Under heavy security that included a battery of surveillance cameras and police officers on rooftops, nearly 36,000 runners hit the streets Monday in the first Boston Marathon since last year's deadly bombing, sending a powerful message of resilience.

In what some saw as altogether fitting, an American won the men's division for the first time in more than 30 years, dominating a field that included many athletes who were prevented from completing the race last year.

"I showed up, I'm back, and I am going to finish what I didn't finish last year," said Mary Cunningham, 50, of St. Petersburg, Fla., who was stopped a mile short of the finish line by the explosions on April 15, 2013.

The two pressure-cooker bombs that went off near the end of the 26.2-mile course killed three people and wounded more than 260 in a hellish spectacle of torn limbs, smoke and broken glass.

This year, police were deployed in force along the route, with helicopters circling above and bomb-sniffing dogs checking trash cans.

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Marathon Watch: Updates from the race

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Silence to noise

At 2:49 p.m. - the time the bombs exploded last year - a moment of remembrance was held on the course.

Near the site of the explosions, the silence was followed by the longest and most sustained cheer of the day. People screamed, whooped, whistled, clapped and rang cowbells.

- Michelle R. Smith -HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/MRSMITHAP

Live from the course

Bill Kole, AP's New England bureau chief, is running the race - and tweeting from every mile.

Some highlights:

"Mile 2: Local dudes offering us beers and cigarettes. Um, I'll pass, thanks."

"Mile 4: Someone just channeled Red Sox slugger David Ortiz: `This is our (expletive) marathon!'"

"Mile 7: Helicopters are thundering overhead, but runners are gazing resolutely at the long ribbon of asphalt ahead."

At Mile 25, he reported: "This is where police stopped the race last year. Nothing but a jubilant stream of humanity today."

Kole finished in 4 hours, 33 minutes, 37 seconds. His last tweet: "Everyone's screaming on Boylston Street. For all the right reasons. 36,000 sweaty, tearful, exuberant reasons."

- Bill Kole - HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/BILLKOLE

In their honor: U.S. champ had victims' names on bib

Meb Keflezighi, who gave the Boston fans their first American men's champ in more than three decades, wore the names of four victims on his running bib. Written in marker in small, neat letters in each corner were Krystle, Lingzi, Martin and Sean.

Krystle Campbell, Lu Lingzi and Martin Richard were killed in the bombings during last year's race. MIT Officer Sean Collier was killed days later in the hunt for the bombing suspects.

- Steve Peoples -HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/SPPEOPLES

Return to Fenway

Boston Marathon survivor Marc Fucarile is back at Fenway Park four days after marrying his longtime fiancee there.

The 35-year-old native of Stoneham, Mass., threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Red Sox's traditional morning game on Patriots' Day.

Fucarile lost his right leg in last year's bombings and walked with a prosthetic and a cane to the mound before the game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Then he handed his cane to a companion, wound up and threw to former Red Sox outfielder Kevin Millar. The pitch reached Millar on a fly, going high into the left-handed batters' box.

On Thursday, Fucarile married Jennifer Regan at Fenway. They had delayed their wedding while he recovered from serious injuries. Fucarile was the last bombing victim to be discharged from Massachusetts General Hospital.

- Howard Ulman - HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/HBULMAN

American wins Boston Marathon for first time in nearly 30 years

American Meb Keflezighi has won the Boston Marathon, a year after a bombing at the finish line left three dead and more than 260 people injured.
 
Keflezighi is a former New York City Marathon champion and Olympic medalist. He ran the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to the finish on Boylston Street in Boston's Back Bay on Monday in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 37 seconds.
 
Keflezighi held off Wilson Chebet of Kenya who finished 11 seconds behind. The 38-year-old from San Diego looked over his shoulder several times over the final mile. After realizing he wouldn't be caught, he raised his sunglasses, began pumping his right fist and made the sign of the cross.
 
No U.S. runner had won the race since Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach took the women's title in 1985; the last American man to win was Greg Meyer in 1983.

Jeptoo repeats for women's title

Rita Jeptoo of Kenya successfully defended the title she said she could not enjoy a year ago after the fatal bombings.

Jeptoo finished Monday's race in a course-record 2 hours, 18 minutes, 57 seconds. She becomes the seventh three-time Boston Marathon champion.

