BOSTON – The runners were soaked, the pavement slippery, and Robert Cheruiyot knew exactly where trouble was waiting along the Boston Marathon route.

So 48 hours before the start of Monday’s race, after his more traditional training was complete, the defending champion headed to the course to test the traction of the finish line. It was at the end of the Chicago race, 26 miles and 384 yards in, that he slipped – nearly costing himself a race, if not a career.

“I don’t want myself to think about falling down in Chicago,” Cheruiyot said after overcoming a concussion from that slip and the remnants of a nor’easter to win his third Boston title. “It is like telling someone something very bad. … It is not good.”

Cheruiyot, who also won in 2003, earned his third Boston title standing up. He outkicked countryman James Kwambai on the way into Kenmore Square to win in 2 hours, 14 minutes, 13 seconds – slower than the course record of 2:07:14 he set last year but enough to win by 20 seconds.

“When the lion is chasing the antelope, he doesn’t look back. He has to eat,” Cheruiyot said. “So when I run, I don’t stare at my time.”

Kenya took the top four spots in the men’s race and its 15th victory in 17 years. The top American man was Peter Gilmore, in eighth place.

Russia’s Lidiya Grigoryeva captured the women’s crown in 2:29:18, winning by 20 seconds and sending Latvia’s Jelena Prokocuka to her second consecutive second-place finish. Grigoryeva, who set the course record in Los Angeles last year, veered to the stands to grab a Russian flag just before crossing the finish line.

Top American hope Deena Kastor fell back after stomach problems diverted her from the course for a minute near the midpoint. Kastor, the defending London champion, American record-holder and Olympic bronze medalist, still finished first in the U.S. national championships, a race within a race that carried a $25,000 bonus.

“It’s hard to deal with a disappointing performance when you’ve prepared for so much better than you did out there,” she said.

With Saturday’s victory, Cheruiyot earned $100,000 and all but clinched the race for a $500,000 bonus in the World Marathon Majors points race. Prokopcuka has a slimmer lead in the women’s race, 55 points to 35 for 2006 Boston champion Rita Jeptoo, with 25 points still available for a victory in London, Osaka, Berlin, Chicago or New York.The race caught the tail end of a storm that had forecasters threatening 3 to 5 inches of rain and a 25 mph headwind that would make temperatures in the mid-30’s seem up to 10 degrees colder. The wind arrived as forecast, but the weather turned mild late in the morning – 52 degrees with a moderate rain at the start – and the sun even came out halfway through.

Click to read about the UI athlete who placed second in the wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon