Boston Marathon 2013 results: Rita Jeptoo wins 117th running

Kenya's Rita Jeptoo has won the women's race in the 2013 Boston Marathon, finishing in a time of 2:26:25. It's her second win at the iconic race, having won previously in 2006.

Meseret Hailu finished in second place, 33 seconds back, and Kenyan Sharon Cherop came in third place.

American Shalane Flanagn was fourth in her Boston debut, crossing the finish line in 2:27:08 (+0:43). Teammate Kara Goucher was 1:46 behind Jeptoo, finishing in sixth place. It's Flanagan's second top-five finish in three runs -- she was second in New York in 2010 and 10th in the Olympics.

Portugal's Ana Dulce Felix made a move shortly after the the halfway point and took what seemed to be a commanding lead in the race -- she went from trailing by 32 seconds at the 13.1-mile mark to leading by 34 seconds at Mile 18. Felix extended her lead to 68 seconds at the 30K mark and was still leading by 66 seconds at 35K, but then she began to fade, done in by the Newton Hills, adding to the lore of Heartbreak Hill.

At the same time Felix began to struggle, the chase pack of women turned it on, led by Jeptoo, who ran Mile 24 in 5:10. Jeptoo rally began to stretch the lead at 40K mark (24.85 miles), and by the time the finish line was in sight, no one else was close to threatening Jeptoo's second career win in Boston.

Jeptoo's winning time gave her an overall pace of 5:35 per mile; her fastest 5K split came at the 25-40K, which she did in 17 minutes (5:28 pace).

Felix, who led for so long on Monday and was hoping to become the first European champion since 1986, eventually finished in ninth place, 3:40 behind Jeptoo.