Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia won the men's title of the 117th editition of the Boston Marathon on Monday, winning a three-way sprint down Boylston Street to finish in 2 hours, 10 minutes, 22 seconds. Rita Jeptoo won the women's race for the second time since 2006, finishing at 2:26:25, and capturing her first win in a major race since taking two years off after having a baby.
In just his second race at the 26.2-mile distance, Desisa finished 5 seconds ahead of Kenya's Micah Kogo to earn $150,000 and the traditional olive wreath. Gebregziabher Gebremariam of Ethiopia was another second behind him, in third place, with American Jason Hartmann matching his 2012 finish by coming in fourth.
Desisa was among a group of nine men -- all from Kenya or Ethiopia -- who broke away from the pack during the first half of the race. Only three remained when they came out of Kenmore Square with a mile to go.
But the Ethiopian pulled away from the others and widened his distance in the sprint to the tape, capturing the championship.
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