Yuki Kawauchi Of Japan Wins Boston Marathon Men's Race
BOSTON (CBS) - The cold, rain and wind didn't stop Yuki Kawauchi of Japan from winning the 2018 Boston Marathon Monday.
Kawauchi pulled ahead of defending champion Geoffrey Kirui of Kenya in the last few miles and became the first Japanese man to win Boston since 1987.
He finished in 2:15:58. Kirui ended up second in 02:18:23. Shadrack Biwott of New Mexico was the top American finisher, coming in third at 2:18:35.
"I am freezing cold right now, but when I was running these were the best conditions I could have possibly run in," Kawauchi told WBZ-TV through an interpreter after the race. "It's the best crowd support I've ever had anywhere in the world. Thank you Boston."
It's been a great and cold year for Kawauchi, who won the Marshfield Marathon on New Year's Day when the temperature was just one degree.
Kawauchi took time to give a shout out to the Marshfield, saying the frigid conditions toughen him for Boston. "On January first this year, when I ran the Marshfield New Year's Day Marathon here in Massachusetts, that was a little bit too cold I think it was minus 17 degrees Celsius but that gave me a little more experience to be ready for this," Kawauchi said through his translator.
Unlike other elite runners, Kawauchi has chosen not to have a corporate sponsorship because he wanted to keep his job working as an administrator in a high school office.
