She led an exceptionally large pack of elite women’s runners for most of the first 20 miles with a smile on her face, one that grew especially wide as she slapped high-fives with fans along Wellesley’s “Scream Tunnel.”
After Heartbreak Hill, however, she fell behind, finishing in 12th place in 2:27:14, seven spots and five-plus minutes behind last year’s memorable effort.
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She finished first among all American women runners, with Sara Hall coming in at 2:27:58 in 15th place and Des Linden one spot later at 2:28:27.
Simply finishing on her feet after tearing her plantar fasciitis stepping in a pothole at last October’s Chicago Marathon marked a personal victory.
Sights and sounds of the 2024 Boston Marathon finish line
“I wasn’t able to have the wheels at the end — I think [the leaders] threw down like a 4:40 [mile pace] — so I’m just not quite there,” said the still-grinning Bates after the race. “Hopefully I’ll be there in full form next year or the years following. Just coming off of this injury, I’m really proud of being where I was and pushing myself, getting after it and kind of throwing myself back to the sharks.”
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The former Boston-based runner was not planning on the up-close exchanges with fans in Wellesley.
As it went on and on, she wasn’t too sure the decision was all that wise.
“Once people started putting their hands out, I was like, “OK, I’m going to start doing this,’ ” said Bates, who missed the US Olympic trials in February because of a setback sustained in her foot rehab. “I loved it. I just wanted to give back to all the people that were there to support and love and encourage us to get us to that finish line as quickly as possible.
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“But as I started, I couldn’t stop, because everybody kept putting their hands out and I was like, ‘Did I just make a mistake? Am I losing seconds here?’ But honestly, it was worth it even if it was going to cost me a few seconds of time.
“That was the only reason I was able to finish as well as I did today, it’s just because of all the support that we have out there and people screaming ‘USA’ and ‘Bates’ and all those things.”
Related: Kenya’s Hellen Obiri breaks away late to defend her women’s title in Boston Marathon
Bates, 31, surged back to the lead shortly after the Wellesley flesh-press, before being joined briefly by Hall.
Hall fell back some, but after she did, who popped up next to Bates but Linden, the 2018 Boston Marathon champion.
“[She] came out of nowhere and she came to the front, and she was leading at the time and she asked me ‘What pace are you running?’ and I was ‘I think 5:30′ and she’s like, ‘OK, let’s do this’ and then hung in there and started pushing the pace with me for like a mile or so, and then all of a sudden she was gone.”
“I was like, ‘What?’ She’s a legend in Boston and for her to come up and try to help me just speaks volumes to the type of person that she is and the type of person that we have in this sport that wants to grow the sport so much. We’re really blessed to have her and somebody like Sarah, who just took fifth at the Olympic trials.”
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Related: Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma runs away with men’s crown in Boston Marathon
Bates was not sure where Hall and Linden were when she finally reached the finish line, but she didn’t have to wait long before they showed up.
When they did, the three proceeded to engage in their own victory lap conga line with fans.
“To see them come across the line and want to take photos with me — I’m still starstruck and shocked that I’m kind of in the same realm as them, so it was a really special day in that regard,” said Bates. “I am proud of finishing. I’m proud of being at the start line. I’m proud of pushing myself and the effort that I put into it. Twelfth (place is) not quite what I would have expected or hoped for but that’s kind of just the name of the game.”
In his fourth Boston Marathon, CJ Albertson ran his best time to date, finishing seventh (2:09:53) as the top American in the men’s elite race.
Albertson, 30, has been in the mix before, with finishes of 10th, 13th, and 12th from 2021-23. He led the first 20 miles of the 2021 Marathon before fading late, as thousands of runners have done, around Heartbreak Hill.
Monday’s story was quite the opposite. Albertson didn’t appear in the top 10 until the 23-mile mark, but stayed consistent through the final miles to pick off competitors. Though he said in an Instagram post that he was hoping for a top-five finish, Albertson wasn’t far off. He finished 3 minutes and 53 seconds behind winner Sisay Lemma.
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Albertson set the world record for the indoor marathon in 2019, when he ran in 2:17:59 at The Armory in New York. He holds the world record in the 50K (2:38:43), which he set in 2022 in San Francisco. More recently, Albertson finished fifth in the marathon at the US Olympic Trials. He has run four marathons in the last five months.
From Fresno, Calif., Albertson ran in college at Arizona State and now coaches at Clovis Community College in Fresno. He’s drawn interest for his unique approaches to training, once sitting in his car under direct sunlight to create the effect of a sauna.
To prepare for the Olympic Trials in Florida, Albertson wanted to simulate hot conditions, so he used heat lamps typically reserved for chicken coops as he ran on his treadmill.
“The bulbs produce a lot of heat and I wanted to be ready for the Team Trials in Florida, in case it was hot and humid on the day,” he told Strava. “I’ve kept doing that since then because it helps with overall fitness.”
Michael Silverman can be reached at michael.silverman@globe.com.
