BOSTON - Japanese runner Yuki Kawauchi surged late to win men's Boston Marathon in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 15 minutes and 58 seconds.
Kawauchi is the first Japanese man to win the Boston Marathon since 1987.
He overtook Kenyan runner Geoffrey Kirui in the last few miles to win his first Abbott World Marathon major title.
Kawauchi said through an interpreter after the windy, rainy race that it was the best conditions possible.
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Desiree Linden splashed her way through icy rain and a near-gale headwind to a Boston Marathon victory on Monday, the first American woman to win the race since 1985.
The two-time Olympian and 2011 Boston runner-up pulled away at the end of Heartbreak Hill and ran alone through Brookline to finish in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 39 minutes, 54 seconds. That's the slowest time for a women's winner since 1978.
A field of 30,000 runners fought drenching rain, temperatures in the mid-30s and gusts of up to 32 mph on the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton to Copley Square.
A crowd of fans —thinned and muffled by the weather— greeted Linden with chants of "U-S-A!"