Boston Marathon 2013: Follow Our Live Updates
3:15 p.m. Witnesses report that two large explosions went off near the finish area of the marathon, resulting in numerous injuries. We’ll be following that news more over here.
Couldn’t make it to the course to watch the 2013 Boston Marathon on your day off from work? Or worse—are you at work? We’ve got you covered. Follow here for dispatches from our staff plus photos, testimonials, and tid-bits we gather from around the web today. Plus, you can watch the live feed above.
2:49 p.m.: Republican Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez, who said he’d been training for Boston alongside his campaign, finished the marathon, per David Bernstein:
Congrats Gabs Gomez, who ran a 4:08 marathon today. Scotto did triathlons. Not sure people like pols who make us feel lazy. #masen
— David S. Bernstein (@dbernstein) April 15, 2013
12:45 p.m. As we turn our attention to the non-elite runners, Steve Annear is scouting some of the more notable faces in the crowd. This bearded man looks like he forgot something important running out the door this morning …
Photo Credit: Steve Annear
12:07 p.m. The top three men made for a much more exciting finish than the more spread-out women. Lelisa Desisa Benti of Ethiopia won in 2:10, followed by Micah Kogo of Kenya, and Gebregziabher Gebremariam of Ethiopia. They ran a tight three-man pack right up through the final mile. Jason Hartmann of the U.S. came in 4th.
Image Credit; Rick Waechter
12:00 p.m. Rita Jeptoo of Kenya won the race in 2 hours and 26 minutes after taking the lead from a fading Felix awhile back and slowly building distance from the other top finishers. Jeptoo won the marathon in 2006 as well when she was 25.
Our local favorite Shalane Flanagan seemed like she might make a play for 2nd or 3rd but wound up in 4th for the finish, a disappointing spot no doubt but still quite the performance.
Jamie Ducharme captured the battle for two and three. That’s Sharon Cherop and Meseret Hailu Debele, both of Kenya:
Image Credit: Jamie Ducharme
11:29 a.m. At the top of Heartbreak Hill, Anna Felix of Portugal remains well ahead of the pack in the women’s race. She overtook Caballero several miles back.
Current women’s leader: Ana Dulce Felix. #bostonmarathon#wbztwitter.com/PetesWire/stat…
— Peter Wilson (@PetesWire) April 15, 2013
She’s even running faster than the Green line! But then… it’s the Green line so among the things she’s accomplishing just now, that may rank kinda low.
11:14 a.m. Tatyana McFadden just won the women’s wheelchair race!
RT @globedavidlryan: Womens first place finisher Tatyana McFadden atBOSTON MARATHONat the finish line twitter.com/GlobeDavidLRya…
— Boston.com News (@BostonDotCom) April 15, 2013
We’ve got a good perspective on the finish line.
Photo Credit: Regina Mogilevskaya
10:52 a.m. The big story in the women’s marathon right now is Colombian Yolanda Caballero, who’s running with a 5:37 split at mile 14, putting her way out in front of the pack. She’s got a heartbreaking story. Her husband and coach died last year of a stroke. Look how far out in front she is:
Leader is Yolanda Caballero of Colombia. Others, SF& KG 10 secs back twitter.com/dwilleyRW/stat…
— David Willey (@dwilleyRW) April 15, 2013
10:50 a.m. Authorities made their annual attempt to preemptively warn people to stay on their best behavior, and it seems to be working well. Jamie Ducharme reports, “Police Superintendent-In-Chief Dan Linskey says no drinking arrests or citations have been handed out yet. The cooler temperatures, he says, have made the day less rowdy than years past in the early hours. College kids, take note.”
10:43 a.m. 46-year-old Hiroyuki Yamamoto of Japan is first to cross the finish line, winning the wheelchair marathon by a huge margin of 2 minutes.
10:30 a.m. What’s Steve Annear seeing out there? Oh you know, the usual. “Just a samurai sitting down with a young Red Sox fan on Lansdowne Street. The Samurai is here promoting the new Samurai Exhibit at the MFA. He needed help standing up because his armor is so heavy.” Could be worse: the MFA could have asked him to run the marathon!
Photo Credit: Steve Annear
10:37 a.m. If you don’t have the feed playing and you want to follow the play-by-play at the front of the elite packs, @BostonMarathon is running a great Twitter feed:
WC: McFadden is all alone at 30k, going through in 1:13:18.6.
— Boston Marathon (@bostonmarathon) April 15, 2013
10:29 a.m. Regina Mogilevskaya captures this image on Boylston. If Amber knows about the wedding already, it’s a pretty cute sign. If this is someone’s way of proposing … well, let’s hope she makes it to mile 26 and she’s still looking up!
Image Credit: Regina Mogilevskaya
10:20 a.m. Steve Annear reports, “Volunteers all the way from Virginia are filling up water cups for the first batch of runners.”
Image Credit: Steve Annear
10:13 a.m. “The pace is very slow. They’re averaging 5 minutes per mile.” —The BAA announcer just now, referring to the elite men. Yeah … so slow … #sob.
10:05 a.m. New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre is back in town to run the race. He tweeted this picture to prove it:
T minus 1 hour twitter.com/joeymcintyre/s…
— Joey McIntyre (@joeymcintyre) April 15, 2013
10:01 a.m. The elite men are off now, too. Here they are moments before the start (many of them gripping their watches so they can hit start at the gun.) Look for them at the finish line just after 12 p.m.
9:53 a.m. Steve Annear reports from Fenway, where a game starts at 11:05 a.m.: “Streets are mobbed … People are already boozing and also already in lines for Fenway sausages from the sausage guy (at 9:30 a.m.? Gross.)” He grabbed a photo of spectators setting up lawn chairs in Kenmore, where they’ll await the runners.
Photo Credit: Steve Annear
9:43 a.m. The women ran their first mile in about 6 minutes 1 second, so … do you feel bad about yourself yet? Only 25 more miles to go!
9:38 a.m. Because running a marathon doesn’t present enough challenges, some people are planning to “bandit” run it for charity while wearing burger costumes. They’re part of the B. Good Burger Brigade, an organization that raises money for local charities, according to the Huntington News. Steve Annear photographed them suiting up outside the Mass. Ave B Good. This behind the scenes footage… it’s like watching someone make a sausage—er, um, a burger?
Image Credit: Steve Annear
9:32 a.m. The elite women are off, which means they’re expected to finish around 11:56 a.m. Among them are America’s top two women (and best friends) Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan, pictured stretching minutes before the gun below. You can read our interview with Marblehead native Flanagan to hear about her training leading up to this moment. Meanwhile, the elite men are about half an hour behind. They’ll start at 10 a.m. and finish at about 12:08 p.m.
9:22 a.m. We’re off! The gun signaled the start of the wheelchair race, the first start of the day.
9:02 a.m. It won’t always look this peaceful. Our own Regina Mogilevskaya captured this image of the finish line on Boylston looking decidedly unpopulated.
Photo credit: Regina Mogilevskaya
8:42 a.m. A difference from last year’s marathon that’s definitely not lost on the runners: the temperature. Last year’s high reached into the 80s, sending many to the hospital. This year the temperature is a near-perfect 55 degrees. You don’t want it much warmer when you’re running 26 miles.
8:37 a.m. Racers don’t get started until the wheelchair division start at 9:17 a.m. In the meantime, catch up on all our marathon coverage. Start with our ultimate guide to the marathon, get to know the fastest local men and women, check out some of our Q&As with local runners, and finish up by reminding yourself what makes the Boston Marathon so special anyway. Finished? Head on over to watchlive.baa.org to see the action.
