Recap: The Boston Marathon 2014

Here's everything you need to know about the 118th Boston Marathon.

Updates by Eric Randall and Yiqing Shao

teammr8

Photo by Margaret Burdge

5 p.m.

As thousands of runners finish the race, keep an eye out for special teams making the journey in honor of last year’s victims. Team MR8 is running honor of Martin Richard; a BU team is running for Lu Lingzi; Run for Krystle is running for Krystle Campbell; and MIT Strong is running for Sean Collier.

Bonus: Here’s video of one MR8 runner twerking at the finish line.

5 p.m.

Team Hoyt finished what they say will be there final Boston Marathon with a time of 7:37:33.

4:15 p.m.

Team Hoyt, comprising the famed father-son duo of Dick and Rick Hoyt, are running this year’s Boston Marathon. They announced earlier that this will be their last. Here they are passing through Newton:

3:25 p.m.

OK, Blockheads, here are your NKOTB marathon finish times: Joey McIntyre finished in 3:48:11, and Danny Wood finished in an earlier wave in 3:50:00.

Keep an eye out for Donnie Wahlberg, who is there cheering for his bandmates and for brother Jim Wahlberg (who is currently making his way through Brookline).

Want to compare your (or your friend’s) finish time to more big names? Check out these celeb finish times by Will Ferrell, Lance Armstrong, and more.

3:05 p.m.

New Kids on the Block fans at the finish, keep an eye out Joey McIntyre, who’s on track to cross the finish line in just a few minutes. (He’d like some chocolate milk, please.)

2:20 p.m.

Summer Sanders finished her race with a time of 3:25:35. Her pace was shared via Twitter as she closed in on the finish line. Check out our interview with the Olympic gold medalist about training for 2014.

1:45 p.m. If you want to see more scenes from the race as you wait for your friends and family to finish, check out our photos here. A list of winners and their official times is here.

Photo by Olga Khvan

Photo by Olga Khvan

1:04 p.m.

With the elite races over, we resume the familiar  pattern of watching the rest of the runners cross the finish line. Here are some more elites at Boylston Street. Or, if you want a four-hour stream of pure joy, watch the WBZ feed of the finish line as each runner gets to feel the joy of ending their run (and cease to move their legs.)

Associated Press

Photo via AP

12:20 p.m.

What looked like it might be an easy win for U.S.A.’s Meb Keflezighi turned into a real heart-stopping race in the final two miles. As his pace flagged, Wilson Chebet narrowed the lead from 20 seconds to 10 seconds to 6 seconds. On Boylston Street, though, Keflezighi seemed to draw on some final store of energy. In the end, he won in 2:08:37 by just a few seconds, the first American to win since 1983. Whew, that was stressful.

11:55 a.m.

Defending champion Rita Jeptoo has not just repeated her win in the historic 2014 Boston Marathon, she also set a course record with 2:18:57, besting the previous time of 2:20:43. Second place finisher Buzunesh Deba also beat that record. Meanwhile, Shalane Flanagan, who paced the women to run some speedy times before falling back, finished seventh, but still hit a personal best of 2:22:02.

11:45 a.m.

In the women’s race, last year’s champion Rita Jeptoo has taken a decisive lead. She ran 23 miles in 2:03, and if she keeps it up and finishes in under 2 hours and 20 minutes, she’ll set a Boston record. With another win in 2006, this would be her third victory here. She said in the immediate wake of last year’s event that she was too shaken to come back. But she has since changed her mind and set out to run an exceptional race.

It’s also a fine annual tradition to note, as the elite runners come into town, that many of them are outstripping the Green Line. “She’s going faster than one of the most important ground transportation systems in the world!” says the BAA livestream announcer. Despite his surprise at this fact, real Bostonians know that this is among the least shocking or impressive thing she is doing just now.

11:30 a.m.

In 2013, Mayor Tom Menino was in the hospital, but checked himself out when he heard about the Marathon attacks. In the year since, he’s passed the torch to his successor Mayor Marty Walsh. Here are the two men with the race’s grand marshals at the finish line.

image

Photo by Olga Khvan

11:25 a.m.

The leaders in both the men’s and women’s races have made for exciting watching today. Meb Keflezighi made a move and has now taken a decisive lead over Boit and the rest. Way out in front, he’s running a reasonable pace that would still be a PR. The Boston Marathon’s Facebook page reports, “Meb Keflezighi passed mile 16 in 1:18:07 with an eight-second lead. His last split was 4:37. He is on pace to set a PR!” 

