Boston Marathon

Updated August 28, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

101st edition of the Boston Marathon, held Monday, April 21, 1997 and run, as always, from Hopkinton through Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton and Brookline to Boston, Mass. Lameck Aguta of Kenya broke away from the lead pack in the 25th mile and won in a time of two hours, 10 minutes and 34 seconds. Ethiopia's Fatuma Roba ended Uta Pippig's three-year reign as the women's champion with a move also late in the race. It was Roba's first Boston and the first time an African woman won the race. Franz Nietlispach of Swiitzerland won the men's wheelchair division (1:28:14) and Australia's Louise Sauvage (1:54:28) held off American Jean Driscoll's bid for an eighth straight victory in the women's wheelchair division. Driscoll caught a wheel in the trolley tracks while running just inches behind Savauge and fell over. Driscoll would finish in second place about seven minutes behind Savauge. Winners in the men's and women's divisions earned $75,000. Distance: 26.2 miles.