The Boston Marathon is an event that brings the entire world together. The tragic bombing that struck its finish line in Boylston in 2013 did exactly the opposite of what it meant to do: it brought the American people as a whole, and people from all over the world, together. Now, Marathon Monday is bigger and better than ever before. This year’s event went off without a hitch—gorgeous spring weather, hundreds of thousands of fans, and some of the fastest times ever recorded. In case you missed it, we’ve put together a list of the top finishers, as well as a few very honorable mentions.
The big winners were two (yes, TWO!) Ethiopians, Atsede Baysa and Lemi Berhanu won the women and men's races, respectively. This is the first time in the race's history that Ethiopian runners won both the men and women's elite divisions. Atsede is 29, and Lemi is an astounding 21 years young.
The men's wheelchair race made for an incredibly exciting finish—Marcel Hug (Switzerland) won, but Ernst Van Dyk (South Africa) and Kurt Fearnley (Australia) were but a wheel's length apart to end the race. Finishing times were 1:24:01, 1:24:02, and 1:24:03 respectively, matching the race's finishing times as ‘the closest in race history’.
Our very own American hero Tatyana McFadden claimed her fourth consecutive Boston Marathon victory in the women's wheels, with a time of 1:42:16—over a minute faster than the second place finisher. McFadden rode in memory and support of Martin Richard, the eight-year-old boy who lost his life at the finish line of the 2013 race—Richard was the youngest victim, save his sister, of the bombing. You can read about Martin's younger sister, Jane, who lost a leg on that day in 2013. Now 10 years old, Jane stood proudly on her "Cheetah" prosthetic limb last week, as she and her mother hugged and congratulated McFadden at the finish line.
Two other very inspirational runners, Adriana Haslett and Patrick Downes, also ran through the city of Boston last week—each lost a leg in the 2013 bombing. Haslet and Downes both completed the 26.2 miles on Monday, proving unapologetically to anyone and everyone that: if you believe it, you can achieve it.
