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Scenes from the 2014 Boston Marathon

Meb Keflezighi on Monday became the first U.S. male athlete to win the Boston Marathon in three decades, an emotional performance in a city still recovering from last year's fatal bombing attack on the world-renowned race.

Keflezighi, who was born in Eritrea but is now a U.S. citizen, pulled ahead of a pack of elite African runners a little more than halfway into the race and held off a late challenge by Kenya's Wilson Chebet as the Boston crowd chanted "USA! USA!" His official time: two hours, eight minutes and 37 seconds.

Among the women, Kenya's Rita Jeptoo notched her second consecutive win of the race, smashing a 12-year course record with a blistering official time of two hours, 18 minutes and 57 seconds, reeling in American Shalane Flanagan, who had led the women for the first 20 miles of the 26.2-mile (42.2-km) race, setting a punishing pace. (REUTERS)