Amy Hastings Cragg knows the Boston Marathon course like a local. Meeting her for a run on the route? She will recommend a Starbucks near the 13.1-mile mark as a gathering spot. Talking about tough winter running weather? She will swap stories about dodging traffic and icy roadsides in Natick and Newton.
Since March, Cragg has trained on the course almost every weekend, commuting one hour from her home in East Providence, and covering different sections of the 26.2-mile route each workout. She estimates she has run every part of the course at least three times, some much more frequently. She knows not only where the big uphills and downhills come, but how her body handles the topography. And Cragg believes that gives her a home course advantage, even though Monday will be her Boston debut.
“I feel like I know the area, which is weird because I’ve never known the area where I’m running a marathon,” said Cragg, who’s posted a personal best of 2 hours 27 minutes 3 seconds in both the 2011 Los Angeles Marathon and the 2014 Chicago Marathon. “I feel like I know what I need to have left in my legs at every point in the race. That’s hugely helpful. I’m racing against mostly women who have done this before and I haven’t. So, I needed to get out there on the course to even the playing field.”
Evening the playing field is an appropriate theme for the 2015 elite women’s race.
In recent years, top female runners planned their strategy with three-time champion Rita Jeptoo in mind. No longer. Jeptoo, a Kenyan who won in 2006, 2013, and 2014, is serving a two-year suspension for doping. While her positive drug test last October angered and frustrated her competitors, it also created opportunity for the women who will stand at the Hopkinton start this year. The elite roster lists nine women with personal bests under 2:23, including Kenyan past champions Sharon Cherop and Caroline Kilel.
Ethiopians Mare Dibaba (2:19:52) and Buzunesh Deba (2:19:59) bring the fastest times to Boston. If not for Jeptoo, the personal best Deba set at last year’s race would have been a course record. In fact, Shalane Flanagan (2:21:14) considers Deba the real women’s course record holder.
“I think in everyone’s hearts, they know that’s not a valid record,” said Flanagan, who grew up in Marblehead. “I don’t recognize it as Jeptoo’s. I recognize it as Deba’s who finished second last year. So, I think it’s not 2:18, but 2:19 by Deba.”
Looking forward to a more competitive women’s race with more runners bunched closer together until the finish, Flanagan added: “Last year, I prepared for a way to beat Jeptoo because I knew she’d be in the field again. This year, I don’t feel like I’m preparing to beat one specific person. I’m preparing to be the best version of me and I think the best version of me is good enough to compete with anyone in the world as long as they’re clean.”
Could this be the year an American women wins for the first time since Lisa Larsen Rainsberger took the title in 1985? In a field free of performance enhancing drug users, Flanagan and fellow Americans Desiree Davila Linden appear strong contenders. And Linden said Cragg, a former Arizona State teammate, “will surprise a lot of people.”
Flanagan remains confident, even though she experienced a slight setback in training this January. Heel pain led to heels lifts led to unexpected gait changes led to hip pain. As a result, she didn’t train as aggressively as usual for a few weeks, but once she arrived in Flagstaff, Ariz., in early February for high-mileage altitude training it was “full steam ahead.” In the final weeks before the marathon, Flanagan said she was, “carrying a lot of momentum into each workout” and thought she would arrive at the start a little fresher than in past years.
When asked to break down the competition, Flanagan mentioned Deba and Linden. Flanagan believes training and racing experience on the course matter. And Linden has both. It also helps that, as Flanagan put it, “Desi is made to run Boston.” Linden showed that during the 2011 Boston Marathon when she finished two seconds behind champion Kilel in 2:22:38. The race ended with both runners in a memorable battle down Boylston Street.
In her 2015 Boston build-up, Linden spent time training in Kenya and Florida, as well as at her home base in suburban Detroit. She logged a high of 124 miles per week as she prepared to race at 5:25 mile pace, which would put her finish time around 2:22 flat.
“I’m excited to test my fitness and see if I’ve made an improvement since my last jump in 2011,” said Linden. “Last year, people would ask, ‘How do you beat Rita?’ You’d hope that Rita beats herself. In this field, I don’t think there’s a clear favorite. That makes it really fun. Anyone’s got a chance. And I do think that if I’m on my game, I can compete with a lot of these women.”
From their college days in Arizona, Linden and Cragg know each other’s strengths well. Linden called Cragg “one of the toughest racers ever” and added that Cragg’s top marathon time isn’t an accurate reflection of her talent.
Cragg believes she is in the best marathon shape of her career, though it makes her slightly nervous to admit that. After a disappointing result at the 2013 New York City Marathon and withdrawal from the 2014 Boston Marathon, Cragg got back on track at the 2014 Chicago Marathon. And has built from there. She believes she has figured out how to negotiate the fine line between training hard and training too hard. Plus, this winter, she gave herself a break from the New England weather and worked out in Phoenix.
“I want to come off of the Boston Marathon saying that it was my best marathon to date,” said Cragg. “It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s your best time. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s your highest place, but you’ll know at the end of the day if it was your best one or not. I’m hoping it converts to a higher place and a faster time. But at the same time, if I go out there and it was an incredibly fast day and I PRed, but I ended up not as high up, other women just have better day, I’ll still be really happy with it.”
It helps that Cragg will make the short drive back home with someone who knows the challenges of professional running. In November, Amy married Olympian Alistair Cragg, who competes for Ireland. And Alistair often ran beside Amy during her shorter workouts on the Boston course.
“Having someone around who completely understands and supports what you’re doing that is absolutely amazing,” said Amy. “Alistair understands the ups and downs of running. He’s been there for me when it didn’t go well. He felt it because he’s been there as well. When it does go well, he knows how that feels, too.”
With all her time on the course, Cragg knows what to expect from her body at different landmarks, how to mentally break up the miles into manageable segments. She expects a fast race and hopes familiarity makes her faster.
Shira Springer can be reached at springer@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @ShiraSpringer