Among more than 30,000 other runners on Monday afternoon, Geoffrey Kirui and Edna Kiplagat, both from Kenya, finished first in the men’s and women’s elite divisions, respectively, in the 121st Boston Marathon.
American runner Galen Rupp finished 21 seconds behind in second place, for his personal best. Suguru Osako of Japan finished third with a time of 2:10:28 in his Boston debut.
This year, the United States had a large representation in the men’s race, as six of the top 10 winners were American, while two other top finishers were Ethiopian and Kenyan.
For the women, Kiplagat, a Kenyan policewoman, finished with a time of 2:21:52, which was almost eight minutes faster than last year’s winner, Atsede Baysa.
This was the first time she had run in Boston and added this marathon win to previous successes in Los Angeles, New York and London.
Rose Chelimo of Bahrain came in 59 seconds behind and placed second after Kiplagat overtook Chelimo in Newton Hills.
Jordan Hasay and Desiree Linden of the United States secured third and fourth place, respectively. This marked the first time that two American women have placed in the top four since 1991.
Marcel Hug of Switzerland beat his South African rival Ernst van Dyk by a slim margin of one second to win the men’s wheelchair elite on the warm, but windy spring day.
It was Hug’s third consecutive win in the Boston Marathon, and he set a new course record at 1:18:04.
Marc Fucarile, a 2013 Boston Marathon bombing survivor, also competed in the men’s handcycle for the second year in a row.
