For a long time the thought of someone breaking two hours in the marathon seemed impossible.

I'm not so sure anymore after watching Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya almost break 2:03 at Monday's Boston Marathon.

Since Derek Clayton of Australia set the world record of 2:08 back in 1969, the record has dropped more than five minutes. With top runners consistently breaking an hour for the half marathon and so many people now able to run under 2:05, the day of a sub-2:00 may not be that far off.

It seems, though, that IAAF officials will not recognize Mutai's time as a world record because the Boston course is point-to-point and is technically downhill, which theoretically makes it an easier marathon course.

Tell that to all the people who run through the Newton hills and then pound their legs downhill for six miles to the finish.

I understand the IAAF's thinking, but how is Boston an easier course than a place like Berlin that is flat, straight and uses pacemakers?

On another note, if someone had told me that American Ryan Hall was going to run 2:04:58 on Monday, I would have expected him to be the first American male winner of the race since 1983. Instead, 2:04 only got him fourth place.

Hall continues to get faster and it's only a matter of time before he gets that big win. Hopefully it will come at next summer's Olympics in London.

American women continued their rise with Desiree Davila running 2:22:38, getting outkicked for the win, but breaking Joan Samuelson's American record at Boston by five seconds.

As for the ageless Samuelson, she ran 2:51 to win the 50-54 age group.

Kara Goucher ran 2:24 just seven months after having a baby. All good signs for American distance running, which had big performances on the track last summer, continues its resurgence. No longer is Kenyan victory a given.

Congratulations to our top local finishers - Mystic's Stan Mickus who ran 2:54 and Annette Barbay of Uncasville who ran 3:29.

Finally, on a sad note, many of you probably read that Norwegian marathoner Greta Waitz died Tuesday from cancer, the same thing that killed the late Fred Lebow, her longtime friend and director of New York City Marathon.

Waitz, 57, had won the New York City Marathon nine times and was a crowd favorite. But her greatest moment at the race may not have come during one of those victories but in 1992 when she ran the race with Lebow, when his brain cancer was in remission.

She called it her tenth victory.

I remember reading a quote from Waitz after that race in which she said she was much sorer after her 5:32 run with Lebow than during any of her wins because she was not used to running that slow.

On the schedule

The annual Steven E. Donahue Memorial 3-mile run and walk will be held Tuesday at 6 p.m., starting at the Cherenzia Co. at 99 Mechanic St. in Pawcatuck. This is a flat and fast out-and-back course along the Pawcatuck River.

The Seaside Shuffle 5-mile race will be held Saturday April 30 at 10 a.m., at the Kathleen E. Goodwin Elementary School, 80 Old Boston Post Road, in Old Saybrook. Registration is available at www.active.com.

The 12th annual Flanders 5 K will be held Sunday, May 1, at 10 a.m. There is also a kids' race at 11 a.m. Applications are available on the East Lyme Youth Services website. Information is also available by calling 860-739-6788.

j.wojtas@theday.com