The Kenyan runners took both the men's and women's Boston Marathon titles as it swept the first four spots in the men's race and top two finishes in the women's event on Monday.

　　Rodgers Rop clocked in his winning time of 2:09:02, beating a trio of compatriots to the second to fourth place. Christopher Cheboiboch was beaten by three seconds, followed by Fred Kiprop and Mbarak Hussein.

　　Lee Bong-Ju of South Korea prevented a Kenyan dominance in the first six places as he edged over another Kenyan Elias Chebet for the fifth finish.

　　The women's title went to Margaret Okayo in 2:20:43, with her fellow world record holder and twice defending champion Catherine Ndereba coming in second in 2:21:12, and Elfenesh Alemu of Ethiopia third in 2:26:01, while Chinese Sun Yingjie finished fourth in 2:27:26.

　　The winning time of 25-year-old Okayo was the fourth fastest in women's marathon history, which beat the previous event mark of 2:21:45 set by Uta Pippig in 1994.

　　Five months ago, Okayo also beat a 10-year-old course record to take the New York Marathon title.

　　Ndereba failed to become the third runner after Pippig (1994-96) and Ethiopia's Fatuma Roba (1997-99) to win three straight titles in Boston, but her world best mark of 2:18:47 remained intact after being set up in the 2001 Chicago Marathon.

　　Chines Sun Yingjie led the field through 25 kilometers but failed to keep her pace in the second half for a fourth finish.