Boston Marathon: Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa wins in sprint to finish

Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia won a three-man sprint down Boylston Street to win the 117th Boston Marathon on Monday with a time of 2 hours, 10 minutes and 22 seconds.

Not too shabby for a guy running in only his second marathon.

Desisa and eight other men, all from Kenya or Ethiopia, broke away from the pack in the first half of the race. Three of them were left in contention when they came out of Kenmore Square with a mile to go, with Desisa besting Kenya’s Micah Kogo by five seconds and Gebregziabher Gebremariam of Ethiopia by six.

American Jason Hartmann matched his 2012 finish by coming in fourth.

Rita Jeptoo of Kenya won the women’s race for the second time. The 2006 winner finished in 2:26:25 for her first major victory since taking two years off after the birth of her child.

She beat runner-up Meseret Hailu of Ethiopia by 33 seconds, with defending champion Sharon Cherop of Kenya an additional three seconds back. American Shalane Flanagan finished fourth.

It was the first time in six years that the top two women’s finishers were separated by more than two seconds.

Unlike last year, when the race took place in heat that approached 90 degrees, temperatures were in the high 40s at the start in Hopkinton and had climbed to 54 degrees by the time the winners crossed the finish line.

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