Boston, Massachusetts, USA - Keep your mouth shut and run from behind early in the race.

Those were the two pieces of advice 2006 Boston Marathon winner Robert Kipkoech Cheruyiot received from fellow Kenyan marathon greats Paul Tergat and Moses Tanui. Cheruiyot, who should know a thing or two about winning Boston in the first place - he also broke the tape in 2003 - became the 14th Kenyan victor in Boston in the past 17 years. On the women's side, Jeptoo made it six Kenyan wins in the past seven years. It was also the fourth time a Kenyan man and a Kenyan woman have won in the same year.

Speaking at the day-after press conference in the Copley Plaza Hotel, Cheruiyot said that training partner Tergat urged him to keep mum about his fitness and his chances.

"Paul told me to keep quiet," said Cheruiyot, who low-keyed the pre-race press conferences like a poker player with an ace up his sleeve.

That lack of attention allowed him to implement the second Kenyan key to winning here, which came from Tanui, who was also present at the press conference: "I told him to lose himself in the pack at the beginning," said the man who won here in 1996 and 1998. "Robert is a front-runner and he had to resist that urge. He needed to be patient in the first miles, to watch from in back and not run with the leaders. Be quiet and concentrate on the race, and also take care between 25 and 35K, because if you run too fast there, you will not finish well."

The strategy, which is not exactly rocket science in Boston, was key to a rousing course record victory for Cheruiyot (2:07:14) who eclipsed Cosmas N'Deti's standard by one second, and earned him a $25,000 bonus on top of the $100,000 first place prize.

Meanwhile, the strong American contingent led by pre-race favorite Meb Keflezighi, was left scratching their heads.

"The pace was too fast too early and that played into Robert's hands," said Keflezighi, who ended up third behind Cheruiyot and fellow Kenyan Ben Maiyo. "Next time I need to be more patient. Run negative splits or save something for the last 5K or 10K because that is the way the course should be run."

And the way Cheruiyot, and many other Kenyan winners, have run it. "Everybody in Kenya is very happy now," said Cheruiyot. "Boston is back with Kenya [after an Ethiopian, Hailu Neggusie, won last year]. That is where it belongs."

Dave Kuehls for the IAAF