‘We’re taking back the finish line’

Nearly 36,000 runners set out from the Boston Marathon starting line with security tight along the 26.2-mile course in a show of resilience a year after the bombing that turned the race into a scene of carnage.

Two pressure-cooker bombs went off near the finishing line last year, killing three people and wounding more than 260.

Meb Keflizighi, a former New York City Marathon champion and Olympic medallist, won the men’s title in 2:08:37. He was the first American man to win in three decades.

Keflezighi wore his official runner’s bib with the names of the three people killed in last year’s marathon as well as the name of a police officer who was allegedly killed by the bombing suspect several days later.

Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo won the women’s race in a course-record 2:18:57, defending a championship from last year. She had been hoping this year for a title she could enjoy.

She said of last year’s marathon: “It was very difficult to be happy. People were injured and children died. If I’m going to win again, I hope I can be happier and to show people, like I was supposed to last year.”

Last year, the bombs went off at 2.49pm local time, as spectators crowded around the finishing line to cheer the still-arriving runners about five hours into the race.

Police were deployed in force along the route yesterday, with helicopters circling above and bomb-sniffing dogs checking through rubbish bins. Officers were also posted on roofs.

Boston Marathon race director Dave McGillivray said it had been a long and difficult year. “We’re taking back our race,” he said. “We’re taking back the finish line.”

A total of 35,755 athletes were registered to run — the second-largest field in its history, with many coming to show support for the event and the city that was traumatised by the attack on its signature sporting event.

Katie O’Donnell, who was stopped less than a mile from the end last year, said: “I can’t imagine the number of emotions that are going to be there. I think I’m going to start crying at the starting line, and I’m not sure I’ll stop until I cross the finish line.”

Among the signs lining the end of the route was one paying tribute to 8-year-old Martin Richard, the youngest of those killed in the bombing.

“No more hurting people. Peace,” read the sign. A photograph of Martin holding a poster he made for school with those words was published after his death.

Mary Cunningham, 50, of Florida, who was stopped a mile short of the finish line by the explosions last year, said: “I showed up, I’m back, and I am going to finish what I didn’t finish last year.”

Sabrina Dello Russo, 38, of South Boston, was running her first marathon for a good friend, Roseann Sdoia, who lost her right leg in the bombing.

“She is my inspiration from day one last year when I saw her in the ICU (intensive care unit). Every run I do, she is in the back of my head, and she will be keeping me going today,” Dello Russo said.

While governor Deval Patrick said there had been no specific threats against the race or the city, spectators at the 118th running of the world’s oldest annual marathon had to go through tight security before being allowed near the start and finishing lines.

Fans hoping to watch near the finishing line were encouraged to leave pushchairs and backpacks behind.

More than 100 cameras were installed along the route, and race organisers said 50 or so observation points would be set up around the finishing line to monitor the crowd.

Scott Weisberg, 44, from Birmingham, Alabama, said he had trouble sleeping the night before. “With everything that happened last year, I can’t stop worrying about it happening again.

Race organisers expanded the field from its recent cap of 27,000 to make room for more than 5,000 runners who were still on the course last year at the time of the explosions, for friends and relatives of the victims, and for those who made the case that they were “profoundly impacted” by the attack.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, is awaiting trial for the April 15, 2013, attack and could get the death penalty.

His brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, — both ethnic Chechens who moved to the US from Russia more than a decade ago — died in a shootout with police days after the bombings.