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American Wins Boston Marathon


Meb Keflezighi is the first American in 31 years to win the Boston Marathon, in the first running of the annual event since last year's deadly bombings near the finish line that killed three spectators and injured more than 260.

Pumping his fist in exhilaration, the Eritrean-born Keflezighi crossed the finish line Monday in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 37 seconds. In this 118th edition of the race, he beat runner-up Wilson Chebet of Kenya by 11 seconds.

An American had not won the Boston Marathon since Greg Meyer in 1983.

Kenyan Rita Jeptoo won the women's race for the third time, with a record-breaking time of 2 hours, 18 minutes, 57 seconds. Ethiopian Buzunesh Deba finished second, just over a minute later.

This year's race included an expanded field of runners -- 36,000, to include about 6,000 from last year who were not allowed to cross the finish line because of the bombings



The men's field included five of the top six finishers from last year.

Authorities say ethnic Chechen brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev set off the two bombs that exploded near the finish line at the 2013 Boston race. The blast set off a manhunt that ended with Tamerlan killed in a shootout with police and Dzhokhar being arrested in a Boston suburb.

Dzhokhar is to go on trial in November on 30 federal charges that could lead to the death penalty if he is convicted.

Organizers boosted security, with extra cameras installed along the route, as well as thousands of police and hundreds of National Guard troops.
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