2013 Boston Marathon

The fastest competitor in the women's race was Meseret Hailu who had run 2:21:09 to win the 2012 Amsterdam Marathon and 1:08:55 to win the 2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.[1] 2011 Frankfurt Marathon winner Mamitu Daska, runner-up at the 2012 Berlin Marathon Tirfi Tsegaye, and winner of the 2012 Chicago Marathon Rita Jeptoo were also racing.[1] 2012 champion Sharon Cherop returned to defend her title.[2] Reigning wheelchair champions Joshua Cassidy and Shirley Reilly returned to defend their titles in their respective categories.[3]

Wesley Korir returned to defend his 2012 title in the men's race. He had most recently finished fifth in the 2012 Chicago Marathon.[4] Also competing were 2013 Dubai Marathon winner Lelisa Desisa, 2012 Boston Marathon runner-up Levy Matebo Omari, 2011 Los Angeles Marathon winner Markos Geneti, 2011 New York City Marathon winner Gebre Gebremariam, and 2010 Boston Marathon winner Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot.[4][2] In total, there were nine sub-2:07 runners in the field.[5]

The wheelchair race began at 9:17 EDT (UTC-4), the women's race at 9:32 EDT and the men's at 10:00 EDT.[3] In the men's and women's races, the winner received $150,000, with second and third receiving $75,000 and $40,000, respectively.[5]

Course map

After 26 seconds of silence to honor the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the marathon got underway with 53 wheelchair competitors leaving Hopkinton.[6] The temperature at start time was in the upper 40 °F (8–10 °C) range and climbed to 54 °F (12 °C) at the finish.[6] Hiroyuki Yamamoto of Japan aimed to make a move at the 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) mark, and at 8 miles (13 km) into the race had built up a lead of 200 yards (180 m), which he held until the end to win in a time of 1:25:32.[7] This was the first time that Yamamoto, aged 46, had competed in the Boston Marathon.[7] He beat South African Ernst Van Dyk by 39 seconds.[6] In the women's weelchair race, Tatyana McFadden, who was also competing in the race for the first time, won in a time of 1:45:25.[7]

In the women's race, a small pack broke away from the main pack early on. All the runners but Yolanda Caballero dropped back to the main pack while Caballero continued on past half-way.[8] She was eventually caught when Ana Dulce Félix increased the pace and broke away from the main pack to gain a lead of 76 seconds.[8] She was caught in 3 miles (4.8 km) by a group comprising Jeptoo, Cherop, Hailu and Shalane Flanagan. Jeptoo managed to break away from the others after 40 kilometres (25 mi) when climbing an overpass to cross the Massachusetts Turnpike, and finished in a time of 2:26:25.[8] She finished 33 seconds ahead of Hailu, who took second place.[6] Cherop took third, 3 seconds behind Hailu and Flanagan finished fourth.[9]

Twenty-three-year-old Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia beat out two other runners in a three-way sprint to finish first in the men's division. It was his first win at Boston and just his second ever marathon.[9][6] Desisa took home $150,000 and an olive wreath crown. His time of 2 hours, 10 minutes and 22 seconds was five seconds ahead of second-place finisher, Kenya's Micah Kogo.[6] Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia was six seconds back in third place. American Jason Hartmann finished fourth for the second straight year.[6]

Halfway through the race, nine men, all from Kenya or Ethiopia, broke away from the main pack. With one mile to go, the lead group was down to three. At that point, Desisa made his move and pulled away from the other two. His lead widened as he sprinted to the finish line for the win.[6] He became the fourth Ethiopian man to win the race, and the 24th East African to win in the past 26 years.[6]

In total, 23,336 competitors, from all 50 states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, and from 92 countries, started the marathon.[10]

Aftermath of the first blast

At 2:50 pm EDT, race clock time 4:09.43, almost two hours after the winners had completed the race, two explosions occurred near the finish line.[11][12] Three spectators were killed and 264 others injured. Among the injured, 17 were reported in critical condition, with at least 14 people requiring amputations. The race was halted 8 minutes after the explosions; runners east of Massachusetts Avenue were diverted into Boston Common, while those west of it were diverted to Kenmore Square.[11] Over 5,000 participants who were unable to finish due to the race being halted were given medals.[13][14]

On May 16, the Boston Athletic Association gave participants who ran at least half the distance but were not able to complete the 2013 Marathon early entry into the 2014 Marathon, which was held on April 21, 2014. The BAA agreed to allow these 5,633 runners entry in August, compared to September for regular entrants. Qualifying standards were also waived for them.[15]