Boston Marathon...it's that time of the year....

114th Boston Marathon race preview: so who's got what it takes to win this week

 114 years...That's a lot of years of racing and running down the historical streets of Bean Town.
So who's got what it takes to win the 114 Boston Marathon this week?

Both of last year's winners (Deriba Merga of Ethiopia and Salina Kosgei of Kenya) are back this year and are hoping to depend the men's and women's titles.

But it won't be easy because they have a lot of serious local competition.
If you are a fan of American running you'll probably be rooting for Ryan Hall of Mammoth Lakes, or Meb Keflezighi, Jason Lehmkuhle, Josh Rohatinsky and Antonio Vega.
Hall will try to become the first American to win the race since Greg Meyer won it in 1983. As you may recall from THIS photo story Hall came in 3rd last year and 10th at the Olympic marathon in Beijing and won the 2008 United States Olympic Trials marathon.
But here's an interesting fact that will make Hall a certain underdog. Kenyan runners have won the Boston Marathon all but three times since 1991.
On the women's side of the race the last American to win the race was Lisa Larsen Weidenbach. And she did it way back in 1985.
A  total of 25,000 athletes will start the race this year in the rural town of Hopkinton and finish in front of the Boston Public Library in downtown Boston on Patriots Day April 19th.