Back home!

Insane London Marathoner runs 99 miles home after the marathon, London pictures (warning "mankini" might burn your retinas), Emmanuel Mutai wins London in a blistering 2:04:40 (Keitany wins women's race in a PR (2:19:17), the legendary Grete Waitz passes away, Mary Wittenberg's thoughts on Grete, remembering Grete, Waitz and Lebow and Justin Mock in Rotterdam.

Boston, Americans creeping closer and closer, Boston petitioning for Mutai's performance as a world record, the fun tailwind may have not been so much fun, no wonder why Kim Smith dropped out, Kara, Ryan Hall called it, and the 2 hour marathon doesn't seem as ridiculous as it once did.

A lot to cover with one of the busiest running weekends ever, so here we go:

London: Emmanuel Mutai lived up to his promise with a blistering 2:04:40, and he is truly a force on the running scene. Welcome back, Martin Lel - hell of a kick to get 2nd place, and he is definitely a name to watch in the fall (NYC, perhaps?). Mary Keitany may be the early Olympic favorite as well with the first sub 2:20 female race in a few years.

Boston: Wow, wow, and more wow! Mutai, Hall, Desi - can't say enough of all of them. For anyone saying that Mutai's performance isn't a world record hasn't run Boston. The fact that he negative split on that course the way he did is just ludicrous. The downhill of the first half pretty much hammer your quads and legs, and you can't make up any time whatsoever on the Newton Hills. Also, no pace setters - with all due respect to Haile, his record was manufactured with the help of people paid to go out at a certain pace. In Boston and NYC, you have no pacesetters, and it is truly a race from start to finish. Boston is not known as a "fast course", so even more impressive that they shaved 57 seconds off that record. Scary that Robert Cheriyout's record performance last year would have gotten him 5th this year.

Ryan Hall - the world may need to apologize to you - apparently God has written a pretty damn good plan, and it's pretty clear that he is doing something right. Hope he can keep up the momentum and run a strong qualifier in Houston this January. Loved the fire, loved the aggressiveness, and maybe he can put it all together again on a different day where he isn't upstaged by some mindblowing, record breaking performances.

Desi - you captured the hearts of all Americans. You had the coach of your top American rival screaming for you to win down the stretch! Hell of an effort, even more thrilling when you watch the highlights. She ran according to plan, and made the Kenyans work for the win. She propelled her way to arguably the number 1 woman American marathoner currently (sorry Kara), and can't wait to see her attack the Houston trials course this January on her way to London next summer.

The Field - Kara, hell of a performance, hell of a PR considering she just had a child. Kim Smith - bad timing on an injury, but pretty damn cool to watch her take control of that race. Watching the pack coldly gobble her up and spit her out post injury was chilling. Gebremariam - a force to be reckoned with. NYC winner, Boston podium finish in a stunning 2:04 - he is one of the top runners out there.

Just got back from yet another amazing weekend in Boston. Fun times all around, had the most enjoyable race where I got to enjoy the sights and sounds of what is probably my last Boston. Final time was 3:29:49, but was an amazing ride the entire way, and awesome to be part of a record setting race. More specific race recap to come...