Boston Marathon Features On wbztv.com
Apr 17, 2008 3:13 pm US/Eastern
Eilte Runners Get Star Treatment Before Marathon
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Timothy Cherigat is from Kenya and winner of the 2004 Boston Marathon.
CBS
Anyone who has run a marathon knows the grueling pain and dedication it takes to finish, but very few can say they've won.
Timothy Cherigat is from Kenya and winner of the 2004 Boston Marathon. He says he loves the way Boston treats him. "The people who work here are good people and these are things we don't get in other races especially a race of this kind."
Cherigat is one of the 29 John Hancock Financial Services elite runners. And from the moment they enter Boston, its first class treatment all around. Female runners are greeted with flowers.
"John Hancock believes the Boston Marathon is the unique, the best marathon in the world so we just follow suit on how we treat our runners," said John Hancock Financial Services Vice President of Community Relations, Carol Fulp.
The 29 elite have the entire John Hancock Conference Center to themselves. They get private messages and they're fed three meals a day plus snacks.
The host work room at the village is where it all happens. Here, they have a list of every elite athlete when they arrive, and more importantly how to pronounce their names.
This will be Cherigat's sixth Boston Marathon. He says the treatment before the big race is priceless.
"I'm running the marathon as well," Paul Burton told Cherigat. "If I pass you, don't get upset."
"That would be good because I believe in running, everybody's a champion," said Cherigat.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Photos: 112th Boston Marathon
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