Deena Kastor won Sunday’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, as pretty much the entire city of Boston expected her to. But the Olympic bronze medalist did so in a manner no one had discussed in all of the pre-race predictions—by having to overcome a two-minute gap past halfway after failing to recognize who exactly the early frontrunner was.

After the pack opened with a dawdling first half mile, Magdalena Lewy Boulet surged to the front and started running 5:40 pace. By 5K, her lead was already nearly 30 seconds. Lewy Boulet was fifth in the 2004 Marathon Trials, started the day with a PR of 2:30:50 and two weeks ago ran a 10,000m personal best of 32:21. So why did the other top contenders let such a formidable competitor get such a big lead?

“It didn’t look like her!” third-place finisher Blake Russell said after the race, explaining that she had never seen Lewy Boulet race with her hair in a long braid. Kastor confirmed that she, too, didn’t recognize Lewy Boulet until several miles had passed. With a modest qualifying time of 2:42 from the 2006 New York City Marathon, Lewy Boulet was wearing #43. So even though the chase pack could see her repeatedly on the multiturn loop criterium course, they initially had reason to think that Lewy Boulet was an overeager second-tier runner likely to blow up well before the finish.

That being the case, the chase pack was content to maintain a conservative pace; Kastor reached halfway in 1:16:30, two minutes behind Lewy Boulet. Soon after, Kastor struck out on her own to chase down Lewy Boulet. At first, she did so by small increments, and was still 90 seconds back with only 7 miles to go. In the next two miles, though, she gained another 30 seconds, and it was obvious that Lewy Boulet’s bid for the win was going to come up short. Kastor passed her in the 24th mile, and went on to win by 44 seconds in 2:29:35. Lewy Boulet slowed in the last of the 6-mile loops, but maintained her form well and took second in a new personal best of 2:30:19. Russell, who led for much of the 2004 Marathon Trials before fading to fourth in the last half mile, got the redemption she sought with her third-place time of 2:32:40.

Russell is coached by Bob Sevene, who coached Joan Benoit Samuelson when she won the first women’s Olympic Marathon in 1984. Almost a quarter-century later, Samuelson, now 50, provided the emotional highlight of the day. In her fourth Olympic Marathon Trials, she ran a smart, patient race, and moved up throughout to finish in 2:49:08, a new American 50-and-over record. Crowd support was amazing throughout the race, four and five places deep in some spots. And never was it more amazing—make that deafening—than every time Samuelson came past in what she said before the race was her last competitive marathon.

Three of the women now benefiting from Samuelson’s pioneering efforts and inspirational example were at the finish to show their respect. When Samuelson crossed the line, Kastor, Boulet and Russell were waiting to congratulate her. “It was tremendous to see her coming down Boylston Street,” said Kastor. “It was a testament to the person she is on and off the race course.”

Results
Deena Kastor 2:29:35
Magdalena Lewy Boulet 2:30:19
Blake Russell 2:32:40
Zoila Gomez 2:33:53
Tera Moody 2:33:54
Turena Johnson Lane 2:34:17
Ann Alyanak 2:34:46
Dot McMahan 2:35:02
Robyn Friedman 2:35:02
Erin Moeller 2:36:51