Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi surges to win men’s Boston Marathon

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Yuki Kawauchi, of Japan, celebrates after winning the 122nd Boston Marathon on Monday, April 16, 2018, in Boston. | AP Photo

BOSTON — Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi surged with a mile to go to overtake Geoffrey Kirui to win the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Kawauchi crossed the finish line in an unofficial time of 2:15:58. He becomes the first Japanese man to win Boston since 1987, when Seko Toshihiko won the title.

Kawauchi said through an interpreter that the wind and cold were the “best conditions possible” for the race.

Kenya’s Geoffrey Kirui was second in 2:18:20, followed by American Shadrack Biwott in 2:18:35.

It is the first major title for Kawauchi.

Kawauchi sprinted out to an early lead before falling back. He surged several times during the race.

RELATED: Boston marks 5 years since marathon attack with tributes

Desiree Linden splashed her way through icy rain and a near-gale headwind to a Boston Marathon victory on Monday, the first American woman to win the race since 1985.

The two-time Olympian and 2011 Boston runner-up pulled away at the end of Heartbreak Hill to finish in 2 hours, 39 minutes, 54 seconds. That was more than four minutes better than second-place finisher Sarah Sellers, one of seven Americans in the top 10, but the slowest time for a women’s winner since 1978.

“It’s supposed to be hard,” said Linden, who wiped the spray of rain from her eyes as she made her way down Boylston Street alone. “It’s good to get it done.”

On the fifth anniversary of the finish line explosions that killed three and wounded hundreds more, Linden and Kawauchi led a field of 30,000 runners through a drenching rain, temperatures in the mid-30s and gusts of up to 32 mph on the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton.

“For me, it’s the best conditions possible,” Kawauchi said through an interpreter and with a wide smile.

In Copley Square, crowds thinned and muffled by the weather greeted Linden, the California native who lives in Michigan, with chants of “U-S-A!”

Lisa Larsen Weidenbach’s 1985 victory was the last for an American woman — before the race began offering prize money that lured the top international competitors to the world’s oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. Linden nearly ended the drought in 2011 when she was outkicked down Boylston Street and finished second by 2 seconds.

Marcel Hug of Switzerland earned his fifth wheelchair victory, and American Tatyana McFadden won the women’s wheelchair race for the fifth time, pushing though puddles that sent the spray from their wheels into their eyes.

“It was just tough, it was so freezing,” Hug said through chattering teeth as a volunteer draped a second towel around his shoulders. “I’m just very glad that I made it.”

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