Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa and Kenya's Rita Jeptoo took the elite titles Monday in the 117th edition of the Boston Marathon, their moments of triumph providing no clue to the chaos and horror to follow later in the day.
About two hours after the winners crossed the line, there was a loud explosion on the north side of Boylston Street, just before the photo bridge that marks the finish line. Another explosion could be heard a few seconds later.
The Boston Marathon said that bombs caused the two explosions and that organizers were working with authorities to determine what happened. The Boston Police Department said two people were killed and 23 others injured.
Desisa won a three-way sprint down Boylston Street to finish in 2 hours, 10 minutes, 22 seconds and snap a string of three consecutive Kenyan victories.
"Here we have a relative newcomer," said Ethiopia's Gebregziabher Gebremariam, who finished third. "Everything changes."
In only 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. American Jason Hartmann finished fourth for the second year in a row.
Jeptoo won the women's race for the second time. Jeptoo, who also won in 2006, finished in 2:26:25 for her first victory in a major race since taking two years off after having a baby.
After a series of close finishes in the women's race - five consecutive years with 3 seconds or less separating the top two - Jeptoo had a relatively comfortable 33-second margin over Meseret Hailu of Ethiopia. Defending champion Sharon Cherop of Kenya was another 3 seconds back.
Shalane Flanagan, of nearby Marblehead, was fourth in the women's division in her attempt to earn the first American victory in Boston since 1985. (Two-time winner Joan Benoit Samuelson, running on the 30th anniversary of her 1983 victory, finished in 2:50:29 to set a world record for her age group.)
Desisa, 23, was among a group of nine men - all from Kenya or Ethiopia - who broke away from the pack in the first half of the race. There were three remaining when they came out of Kenmore Square with a mile to go.
But Desisa quickly pulled away and widened his distance in the sprint to the tape. It's Desisa's second victory in as many marathons, having won in Dubai in January in 2:04:45.
Temperatures in the high 40s greeted the field of 24,662 at the start in Hopkinton. It climbed to 54 degrees by the time the winners reached Copley Square in Boston, not far from the site of the explosions.
Race day got started with 26 seconds of silence in honor of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. A little more than 2 hours later, the lead runners passed the Mile 26 marker, which was decorated with the Newtown, Conn., seal and dedicated to the memory of those killed there.
