More than a dozen runners from Surrey and White Rock crossed the finish line Monday at the prestigious Boston Marathon – one of the world’s most prestigious distance races.
The fastest of the local bunch was Drew Nicholson, 30, who clocked an official time of two hours, 40 minutes and 18 seconds – good for 281st overall.
In total, 27,165 runners – all of whom had to qualify at previous marathons – participated in the 42.2 km run.
The next Surrey runner to cross the finish line was Josh Weiss, 38, who ran at at 7:01/mile pace and finished in 3:03:44. Chris Bennett, 44, was the third fleetest afoot, and crossed the finish line in 3:19:57.
The fastest Surrey woman on the course was 46-year-old Tanya Zarin, who placed 81st in her age division with a time of 3:25:53.
Three other Surrey competitors also finished inside the top 100 in their respective age groups.
Ray Baker, 67, was 79th in his race division, after clocking an official time of 3:55:50 – nearly six minutes faster than his 2014 Boston Marathon time. Baker, a Surrey doctor, was also one of several local runners at the marathon in 2013, the year the race was marred by bombings near the finish line.
Gayle Robinson, 67 – who, like Baker, also completed last year’s Boston marathon – placed 18th in her age category, with a time of 4:18:34, which was 14 minutes faster than her 2014 time.
Lynne Spence, 68, also had a strong run Monday, placing 22nd in her division with a time of 4:21:49 – seven minutes better than her time at the event last year.
Other Surrey and White Rock runners to cross the famous Boylston Street finish line Monday were Brian Stewart (3:30:57), Keith Parks (3:33:16), Susannah Duvall (3:34:49), Peter Roberts (3:40:36), Camille Owens (3:41:45), William McKinnon (3:44:20), Marcus Slade (3:48:37), Francisco Velazquez (3:49:08), Erin Jones (3:49:57), Janet Weber (3:54:44), Jill Ferrie (3:57:45), Kristin Catroppa (4:01:18), Robin Vainionpaa (4:06:14), Philip Duquesnay (4:09:12), Christina Ego (4:16:32), Ron Robinson (4:43:36) and Laura Roberts (5:03:04).
The overall Boston Marathon title went to Ethiopian runner Lelisa Desisa, who was the first to break the tape on the finish line, clocking a blistering time of 2:09:17.
He also won the marathon in 2013.