By Tim McLaughlin
BOSTON, April 20 (Reuters) - John Korir broke the Boston Marathon course record on Monday in a Kenyan sweep as compatriot Sharon Lokedi defended her title on a chilly day with a gusty tailwind.
Korir won the men's race for the second straight year, smashing the 15-year-old course record in two hours, one minute and 52 seconds. The top three men all beat the previous record.
Lokedi, meanwhile, won the women's race in two hours, 18 minutes and 51 seconds. She set the course record last
year in 2:17:22.
In the men's competition, a relaxed Korir surged past Ethiopia's Milkesha Mengesha at the 20-mile mark to take control of the race. Korir ran alone for the final six miles, breaking the record set in 2011 by compatriot Geoffrey Mutai in 2:03:02.
Korir clocked his last mile of the race in four minutes, 26 seconds. Before crossing the finish line, he smiled broadly as he stuck out his tongue in a playful gesture.
"I knew I would defend my title, but I didn't know I'd run that fast," Korir told a press conference.
With about five miles to go, Lokedi had Loice Chemnung, also of Kenya, clinging to her pace. But then Lokedi dropped her rival with a blistering surge, running mile splits under four minutes and 50 seconds in the last stage of the race.
"I was just like, 'let me push it and see how it goes,'" Lokedi said. "I left it all out there. That's all I can say."
Kenyan women took the top four spots. Jess McClain placed fifth in 2:20:49, the fastest time ever for an American woman at Boston.
It was a chilly start to the 130th running of the race, with temperatures at 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7 Celsius) on a clear day that offered a tailwind of up to 10 MPH (16 km/h) to the runners.
(Reporting By Tim McLaughlin in Boston; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Christian Radnedge)
