How did Whatcom County’s contingent of runners fare in the Boston Marathon?

Living up to his last name, Thomas Race – a 30-year-old Bellingham man – turned in the quickest time of 14 Whatcom County runners Monday in the the 121st Boston Marathon.

Race finished the historic 26.2-mile course through Bost in 3 hours, 9 minutes, 11 seconds – 2,646th overall and 1,610th in his division.

Bellingham’s Scarlett Graham (3:19:11), Alicia Jenkins (3:31:50), Kristen Schafer (3:34:03), Dwight Baker (3:34:08) and Tanya Belrose (3:38:54); Lynden’s Ryan Dewaard (3:36:55) and Ferndale’s Faye Britt (3:55:27) all came finished in less than four hours, as did former Sehome High runner Annie Moore (3:36:58), who now lists New York City as her home.

Blaine’s Lynda Churchfield had Whatcom County’s strongest finish in a division, as the 66-year-old’s time of 4:43:07 ranked 48th.

Kenya’s Geoffrey Kirui won won the overall title, pulling away from American Galen Rupp with about two miles to go to win in an unofficial time of 2:09:37.

Rupp, a three-time Olympian making his Boston debut, was 21 seconds behind, and Japan’s Suguru Osako was another 30 seconds back. Americans had six of the top 10 finishers in the men’s race and two of the top four women.

Kenyan policewoman Edna Kiplagat won the women’s race in 2:21:52, needing only one try in Boston to add it to wins in London, New York and Los Angeles. She pulled ahead of Rose Chelimo of Bahrain in the Newton hills to win by 59 seconds.

“When I was running, my body was feeling good,” said Kiplagat, who was greeted at the finish line by two of her children. “I tried to push more, hard and I saw my (rivals) were not picking up the pace.”

American Jordan Hasay, making her debut at the distance, was third, and Desi Linden was fourth – the first time since 1991 that two U.S. women have finished in the top four.

The warm temperatures that hit 79 degrees at the 20-kilometer mark slowed the runners, but the strong tailwind was a boost – especially for the wheelchair races.

Marcel Hug won Boston for the third time, outpushing 10-time champion Ernst Van Dyk and finishing in 1:18:04 to beat the course record and world best by 21 seconds. Fellow Swiss Manuela Schar shattered the women’s mark by more than five minutes, winning in 1:28:17.

This story was originally published April 17, 2017 at 2:42 PM with the headline "How did Whatcom County’s contingent of runners fare in the Boston Marathon?."