- Pat Eaton-Robb -HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/PEATONROBB

How heartbreak got its name

Heartbreak Hill, the pinnacle of a series of hills that stretch about 4 miles through Newton, lives up to its name. After 16 mostly hilly miles, sore and tired thighs must now propel a racer up, up, up. It sure gets the heart pumping and can drain the best runner.

But it wasn't a physical blow that gave it its name.

During the 1936 race, hometown hero Johnny Kelley was looking for a repeat when he tangled with Ellison "Tarzan" Brown. Catching the Rhode Island phenom in the hills, Kelley patted his rival on the shoulder as he passed him on the final climb. But instead of discouraging Brown, it fired him up, and he passed Kelley. By the time they sailed past Boston College, Kelley was done. Boston Globe sportswriter Jerry Nason the next day described the defeat as "breaking Kelley's heart."

- Rik Stevens -HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/RIKSTEVENSAP

Secure area

For all the talk of enhanced security, there were no metal detectors at some security checkpoints around the finish line Monday morning, nor were security guards patting down people or checking their pockets as they entered the secured area around where last year's bombing took place.

Such pat downs are common at large gatherings such as professional sporting events or concerts.

Security guards along the finish line focused instead on those carrying bags, which were searched before people were allowed to enter the fenced perimeter.

- Steve Peoples - HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/SPPEOPLES

Scream tunnel

As waves of runners pass by, the noise from Wellesley College students has escalated and fans are going wild, rattling cowbells. One holds a sign that has a slot for a young woman's face, calling it a "kissing booth." Freshman Ashley De La Russo wipes sweat off her face after getting a big smooch from one runner who she says was pretty cute. "The energy here is amazing," said De La Russo, from Orlando, Fla. "I knew it was going to be a scream tunnel, but this is just unbelievable."

- Paige Sutherland - HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/PSUTHERLAND458

Waving flags

Carlos Arredondo and his wife, Melida, are standing in the viewing stands just past the finish line waving small American flags. Arredondo was wearing his trademark cowboy hat and a Boston Strong shirt.

The two were at last year's race, handing out flags, when the bombs went off.

Arredondo quickly ran to the aid of Jeff Bauman and helped rush him in a wheelchair to medical attention, a scene captured in an arresting AP photo. Bauman lost his legs.

- Michelle R. Smith - HTTP://WWW.TWITTER.COM/MRSMITHAP

Play ball!

The local baseball team has its traditional Patriots Day morning start time Monday. Instead of wearing "Red Sox" across the chests of their home uniforms, the players' jerseys read "Boston," just as they did for the tribute to bombing victims at Fenway Park last April 20.

The reigning world champs host the Baltimore Orioles with the first pitch at 11:05 a.m.

Party on

Once out of the starting town of Hopkinton, security appeared no stiffer than in past years. The traditional party atmosphere was in full force.

Loud music blared from a pair of tree-mounted speakers. Up the road, a string band played. Fans hauled coolers, beach chairs, strollers, even grills to the yards and driveways along the course.

The wall of sound that is Wellesley College was in full throat, with hundreds of students screaming loudly enough to be heard a quarter of a mile away.

- Rik Stevens - HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/RIKSTEVENSAP

Signs of times

Fans in Ashland, 2 miles into the race, were showing their spirit with bright red T-shirts that read "Wicked Strong."

A woman wearing "survivor" on her bib and "4.15" - the date of the bombing last year - broke from a walk into a jog as she approached a crowd in Ashland, eliciting a cheer from the spectators.

More than one sign of support along the route read "Collier Strong," a tribute to the MIT police officer killed during the hunt for the Tsarnaev brothers after the bombings.

- Rik Stevens - HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/RIKSTEVENSAP

Inspiration

On Marathon Monday in 2013, Sabrina Dello Russo and four of her friends watched the Red Sox game, then walked over to the finish line as she did every year. Dello Russo and Roseann Sdoia talked about running the race the next time around.

Dello Russo is now following through by taking on her first marathon, and she's doing it for Sdoia, who lost her right leg in the bombing.

"She is my inspiration from Day 1 last year when I saw her in the ICU," said Dello Russo, 38, from South Boston. "Every run I do, she is in the back of my head, and she will be keeping me going today."

- Paige Sutherland - HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/PSUTHERLAND458

Game day for EMTs

The paramedics, EMTs and doctors responsible for the marathon's final 2 miles gathered for final instructions near the finish line in Copley Square shortly after 9:30 a.m.

