So much for that tough Boston Marathon course

BOSTON — The rest of the world can debate whether Geoffrey Mutai set a record when he blistered the Boston Marathon course in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 2 seconds — the fastest anyone has ever run 26.2 miles.

From Hopkinton to Copley Square, there is no doubt.

"We had a stunning performance and an immensely fast time here today," Tom Grilk, the head of the Boston Athletic Association, said on Monday. "We in Boston are well-pleased with what has happened, and that's good unto itself. The definitions of others, I will leave to them."

Mutai outsprinted Moses Mosop down Boylston Street to win by 4 seconds, and the two Kenyans each beat Haile Gebrselassie's sanctioned world record of 2:03:59.

But Mutai's mark is unlikely to be recognized as a world record because the IAAF requires courses to start and finish near the same point to discourage downhill, wind-aided runs. Boston starts at an elevation of 475 feet and finishes 16 feet above sea level; the wind at the start on Monday was announced at 21 mph, and it came in from the west — a tailwind.

Essentially, track's international governing body has deemed the oldest and most prestigious marathon in the world — long considered one of the most difficult, too — to be too easy.

But Boston officials don't seem to mind, and neither does Mutai.

"You don't look at world records. You just go," he said. "If you are strong, you push it. But if you put it in your head, you can't make it."

Although IAAF Rule 206 clearly disqualifies the Boston course from a world record, it does list Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot's time in last year's race among the best times of 2010. Joan Benoit's 2:22:53 was considered a women's record in 1983, though that was before the organization refined its rules, B.A.A. officials said.

IAAF officials did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Four men, including third-place finisher Gebregziabher Gebremariam of Ethiopia and American Ryan Hall, broke the course record of 2:05:52 set just last year by Cheruiyot.

"These guys obviously showed us what's possible for the marathon," said Hall, whose 2:04:58 is the fastest ever run by an American. "I was out there running, and I was thinking to myself, 'I can't believe this is happening right now. I'm running a 2:04 pace, and I can't even see the leaders.' It was unreal."