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Caroline Rotich, Lelisa Desisa post Boston Marathon victories

(Boston Globe) Leslisa Desisa wins the Men’s Division of the Boston Marathon
(Boston Globe) Lelisa Desisa wins the Men's Division of the Boston Marathon

Caroline Rotich of Kenya outsprinted Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia down Boylston Street, and Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa ran away from the pack in Boston to post victories in the 119th Boston Marathon on Monday.

Desisa posted his second victory in three years on Monday, outkicking countryman Yemane Tsegay to win by 31 seconds in a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 17 seconds on a breezy and overcast day.

"I am happy to win and for a strong Boston 2013," said the 25-year-old Desisa, who won the race two years ago that was shattered by the terrorist bombings near the Boylston Street finish line.

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Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia finished third in the women's race and American Desiree Linden was fourth in 2:25:39. Marblehead's Shalane Flanagan was ninth in 2:27:47. Dathan Ritzenhein was the top American man, finishing seventh in 2:11:20.

Marcel Hug of Switzerland and Tatiana McFadden of the United States won the wheelchair races.

Desisa, who dropped out of last year's event that was won by Meb Keflezighi, was content to run with nine rivals into a headwind through the Newton hills. But once he came onto the flats he pulled away from Tsegay and Kenya's Wilson Chebet, last year's runner-up, to win by the largest margin since Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot in 2010.

Ritzenhein, a US Olympian, finished seventh in his Boston debut while Keflezighi was eighth in 2:12:42.

After finishing fourth in the Boston Marathon the last two years, Hug left no doubt he was aggressively chasing the title in the 40th anniversary year of the men's wheelchair race.

The Switzerland native led at every interval Monday, and crossed the finish line in 1:29:53 with no other competitors in sight for his first Boston victory.

Women’s winner Caroline Rotich crossed the finish line.

(Boston Globe) Caroline Rotich wins womens Boston Marathon

Masazumi Soejima of Japan finished second in 1:36:27, while defending champion and 10-time winner Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa finished third, also in 1:36:27.

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"I kept an eye on [Van Dyk] because he's so strong in downhill especially," Hug said in a television interview.

McFadden won the women's wheelchair division for the third straight year, crossing the finish line Monday in 1:52:54.

The sloppy weather conditions made for a slower race, with McFadden's time 17 minutes and and 48 seconds off her 1:35:06 finish last year.

"It was wet for the start, we had a couple drizzles at the start," McFadden said to CBS after the win.

"It was quite slippery in the beginning. I took that first hill cautiously. I just had to keep climbing as hard as I could — had to climb at 15 miles per hour per hill and kept hitting the downhills comfortably.

"The people of the race just carried me the entire race. I just want to give my medal to them. They're like my second family."

McFadden was born in Russia but was raised in Maryland by her adoptive mother.