Tenorio: From Flanagan to Keflezighi, this Marathon brought Boston back

Copley Square showed signs of spring on Tuesday. The daffodils were blooming, and people were sitting outside enjoying the day. There were still trees with bare branches, but you had a sense those would start filling up soon.It was a scene of calm … quite a difference from the chaos and tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombings one year ago.?The next morning and beyond, everyone knows what Boston is,” winner Mebrahtom “Meb” Keflezighi of the US said on Tuesday. “We are united.”There were moments that offered a chance to unite people on Monday … from an exciting women?s race to Keflezighi?s memorable win to the victories of wheelchair winners Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa (his 10th) and Tatyana McFadden of the US (her second straight).?There were no words to describe the crowd,” McFadden said Tuesday. “There were people at every single mile. (The last five miles) felt like the London Paralympic Games.”In the women?s race, North Shore residents cheered on Marblehead native Shalane Flanagan. The Olympic bronze medalist in the 10,000-meter run turned in a brave performance, taking the lead into the Newton hills, before defending champion Rita Jeptoo of Kenya passed her on the downhill en route to a second straight title (third overall) and a record finish of 2:18:57. Second-place finisher Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia also broke the 2:20 mark … by one second.Flanagan set a personal best with her 2:22:02.?(I was asking) ?how did Shalane do??” Keflezighi said. “Nobody told me.” He added, “She had a really fast time … Her time will come.”Keflezighi triumphed in a men?s field that included two contenders with sub-2:05 times: Defending Boston champion Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia and defending Chicago winner Dennis Kimetto of Kenya.?For me, I like the feeling of challenge and competition,” he said. “One-third of the field is overtrained or undertrained, one-third is not healthy and one-third is strong.”Keflezighi showed his strength on Monday, outracing Wilson Chebet of Kenya, who has won the last three Amsterdam Marathons.?I knew (Chebet) was coming at me hard,” Keflezighi said, adding that he did not know which specific runner was pursuing him and that all he knew was that the runner was wearing an orange shirt.?My fear was that it was a couple guys working together, trying to catch me,” Keflezighi said.One aspect of Keflezighi?s winning run that drew questions from the media was his looking back.?Looking back is not a bad thing all the time,” he said. “It can save you a victory.”Ultimately, Keflezighi finished 11 seconds ahead of Chebet: 2:08:37 to 2:08:47. Frankline Chepkwony of Kenya was just two seconds behind Chebet.Yet there were times when there was no one to be seen around Keflezighi, such as on Heartbreak Hill.?(Former Marathon champion) Bill Rodgers said the race is determined at Heartbreak Hill,” Keflezighi said. “I (looked around and said) ?there?s nobody here right now.?”Perhaps it was appropriate that in addition to their prize money, the winners got pewter jugs from Ohme, Japan, a sister city of Boston for the past 10 years. The jugs represent blue plum blossoms (?Ohme” means “blue plum” in Japanese).It seems like blossoms of peace are slowly returning to Boston and its marathon.