Nearly 36,000 runners set out from the Boston Marathon starting line yesterday in a show of defiance a year after the bombing turned the race into a scene of carnage.
Two pressure-cooker bombs went off near the finishing line, killing three people and wounding more than 260.
Meb Keflizighi, a former New York City Marathon champion and Olympic medallist, won the men’s title yesterday – the first American man to win in 30 years.
Keflezighi wore his official runner’s bib with the names of the three people killed last year, as well as the name of a police officer who was allegedly killed by the bombing suspect several days later.
Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo successfully defended the women’s championship she won in 2013. “It was very difficult to be happy last year,” she said.
Last year, the bombs went off at 2.49pm, as spectators crowded around the finishing line to cheer the runners arriving about five hours into the race.
Security along the course was tight yesterday. Police were deployed in force, with helicopters circling above and sniffer dogs checking through rubbish bins. Officers were also posted on roofs.
Boston Marathon race director Dave McGillivray said: “We’re taking back our race. We’re taking back the finish line.”
A total of 35,755 athletes registered to run – the second-largest field in the event’s history.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, is awaiting trial for the bombing. Prosecutors say he and his elder brother – ethnic Chechens who moved to the US from Russia more than 10 years ago – carried out the attack in retaliation for American wars in Moslem lands. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died in a shootout with police.