Boston Marathon 2022 racers cross finish line

BOSTON — For the first time since 2019, the Boston Marathon is being run during its traditional Patriots Day, on the third Monday of April.

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Boston25News reported that about 30,000 athletes started the 26.2-mile race, starting in Hopkinton and hoping to cross the finish line on Boylston Street in Copley Square, in the heart of Boston.

Racing started with military marchers, followed by men’s and women’s wheelchair divisions and then handcycles.

At about 9:30 a.m., the elite men’s and women’s divisions started their runs, followed by para-athletics divisions and the rest of the runners, who were released in several waves.

From Hopkinton, the runners raced through Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton and Brookline before finishing in Boston proper.

Peres Jepchirchir, who is from Kenya and is the reigning Olympic gold medalist, won the women’s division, the AP reported. She had a 2:21:02 finish time according to The Boston Marathon’s website.

Evans Chebet, who also is from Kenya, was the first of the men’s elite division to cross the finish line with an unofficial time of 2:06:51.

Chyebet took the lead from Gabriel Geay of Tanzania on the area called “Heartbreak Hill” with about 4 miles left in the race, the AP reported.

Manuela Schar, who is from Switzerland, won the women’s wheelchair division with a time of 1:41:08, making her a four-time champion after she won in 2021, 2019 and 2017.

Daniel Romanchuk won the men’s wheelchair division. The Illinois racer had an unofficial time of 1:26:58. IT was his second career wheelchair title, the AP reported.

Runners’ times can be tracked on The Boston Marathon’s website.

The 2020 Boston Marathon was first postponed then canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 race was postponed from April to October.

The 126th edition of the race commemorated the 50th anniversary of Nina Kuscsiks’ honor of being the first woman to officially win the race in 1972. Bobbi Gibb was the first woman to finish the race in 1966, but she was not officially a race participant, the AP reported.

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Boston Marathon Volunteers set up the timing mats at the starting line before the start of the 126th Boston Marathon, Monday, April 18, 2022, in Hopkinton, Mass. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) (Mary Schwalm/AP)

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