Lemi Berhanu Hayle of Ethiopia crosses the finish line to win the men’s division of the 120th running of the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Ethiopia elite runners floor Kenyans in Boston

Ethiopian runner Lemi Berhanu Hayle won the men’s Boston Marathon on Monday in a late surge against defending champion and fellow Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa.

Hayle beat all comers by covering the notoriously hilly course in two hours, 12 minutes and 45 seconds, as thousands of spectators cheered him under sunny skies.

On the women’s side, Ethiopian runner Atsede Baysa won in 2:29:19, overcoming a 37-second deficit in the last five miles of the race. Kenya’s Joyce Chepkirui took the third position.

It was the third running of the world’s oldest continually run annual marathon since a pair of ethnic Chechen brothers killed three people and injured more than 260 with a pair of homemade pressure cooker bombs placed at the finish line in 2013.

Men race winners 

1. Hayle Lemi Berhanu (Ethiopia) 2:12:45

2. Lelisa Desisa (Ethiopia) 2:13:32

3. Yemane Adhane Tsegay (Ethiopia) 2:14:02

4. Wesley Korir (Kenya) 2:14:05

5. Paul Lonyangata (Kenya) 2:15:45

6. Sammy Kitwara (Kenya) 2:16:43

7. Stephen Chebogut (Kenya) 2:16:52

8. Abdi Nageeye (Netherlands) 2:18:05

9. Getu Feleke (Ethiopia) 2:18:46

10. Zach Hine (U.S.) 2:21:37

Women race winners 

1. Atsede Baysa (Ethiopia) 2:29:19

2.Tirfi Tsegaye (Ethiopia) 2:30:03

3. Joyce Chepkirui (Kenya) 2:30:50

4. Jelena Prokopcuka (Latvia) 2:32:28

5. Valentine Jepkorir Kipketer (Kenya) 2:33:13

6. Filomena Cheyech (Kenya) 2:33:40

7. Buzunesh Deba (Ethiopia) 2:33:56

8. Fate Tola (Ethiopia) 2:34:38

9. Neely Harteis Spence (U.S.) 2:35:00

10. Mamitu Daska (Ethiopia) 2:37:31