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PHOTOS: Scenes from the Boston Marathon

Fans cheer along Boylston Street as Diana Kipyogei approaches the finish line. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Fans cheer along Boylston Street as Diana Kipyogei approaches the finish line. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

It's been more than a year and a half since the throngs of thrill seekers climbed out of buses in Hopkinton and made their way on foot back to Boston. But this year's Marathon Monday, usually the region's bellwether for spring, heralded fall's rusty palette instead.

The change in colors isn't the only thing different in 2021. Runners had to meet stringent testing standards to compete. Start times were rejiggered to increase safety. Spectators were asked to refrain from some of the race's close-setting traditions, like the Wellesley "scream tunnel," or kissing the runners.

The race also highlighted and celebrated Indigenous Peoples' Day, after officials apologized for impinging upon the holiday.

Here's a rundown of everything Marathon Monday.


Race Results

  • Diana Kipyogei of Kenya has won the women's race, finishing ahead of 2017 winner Edna Kiplagat.
  • Benson Kipruto of Kenya has won the men's race in the Boston Marathon. Kipruto broke away from a large group of elite runners on Heartbreak Hill to win the race.
  • The bells of Old South Church started ringing as the first marathoner has crossed the finish line on Boylston Street. Men's wheelchair division racer Marcel Hug took his fifth Boston on Monday, just seconds off of his personal best in the race. Hug may have missed that course record after missing the turn onto Hereford Street, losing precious seconds and missing his personal best in Boston.
  • Manuela Schär won the women's wheelchair division, picking up her third olive wreath at the Boston Marathon.
  • Read more about the day's race here.

Photos

A marathon participant wrapped in a heatsheet blanket stits exhausted on a bench on the Commonwealth Mall after finishing the Boston Marathon. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
A marathon participant wrapped in a heatsheet blanket stits exhausted on a bench on the Commonwealth Mall after finishing the Boston Marathon. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Carlos Velez of San Antonio receives his medal for finishing the Boston Marathon. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Carlos Velez of San Antonio receives his medal for finishing the Boston Marathon. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
A runner takes a water cup from a volunteer at a marathon route water station in Newton. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Rachel Caranta takes a water cup from a volunteer at a marathon route water station in Newton. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Boston Marathon participants receive their medals after they finished the grueling 26.2 mile course. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Boston Marathon participants receive their medals after they finished the grueling 26.2 mile course. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Discarded water cups litter marathon route at a water station in Newton. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Discarded water cups litter marathon route at a water station in Newton. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Melissa Rothe stops at mile 17 to kiss her husband Richard, who showed his support by following her along the marathon route on his bicycle. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Melissa Rothe stops at mile 17 to kiss her husband Richard, who showed his support by following her along the marathon route on his bicycle. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Two runners pause in Hopkinton for a photograph as they make their way to the start line in the 125th Boston Marathon. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Dave Marsalli and Jessi Crane pause in Hopkinton for a photograph as they make their way to the start line. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Boston Marathon men’s leader Benson Kipruto approaches the finish line at mile 26 on Boylston Street. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Boston Marathon men’s leader Benson Kipruto approaches the finish line at mile 26 on Boylston Street. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Diana Kipyogei, of Kenya, hits the tape to win the women's division of the 125th Boston Marathon. (Winslow Townson/AP)
Diana Kipyogei, of Kenya, hits the tape to win the women's division. (Winslow Townson/AP)
Benson Kipruto, of Kenya, approaches the tape to win the men's race of the 125th Boston Marathon. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
Benson Kipruto, of Kenya, approaches the tape to win the men's race of the 125th Boston Marathon. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
Manuela Schär, of Switzerland, smiles while breaking the finish line to win the women's wheelchair division at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Monday, Oct. 11, 2021. (Charles Krupa/AP)
Manuela Schär, of Switzerland, smiles while breaking the finish line to win the women's wheelchair division. (Charles Krupa/AP)
Marcel Hug, of Switzerland, rolls across the finish line to win the men's wheelchair division at the Boston Marathon in Boston, Monday, Oct. 11, 2021. (Charles Krupa/AP)
Marcel Hug, of Switzerland, rolls across the finish line to win the men's wheelchair division. (Charles Krupa/AP)
Spectators at the Boston Marathon cheer along Boyston Street as racers approach the finish line. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Spectators at the Boston Marathon cheer along Boylston Street as racers approach the finish line. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Cheryl Beck rolls her dog Anna in a stroller as she walks down Boylston St. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Cheryl Beck rolls her dog Anna in a stroller as she walks down Boylston St. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
The medals that will be awarded to Boston Marathon finishers. (Jesse Costa/AP)
The medals that will be awarded to Boston Marathon finishers. (Jesse Costa/AP)
Runners cross the start line in the rolling start to the 125th Boston Marathon. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Runners cross the start line in the rolling start to the 125th Boston Marathon. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Runners head out from the starting line of the 125th Boston Marathon, Monday, Oct. 11, 2021, in Hopkinton, Mass. (Mary Schwalm/AP)
Runners head out from the starting line. (Mary Schwalm/AP)
Runners line up at the rolling start for all participants in the 125th Boston Marathon. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Runners line up at the rolling start for all participants. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
The professional women cross the start line in the 125th Boston Marathon. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
The professional women cross the start line. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
The Professional Men's start of the 125th Boston Marathon, in Hopkinton. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
The Professional Men's start of the 125th Boston Marathon. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Participants in the men's wheelchair division break from the starting line of the 125th Boston Marathon. (Mary Schwalm/AP)
Participants in the men's wheelchair division break from the starting line. (Mary Schwalm/AP)

