Intro:

Rita Jeptoo set a course record and won the Boston Marathon for the second consecutive year on Monday, while Meb Kefeizighi becomes the first American man to win in Boston since 1983.

Script:

American Meb Keflezighi won the Boston Marathon a year after a bombing at the finish line left three dead and more than 260 people injured.

Keflezighi, a former New York City Marathon champion and Olympic medallist, ran the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to the finish on Boylston Street in Boston's Back Bay in two hours, eight minutes and 37 seconds.

Kefezighi becomes the first U.S runner to win the race since Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach took the women's title in 1985; the last American man to win was Greg Meyer in 1983.

In the women's race, Rita Jeptoo of Kenya successfully defended the title she said she could not enjoy a year ago after the fatal bombings.

Jeptoo finished Monday's race in a course-record 2 hours, 18 minutes, 57 seconds. She becomes the seventh three-time Boston Marathon champion, having also won this event in 2006.

This years marathon made a point of remembering those that lost their lives in last years race after the bombings. A moment of silence was observed and "America the Beautiful" was played over a loudspeaker before the race began for mobility-impaired marathoners. The elite men and women runners were starting later in the morning.