Meanwhile, Flanagan went into the Newton Hills still in the lead, but has since dropped out of the leader’s pack. “At 20 miles, Buzunesh Deba (ETH) takes women’s lead in Newton Hills. Lead pack down to 4 runners. Shalane Flanagan (USA) falls out of pack. Caroline Kilel (KEN) drops out of race,” the Marathon reports.

11:10 a.m.

The elite men are halfway through their race, with two men over thirty seconds ahead of the rest: Meb Keflezighi and Josphat Boit. The elite races have been fascinating so far.

Here they are in Wellesley:

menselite

Photo by Nathalie Davidson

11:05 a.m.

The third wave of runners is off!

10: 55 a.m.

Meanwhile, American Tatyana McFadden won the women’s wheelchair race for the second year in a row. And it’s her 29th birthday! She had the name of 8-year-old bombing victim Martin Richard on her back today.

Ernst Van Dyk

Photos via AP

10:42 a.m.

Ernst van Dyk has crossed the finish line to win his tenth Boston Marathon in the push rim wheelchair division. He was way out in front for much of the race, but others caught up in the hills, giving him a run for his money. Just what did it take to win that race? See our story on van Dyk from 2011.

10:40 a.m.

Even if Flanagan wasn’t the woman for Boston to watch, she’d be making herself the story of the front half of the elite women’s race. At 12 miles, she’s been out front, pacing the pack to run what would be a world record. That’s going to make the second half interesting to watch, to say the least.

shalane

Photo by Nathalie Davidson

10:30 a.m. Off goes the second wave, filled with many of the runners who were stopped short of the finish line when the bombs exploded last year. The BAA gave them all a shot to reenter and finish the race this year.

10:20 a.m.

With the elite runners off and running, crowds are filling in on Boylston Street. They’re undeterred by last year’s bombs, holding Boston Strong signs and words of encouragement for runners.

finish2

Photo by Margaret Burdge

10:00 a.m.

With the start of the first wave, about 9,000 runners are setting out on their 26.2 mile journey to Boston. The elite men are leading them. Defending champion Lelisa Desisa, 24, of Ethiopia is there. He gave his medal to the City of Boston and his bib to one of the victims’ families. Expect to see him and the rest at the finish in a little more than two hours.

9:35 a.m.

The elite women have started, with Boston’s hometown favorite Shalane Flanagan just out in front of the pack. The 2013 marathon was a disappointing finish for Flanagan who has aims to be the first local to win first place in decades. “If Marblehead native Shalane Flanagan were to win the 2014 Boston Marathon, it would be the sports story of the year, maybe of the century,” Madison Kahn writes for us.

9:22 a.m.

Sixty-two wheelchair racers have started the race. They’re required to go slow for the first quarter mile because of a 1987 incident where several racers crashed on the wet downhill.

9:05 a.m.

The elite runners have yet to start, but some spectators are already in place at the finish line.

marathon2

Photo by Olga Khvan

The area is, of course, quite well policed.

marathon1

Photo by Margaret Burdge

8:50 a.m. 

Five minutes before the start of the 2014 race, there was a moment of silence to commemorate last year’s tragedy. After that, Governor Patrick signaled the start for the mobility-impaired runners. The race is on!

8:19 a.m.

People who recall the sweltering heat of the 2012 Marathon will note that it’s a much more pleasant temperature today. It should be in the 50s when many runners finish their race, which is actually a little warmer than ideal for elite runners, but not far off at all.

7:45 a.m.

When does the marathon start? As usual, different groups will set out from Hopkinton at different times. Here’s the schedule so you know when to tune in online at watchlive.baa.org

Mobility impaired: 8:50 a.m.

Wheelchair division: 9:17 a.m.

Handcycles: 9:22 a.m.

Elite Women: 9:32 a.m.

Elite Men and Wave One: 10 a.m.

Wave Two: 10:25 a.m.

Wave Three: 11 a.m.

Wave Four: 11:25 a.m.

7:32 a.m.

Marathon Monday is off to a logistically difficult start already. State Police closed I-93 Northbound on the Zakim Bridge after two vehicles crashed and caught fire. Firefighters have been on the scene since 5:38 a.m., and traffic is very backed up, as you might expect.

7:15 a.m.

Welcome to our 2014 Boston Marathon live blog. All day, we’ll update you with the latest from Hopkinton to Boylston.

As thousands of athletes head to Hopkinton and engage in last-minute rituals (the mobility impaired division begins at 8:50 a.m.), check out our unofficial, irreverent, and completely idiosyncratic guide to Boston’s biggest day, “Your Guide to the Best Marathon Ever.” Here, you’ll find a mile guide with insider advice on popular viewing spots, as well as pro tips for spectators.

You can stream the race online at watchlive.baa.org, but stay with us for live updates on the 118th running of the Boston Marathon.

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