He Followed Brother's Advice, Won the Boston Marathon

A rider dressed as Paul Revere eased his horse up to the Boston Marathon finish line and proclaimed, "The runners are coming." And down Boylston Street they came. In record time. With a historic family first. And even "The Star-Spangled Banner" got some air time as the race and the region commemorated the 250th anniversary of the first shots fired in the American Revolution.

• Sharon Lokedi of Kenya broke the Boston Marathon course record by more than 2½ minutes on Monday, outkicking two-time defending champion Hellen Obiri a year after losing to her in one of the closest finishes in race history.
• In the men's race, fellow Kenyan John Korir recovered from a starting line fall to join his brother as a race champion—the first relatives to win the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon in a history that dates to 1897.

• Lokedi finished in 2 hours, 17 minutes, 22 seconds to claim the $150,000 first prize and another $50,000 bonus for breaking the course record of 2:19:59 set by Buzunesh Deba in 2014, the AP reports. A year after sprinting to an 8-second victory, Obiri was 19 seconds back in her attempt to become the first woman to win three straight since Fatuma Roba in 1999.
• Six months after winning on Chicago's flatter course, Korir finished in 2:04:45—the second-fastest winning time in Boston history as the runners took advantage of perfect marathon weather to conquer the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston's Copley Square. Although the race has been won by a pair of unrelated John Kelleys and two different Robert Cheruiyots, the Korirs are the first brothers—or relatives of any kind— to have won, the AP reports. Wesley Korir, who is 14 years older than John, won the marathon in 2012.
• "He explained to be tough and believe in yourself," said John Korir, who finished fourth and ninth in his two previous Boston attempts. "So I believed in myself and I followed his advice."
• Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania and Cybrian Kotut of Kenya were shoulder to shoulder down the stretch, and both crossed in 2:05:04. The photo review revealed Simbu was second and Kotut third.

(More Boston Marathon stories.)