2013 Boston Marathon winner does it again

Associated Press

BOSTON

Lelisa Desisa won his first Boston Marathon in 2013.

He didn’t have much time to celebrate.

A few hours after Desisa broke the tape on Boylston Street on Patriots’ Day, two bombs near the finish line turned what should be the pinnacle of any distance runner’s career into an afterthought.

Desisa earned his second Boston Marathon title Monday, finishing in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 17 seconds to claim a golden olive wreath, the $150,000 first prize and a winner’s medal to replace the one he donated to the city two years ago in memory of the victims.

And this one he plans to enjoy.

“This medal, I think, is for me,” Desisa said.

Kenya’s Carolina Rotich won the women’s race, beating Mare Dibaba in a shoulder-to-shoulder sprint down Boylston Street to win by 4 seconds as the world’s most prestigious marathon took a tentative step back toward normal.

Boston Athletic Association spokesman Jack Fleming interrupted the winner’s news conference to place the trophy on the table next to Desisa and 2014 winner Meb Keflezighi and thank them both for helping the race heal.

“In 2013, Lelisa had won and we were sitting in these same chairs. And then soon after, and unfortunately, Lelisa did not get to have the kind of victory celebration that a champion of the Boston Marathon should have,” Fleming said. “Lelisa, we want you to get your due today.”

Desisa was in the leading pack for the entire race, pulling away to beat countryman Yemane Adhane Tsegay by 31 seconds in the first 1-2 finish for Ethiopia in the race’s history. Kenya’s Wilson Chebet was third, another 34 seconds back.

Dathan Ritzenhein of Rockford, Michigan, was the first American, in seventh. Keflezighi finished eighth a year after his victory — the first for an American man since 1983 — gave the city a tangible symbol of its comeback.

“I was crying on Boylston Street, because it was bringing up memories, good and bad,” said Keflezighi, who wrote the names of the bombing victims on his race bib last year. “People were cheering like crazy, saying ‘U-S-A!’ I was chanting with them.”

The 2004 Olympic silver medalist, who will turn 40 next month, was among the leaders until the 35-kilometer mark, when he took a drink of water that went down the wrong way. He had to stop five times to vomit.