Kenya's Geoffrey Kirui won the 121st Boston Marathon on Monday, pulling away from American Galen Rupp with about two miles to go to win in 2 hours, 9 minutes and 37 seconds.
"I'm so happy and so grateful," Kirui said. "I'm very happy for winning Boston. I'm feeling good. My body was prepared for this competition."
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Rupp, a three-time Olympian making his Boston debut, was 21 seconds behind and Japan's Suguru Osako was another 30 seconds back. Americans had six of the top 10 finishers in the men's race and two of the top four women.
Kenyan policewoman Edna Kiplagat won the women's race in 2 hours, 21 minutes and 52 seconds, needing only one try in Boston to add it to wins in London, New York and Los Angeles. She pulled ahead of Rose Chelimo of Bahrain in the Newton hills to win by 59 seconds.
"When I was running, my body was feeling good," said Kiplagat, who was greeted at the finish line by two of her children. "I tried to push more, hard and I saw my (rivals) were not picking up the pace."
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American Jordan Hasay, making her debut at the distance, was third and Desi Linden was fourth - the first time since 1991 that two U.S. women have finished in the top four.
The warm temperatures that hit 79 degrees at the 20-kilometer mark in slowed the runners but the strong tailwind was a boost - especially for the wheelchair races.
Marcel Hug won Boston for the third time, outpushing 10-time champion Ernst Van Dyk and finishing in 1:18:04 to beat the course record and world best by 21 seconds. Fellow Swiss Manuela Schar shattered the women's mark by more than five minutes, winning in 1:28:17.
The winners' times on the point-to-point Boston course are considered a world best and not a world record because of the possibility of a supportive tailwind like the one on Monday.
"The wind is so important," Hug said. "The roads were good. Everything was fantastic today."
Marathon bombing survivor Marc Fucarile participated in the handcycle division, finishing with an unofficial time of 2:06:37.
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans also ran for the first time since the Boston Marathon bombings, finishing with a time of 3 hours and 50 minutes. He said Monday he was running in part to show people the race was "back to normal."
Other notables participating included bombing survivor Patrick Downes, 2014 Boston Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi, first female Boston Marathon participant Kathrine Switzer and Deena Laing, who was paralyzed at the 2015 Outdoor Women's Classic hockey game at Gillette Stadium. Laing was pushed in the wheelchair division by former NHL star Bobby Carpenter.
Keflezighi, 41, finished 13th this year in what he said will be his last competitive run in Boston. He plans to run the New York Marathon, which he won in 2009, one last time in the fall before retiring.
More than 30,000 people signed up to run this year's Boston Marathon, 5,000 of them from Massachusetts. All 50 U.S. states were represented, as are 99 countries.
The race has largely returned to normal four years after two bombs at the finish line in 2013 killed three people and wounded hundreds more. A new documentary that premiered in Boston on Saturday night, narrated by Matt Damon, tells that story along with many others from the history of the world's longest running long run.
Click here to track runners participating in the marathon.
The city has many road closures and parking restrictions in place for the race. Details can be found here.
For those attending the marathon, the city has listed prohibited items, including backpacks, glass containers and strollers.
Drones and helicopters are watching the entire route this year. In addition, police stepped up the use of sand trucks and vehicle barriers to help prevent any possible attacks involving trucks like the ones in Nice and Stockholm.
Scores of undercover detectives are also in the crowd. They've all been trained on latest terrorism intelligence and have been told to look for suspicious behavior and suspicious bags. Multiple checkpoints are being used as people get closer to the finish line.