There are roughly 140 emergency medical personnel assigned to the last 2 miles, a jump from around 110 last year, according to Boston EMS chief James Hooley.

He told the group to "concentrate on today."

"We almost don't have the luxury to think about the past," Hooley said. "This is game day."

In an average year, he said, 3 or 4 percent of the runners need medical treatment of some kind.

"We've got a good, long day ahead of us," Hooley said.

- Steve Peoples - HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/SPPEOPLES

Keeping watch

More than 250 personnel from law enforcement agencies, emergency medical services, state and federal agencies and the National Guard were monitoring the race from a coordination center set up at the Framingham headquarters of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

Radios crackled throughout the sprawling underground facility as officials watched feeds from security cameras, television coverage and helicopters. A list of "significant events"- including start times, street shutdowns and reports of unauthorized vehicles - scrolled across large monitors.

- Amy Crawford - HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/AMYMCRAWF

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“We’re taking back our race.”

Boston Marathon race director Dave McGillivray said it had been a long and difficult year.

"We're taking back our race," he said. "We're taking back the finish line."

A total of 35,755 athletes were registered to run, the second-largest field in its history, with many coming to show support for the city and its signature sporting event. "Boston Strong" - the unofficial slogan adopted after the terrorist attack - was everywhere.

"I think I'm going to start crying at the starting line, and I'm not sure I'll stop until I cross the finish line," said Katie O'Donnell, a doctor at Children's Hospital who was stopped less than a mile from the end last year.

At 2:49 p.m., the time the bombs went off, spectators observed a moment of silence at the finish line. It was followed by some of the loudest cheers of the day as people whooped, clapped and rang cowbells.

Joe Ebert, of Hampton, N.H., was cheering on his son-in-law near the spot in downtown Boston where the bombs went off. He was there last year, too.

"Just wanted to let them know that they can't beat us down. I think it makes us all stronger when something like that happens," he said.

Also among the spectators near the finish line was Jeff Bauman, who lost his legs in the bombing. It was the first time he had returned to the area since the attack.

"It feels great" to be back, he said. "I feel very safe."

Sabrina Dello Russo, 38, of South Boston, was running her first marathon for a good friend, Roseann Sdoia, who lost her right leg in the bombing.

"She is my inspiration from day one last year when I saw her in the ICU. Every run I do, she is in the back of my head, and she will be keeping me going today," Dello Russo said.

While Gov. Deval Patrick said there had been no specific threats against the race or the city, spectators at the 118th running of the world's oldest annual marathon had to go through tight checkpoints before being allowed near the starting and finish lines.

Police along the route examined backpacks, particularly outside subway station exits. And runners had to use clear plastic bags for their belongings.

More than 100 cameras were installed along the course in Boston, and race organizers said 50 or so observation points would be set up around the finish line to monitor the crowd.

Runner Scott Weisberg, 44, from Birmingham, Ala., said he had trouble sleeping the night before.

"With everything that happened last year, I can't stop worrying about it happening again. I know the chances are slim to none, but I can't help having a nervous pit in my stomach," Weisberg said.

Race organizers expanded the field from its recent cap of 27,000 to make room for more than 5,000 runners who were still on the course last year at the time of the explosions, for friends and relatives of the victims, and for those who made the case that they were "profoundly impacted" by the attack.

Kenya's Rita Jeptoo won the women's race in a course-record 2 hours, 18 minutes, 57 seconds, defending a championship from last year. She had been hoping this year for a title she could enjoy.

"It was very difficult to be happy. People were injured and children died," she had said of last year's marathon. "If I'm going to win again, I hope I can be happier and to show people, like I was supposed to last year."

American Meb Keflizighi won the men's title in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 37 seconds. Cheers rose up as word of the first American man to win in Boston since 1983 spread through the pack of runners.

Keflizighi had the names of last year's victims written in black marker on the corners of his race bib.

On Twitter, President Barack Obama congratulated Keflizighi and Shalane Flanagan, the top American finisher among the women, "for making American proud!"

"All of today's runners showed the world the meaning of (hash)BostonStrong," Obama wrote.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, is awaiting trial in the attack and could get the death penalty. Prosecutors said he and his older brother - ethnic Chechens who came to the U.S. from Russia more than a decade ago - carried out the attack in retaliation for U.S. wars in Muslim lands.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died in a shootout with police days after the bombings.