Worknesh Degefa Dominates Women's Field To Win First Boston Marathon

BOSTON (CBS) - Worknesh Degefa of Ethiopia ran most of the race by herself Monday dominating the women's field to win her first Boston marathon.

Degefa, 28, pulled into the lead during mile four and never looked back, at one point opening up a three minute lead on the elite pack.

Worknesh Degefa won the women's division of the 2019 Boston Marathon. (WBZ-TV)

She finished in 2 hours, 23 minutes and 31 seconds.

2017 Boston Marathon champion Edna Kiplagat of Kenya was 42 seconds behind in second place.

Jordan Hasay was the top American, finishing third in 2:25:20.

Defending champion Des Linden finished fifth with an unofficial finish of 2:27:00.

"I'm happy that I won, plus I ran by myself so I feel double winning," Degefa told WBZ-TV. "I have run so many races. This is the biggest I've seen, big crowd. So I felt I ran with all the crowd."

So was she ever concerned with such a big lead, even as Kiplagat attempted to close in?

"I worried a little bit, but I knew after I finished 25k I had to push. I still worried, but when I turned around there was no one behind me," Degefa said.

Watch WBZ-TV's Steve Burton talks to Degefa

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.