By Barbara Huebner

In 2007, Des Linden made her 26.2-mile debut at the Boston Marathon. In 2008, she competed in her first U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials here, certain that she would make the team; an infuriating late-race fade sealed her determination to master the distance. In 2011, she briefly led down Boylston Street, coming within an agonizing two seconds of becoming the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon since 1985.

Boston is to Des Linden what oxygen is to the rest of us: It keeps her alive.

By James O’Brien

Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi won the men’s race at the 122nd Boston Marathon in such dramatic fashion that it will surely be recalled alongside such epics as the Duel in the Sun of 1982 and the Johnny Kelley/Ellison Brown battle of 1936. A customarily deep field ensured that the mano a mano competition would always be the focus of the day; but, with conditions ranging from consistently heavy rain to a veritable monsoon, it was undeniable that the weather was enormously significant in the outcome.

By Jean Cann

Despite one of the strongest and deepest fields ever assembled for the push-rim wheelchair race, the weather provided the toughest competition at the 122nd Boston Marathon. The blustery headwind, bitter cold, and persistent rain stood in stark contrast to last year’s virtually perfect conditions when Marcel Hug and Manuela Schar won in world best times. Hug managed to defend his title in the men’s race this year in 1:46:26 for his fourth-straight Boston win, and Tatyana McFadden won her fifth title in six years in 2:04:39.