U.S. shines, but Kenyans back on top after sweep

BOSTON — The Kenyans are back in Boston after a relative lull that saw them shut out in the world’s most prestigious marathon twice in the past three years.

More surprisingly, so are the Americans.

Geoffrey Kirui won the 121st Boston Marathon on Monday, pulling away from three-time U.S. Olympian Galen Rupp with two miles to go to give Kenya its first men’s victory in five years. Edna Kiplagat won the women’s race to complete the Kenyan sweep.

They were followed closely by Americans who grabbed two of the top four women’s spots and six of the top 10 for men — the first time that’s happened since the race went professional in 1986.

“It’s so exciting to see Americans being competitive here,” said Rupp, the Olympic bronze medalist who was making his Boston debut. “It’s a real exciting time. And it’s awesome to see American distance running on the upswing and being competitive in these races.” Kirui finished in 2 hours, minutes, 37 seconds to 9 claim a silver trophy, a guilded olive wreath from Marathon, Greece, and the $150,000 first prize. Rupp was 21 seconds back, and Japan’s Suguru Osako 30 seconds behind him.

Rounding out the top 10 were runners from California, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Utah.

Kiplagat finished in 2:21:52 to win her Boston debut. She pulled ahead of Rose Chelimo of Bahrain in the Newton hills to win by 59 seconds.

American Jordan Hasay, making her first run at the 26.2-mile distance, was third and Desi Linden was fourth — the first time since 1991 that two U.S. women have finished in the top four.

Kenya had won either the men’s or women’s race every year since 1991 before being shut out in 2014 and again last year. In fact, Kenya had taken both titles six times since 2000.

Also running on Monday was Ben Beach, who completed the race for an unprecedented 50th time in a row. And Kathrine Switzer, wearing the same bib number — 261 — that she wore when she entered the allmale race 50 years ago, using only her initials, K.V.