2015 Boston Marathon

The men's race got off to a moderately paced start with Dathan Ritzenhein and defending champion Meb Keflezighi of the United States heading a ten-man lead pack. A quarter of the way in, Lelisa Desisa from Ethiopia decided to push the pace. As the pace quickened, the lead group fell from twelve to nine with four Kenyans, four Ethiopians, and Keflezighi leading the way. Ritzenhein had fallen 15 seconds back but picked up his pace, rejoining and then passing the lead group. At Heartbreak Hill the field thinned.[7] Keflezighi briefly took the lead, but fell well off the pace when he choked on some water around the 22-mile (35 km) mark and vomited five times as a result.[6]

With two miles to go, Desisa pulled away from the field.[7] Desisa, who had been among the lead group all race, finished with a time of 2:09:17, beating fellow countryman Yemane Adhane Tsegay by 31 seconds. The 1–2 finish was the first for Ethiopia in the race's history. Kenya's Wilson Chebet finished in third place, 34 seconds behind Tsegay. Ritzenhein was the highest finishing American in seventh place, followed by Keflezighi in eighth.[6]

Desisa had previously won the 2013 edition of the race. However, his win that day was overshadowed by the Boston Marathon bombing hours later. In the 2015 post race festivities, Boston Athletic Association spokesman Jack Fleming paid homage to Desisa's 2013 win saying "Lelisa did not get to have the kind of victory celebration that a champion of the Boston Marathon should have. Lelisa, we want you to get your due today."[6] Desisa's win by 31 seconds was the largest margin of victory since Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot won by 1:18 in the 2008 Boston Marathon. It also made him the first non-Kenyan to win the race twice since England's Geoff Smith won back-to-back races in 1984 and 1985.[7] The win came with a $150,000 prize, a golden olive wreath, and a winner's medal. "This medal, I think, is for me," he told the crowd.[6] (In 2013, he had donated his medal to the city of Boston in memory of the bombing victims.)[6]

Lead group of nine women at mile 19, with Caroline Rotich on left

In the women's race, a lead group of nine was thinned to three as Ethiopia's Bizunesh Deba picked up the pace with a 5:08 24th mile. For a while, Deba and fellow Ethiopian Mare Dibaba worked together to hold back Caroline Rotich of Kenya.[8] However, Deba tightened up entering Boylston Street and fell off the pace.[6][8] Rotich and Dibaba raced the final quarter mile side by side.[6]

Dibaba briefly took the lead, but Rotich out kicked her in the final 100 yards for a 4-second victory, finishing with a time of 2:24:55. Deba placed third, ten seconds behind Dibaba, following up her second-place finish in 2014.[8] Desiree Linden of the United States placed fourth, thirty seconds back of Deba, after leading for much of the race.[6][8] Rotich did not lead at a single checkpoint during the race.[8] Rotich's win was her first Boston Marathon title, and the fifth straight win for Kenya in the women's race.[6]

Earlier in the day, Marcel Hug of Switzerland won his first title in the men's wheelchair race, beating South Africa's Ernst Van Dyk who was looking for an eleventh Boston Marathon crown. America's Tatyana McFadden won the women's wheelchair race for the third straight year.[6]