Local runners shine as Boston Marathon returns in full glory after two-year absence on Patriots Day

Nearly 40 residents of our readership area finished 126th running of race; complete list is inside 

Touching moment shared by many when brother of 2013 Marathon bombing victim runs race for first time 

  More than 25,000 runners from all over the world — representing 120 countries and all 50 states — descended onto the hallowed Boston Marathon race course Monday to participate in the triumphant return of the famed event to its traditional Patriot’s Day spot on the calendar.

  Included among them were over 40 local residents, most of them finishing the 26.2-mile race in fine fashion under sunny skies and cool temperatures.

    It was the first time the full Boston Marathon was run on Patriot’s Day since 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The 2020 race was cancelled shortly after the pandemic was declared worldwide in mid-March of that year. The 2021 Boston Marathon last April also axed due to the pandemic, though a smaller, 125th Boston Marathon was run on Columbus Day in October 2021.

   On Patriot’s Day Monday there was no question when the 126th Boston Marathon began that the iconic race was back in business, in all of its glory.

    Under sunny skies and cool temperatures in the mid-to-upper 40s, slightly more than 30,000 official runners set off in timed waves from the start in Hopkinton to the finish in downtown Boston.

    Once again, for the first time since 2019, the Kenyans and Ethiopians jockeyed for the top spot in both the Men’s and Women’s marathons, with two citizens of Kenya finishing on top.

   In the Men’s Race, Evans Chebet of Kenya was the winner, with an impressive time of 2:06:51.  For the Women, fellow Kenyan Peres Jerchirchir was the victor, with a time of 2:21.01.

     Both races had close finishes, the Women’s Race nearly a photo finish as the runner-up, Ababel Yeshenah of Ethiopia, came in just four seconds behind Jerchirchir with a 2:21:05. Two other Kenyans finished third and fourth respectively.

    An especially touching moment on Marathon Monday took place at the finish line for Henry Richard, of Boston, who was running his first Boston Marathon. Richard, 20, is a college student and the brother of the late Martin Richard, who was killed in the 2013 Marathon bombing tragedy. At only eight years old, Martin was the youngest victim that fateful Marathon Monday.

    A younger sister, Jane, now 16 years old, lost a leg in the tragic bombing. Henry Richard carried both his late brother and sister with him during the race, with Martin’s name etched in marker on his right arm and Jane’s name emblazoned on his chest inside his shirt.

    Henry was also at the bombing scene on Patriot’s Day, 2013, just 11 years old, but emerged from the tragedy with just cuts and bruises. “I know Martin was with me during the race,” Henry told reporters afterward, pledging to continue to run the Boston Marathon next year in #127, in 2023, and thereafter in his family’s honor.

   Locally, in the Advocate readership area of Everett, Malden, Revere and Saugus, nearly 40 residents combined from the four communities participated in the Marathon on Monday, most of them able to finish the 26.2 mile race.

    The top male and overall finisher in Everett was David Pirman, 39, with a time of 4:15:59. Everett’s top female finisher was Alexandra Cordoba, 28, at 4:36:47.

  The top male and overall finisher in Malden was also a first-time Boston Marathon participant. Patrick Mangan, 30, finished at 3:15:56, 6,069th overall and in the top 25% overall, an impressive accomplishment in his first attempt.

   Nora Gozzo, 29, was Malden’s top female finisher at 3:30:20.

    Anayo Osueke, 41, was the top male finisher for Revere at 3:03:15, in the 15% at 3,888th overall. Connor Holland, 23, was the top female finisher in Revere at 4:12:36.

    For Saugus, Chris Hancock, 48, (3:16:25) was the top male finisher and the top female Marathon finisher was Casey Hyde, 27, at 3:20:05.

126th BOSTON MARATHON

MALDEN FINISHERS

Patrick Mangan (3:15:56)

Raymundo Chen Luo (3:27:05)

Nora Gozzo (3:30:20)

Meghan Osterlind (3:35:43)

Joshua Grzegorzewski (3:53:50)

Karthrine Kukova (4:01:00)

Marissa McDonough (4:33:34)

Nicole Nakielski (5:13:55)