Many runners in the 2013 Boston Marathon never had the chance to cross the finish line after two explosions prematurely ended the race, but in 2014, an impressive number of participants went the distance.
The Boston Athletic Association said 99 percent of the runners who started the 118th Boston Marathon finished it.
“The one word I have to describe it all — epic,” race director Dave McGillivray told reporters Tuesday, via CBS Boston. “We will never see this again, this was a race for the ages for sure.”
Of the 32,456 runners who started the race, 32,144 crossed the finish line on Boylston Street. Typically, close to 3,000 unofficial runners, known as “bandits,” run in the race, but there were just 15 this year.
McGillivray said more than 1 million spectators were along the 26.2-mile course to watch American Meb Keflezighi and Kenyan Rita Jeptoo secure wins for the elite men and women, respectively.
Photo via Twitter/@bostonmarathon
