 112th edition of the Boston Marathon in two hours, seven minutes and 46 seconds, in ideal race conditions.

Bouramdane finished second (2:09:04) and Khalid El Boumlili, also of Morocco, third (2:10:35).

Only one American finished in the top 10, Nicholas Arciniaga taking 10th place.

Leading results:

Men’s: 1. Robert Cheruiyot (Kenya) two hours seven minutes 46 seconds; 2. Abderrahime Bouramdane (Morocco) 2:09:04; 3. Khalid El Boumlili (Morocco) 2:10:35; 4. Gashaw Asfaw (Ethiopia) 2:10:47; 5. Kasime Adillo (Ethiopia) 2:12:24; 6. Timothy Cherigat (Kenya) 2:14:13; 7. Christopher Cheboiboch (Kenya) 2:14:47; 8. James Kwambai (Kenya) 2:15:52; 9. James Koskei (Kenya) 2:16:07; 10. Nicholas A. Arciniaga (US) 2:16:13.

Women’s:

1. Dire Tune (Ethiopia) two hours 25 minutes 25 seconds; 2. Alevtina Biktimirova (Russia) 2:25:27; 3. Rita Jeptoo (Kenya) 2:26:34; 4. Jelena Prokopcuka (Latvia) 2:28:12; 5. Askale Tafa Magarsa (Ethiopia) 2:29:48; 6. Bruna Genovese (Italy) 2:30:52; 7. Nuta Olaru (Romania) 2:33:56; 8. Robe Tola Guta (Ethiopia) 2:34:37; 9. Lidiya Grigoryeva (Russia) 2:35:37; 10. Stephanie A. Hood (Canada) 2:44:44.—Reuters