Cherono wins 2019 Boston Marathon by one second

After a thrilling run by Ethiopian Worknesh Degefa, the men’s race came down to a sprint on Boylston street. Lawrence Cherono, Lelisa Desisa and Kenneth Kipkemoi remained within metres of each other until the very last moment.

Lawrence Cherono beats Lelisa Desisa by one second to win Boston Marathon. pic.twitter.com/GdrngBNOlB

— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) April 15, 2019

Cherono came away with the win, finishing in 2:07:57, only one second ahead of second place finisher Desisa in 2:07:58. This is Cherono’s first world major and Boston win. Cherono, 30, had the fastest personal best coming in a 2:04:06 and now has six marathon victories. Third place went to Kipkemoi in 2:08:07.

RELATED: Worknesh Degefa runs away from the 2019 Boston Marathon field

The men stayed together for the majority of the race, running conservatively in a pack of roughly 20 runners until about 30K. At 35K, the pack split up with a group of eight breaking the rest of the field.

Crowd making ? noise for Jared Ward (@jwardy21) #Boston2019 pic.twitter.com/7Hg79265W9

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) April 15, 2019

The 2017 Boston champion Geoffrey Kirui ended up in 5th place in 2:08:55. Kirui ran such a strong race at Boston in 2018 despite terrible weather until the final two miles when he began to fall apart. Kirui finished second last year.

Scott Fauble vs. Jared Ward is the best nice people rivalry in sports

— Kyle Merber (@TheRealMerb) April 15, 2019

2:09 baby! Hard one. Fun one.@saucony @timex
@jhboston26 #BostonMarathon pic.twitter.com/3AjpTyUEl8

— Jared Ward (@jwardy21) April 15, 2019

Two Americans finished in the top ten and went sub-2:10 with Scott Fauble in 7th in 2:09:09 and Jared Ward in 8th in 2:09:25. Both men took their turn in the lead throughout the race, keeping the pace honest. They now both have the 2020 Olympic standard.

The 2018 champion Yuki Kawauchi finished in 17th position in a time of 2:15:29.