What to know about this year's marathon

Painter Will Belezos, of Holbrook, left, uses a stencil, Wednesday, Oct 6, 2021, while working to complete the start line for the 125th edition of the Boston Marathon, in Hopkinton. (Steven Senne/AP)
Painter Will Belezos, of Holbrook, left, uses a stencil, Wednesday, Oct 6, 2021, while working to complete the start line for the 125th edition of the Boston Marathon, in Hopkinton. (Steven Senne/AP)

"The differences are numerous, starting with the return of a traditional feature of the New England calendar, a sign of normalcy after more than a year of a deadly pandemic," writes Alex Ashlock. "It's also the first Boston Marathon run in October, set among autumn colors instead of the usual spring blossoms of Patriots' Day."

Read more from Ashlock here.


Recognizing Indigenous Peoples' Day

Chali’Naru Dones, right, and Darlene Flores, co-founders of the Indigenous Peoples' Day Committee in Newton, perform a healing song as artist Robert Peters paints a mural illustrating Indigenous history in the Boston Marathon near the finish line in Copley Square. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Chali’Naru Dones, right, and Darlene Flores, co-founders of the Indigenous Peoples' Day Committee in Newton, perform a healing song as artist Robert Peters paints a mural illustrating Indigenous history in the Boston Marathon near the finish line in Copley Square. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

With the change in date, the Boston Athletic Association landed on today, which is also Indigenous Peoples' Day in Newton (and of last week, in Boston). That did not sit well with tribal leaders and partners who had hoped to keep the day focused on their remembrances.

In the end, the Boston Marathon's organizers apologized for the decision, and said they will acknowledge that the race is being run on indigenous lands, and will highlight Ellison Brown, an Narragansett marathoner who won the Boston race twice.

Morning Edition host Rupa Shenoy spoke with Indigenous Peoples' Day Newton Committee members Chali’Naru Dones and Darlene Flores about the decision to move the marathon to Idigenous Peoples' Day and the process of getting those recognitions from race organizers. You can listen to that conversation here.


Marathon voices

Dave McGillivray, the race director of the Boston Marathon, joined Morning Edition Monday to talk about the 125th marathon.

Tatyana McFadden winning the 2018 Boston Marathon. (Courtesy Tatyana McFadden)
Tatyana McFadden winning the 2018 Boston Marathon. (Courtesy Tatyana McFadden)

"My coach said, whatever you do, just keep going. Your hands are going to hurt. They're going to get really cold, because we grip our racing gloves — so sometimes the circulation stops a little bit in the really severe cold weather," remembers Tatyana McFadden, five-time Boston Marathon winner and one of the most successful marathoners of all time.

Gloria Ratti (R) with Boston Marathon winner Worknesh Degefa and Gov. Charlie Baker at the finish line in 2019. (Courtesy Boston Athletic Association)
Gloria Ratti (R) with Boston Marathon winner Worknesh Degefa and Gov. Charlie Baker at the finish line in 2019. (Courtesy Boston Athletic Association)

"Gloria G. (Graceffa) Ratti died in July, at the age of 90. On Monday, the Boston Marathon, the oldest annual marathon in the world, will celebrate its 125th running without Gloria, who leaves a hole as deep as Heartbreak Hill is high," writes Barbara Huebner of the beloved long-time "doyenne" of the Boston Marathon.

In this July 13, 2018, file photo, a woman performs a traditional Native American dance during the North American Indian Days celebration on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, Mont. (David Goldman/AP)
In this July 13, 2018, file photo, a woman performs a traditional Native American dance during the North American Indian Days celebration on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, Mont. (David Goldman/AP)

"Many people already associate Columbus Day with a general celebration of Italian culture, but its original intent was quite different," writes Travis Franks. "The creation of the holiday, in fact, erased part of the identities of both Indigenous and Italian people."


Weather

Expect temperatures in the low 60s, with cloudy skies to kick off the marathon, says meteorologist Dave Epstein.

"There may be some sunshine this afternoon and the air will feel somewhat more like early September rather than October," he says.

Read the full forecast here.

This article was originally published on October 11, 2021.

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