BOSTON -- In an assertive move at the critical mile 19 point, Edna Kiplagat stormed away from the field and held her lead through the final miles to claim the 2017 Boston Marathon victory.

Kiplagat won the race in 2:21:52 over Rose Chelimo who closed for second in 2:22:51. Kiplagat's performance follows two top three Abbott World Marathon Major finishes in Tokyo and Chicago last year. At 38 years-old, she is the oldest woman in history to run under 2:22.

An outstanding marathon debut was made by Jordan Hasay who finished third overall in 2:23:00. The performance stands as the fastest debut made by an American woman in the distance. Prior to Hasay's Boston run, Kara Goucher's 2008 New York City Marathon mark of 2:25:53 was the fastest debut.

Watch Hasay embrace her father Joe after the historic performance, which took place six months after her mother passed away unexpectedly. Hasay's massage therapist Michael Moore of Moore Sports Recovery captured the special moment (7:15) on Facebook live:



Olympian Desi Linden surged to finish fourth overall in 2:25:06. The performance was a hard-fought effort for Linden who fell back from the leaders around the mile 18 point when the top pack was down to four women. For the remainder of the race, Linden battled to regain her place within the top four and eventually passed Gladys Cherono in the final miles. Cherono closed for fifth place in 2:27:20.

Kiplagat's decisive move that broke the field was a dramatic pace shift from mile 19 to mile 20 when she split a 5:22 and dropped to a 5:01. The strategy worked as every remaining competitor fell back, desperately trying to run as close to the Kenyan as possible.

Prior to Kiplagat's surge, Linden was leading the pack for the majority of the early miles, bringing the leaders through halfway in 1:12:24. Linden fell back around mile 16 but showed extreme toughness by returning to the top four by the finish line.

Chelimo maintained the closest distance to Kiplagat and wound up finishing 59 seconds behind her by the finish line. After consistently running with the leaders until mile 19, Hasay found an extra burst of energy in the final miles and closed within nine seconds of Chelimo.

Hasay's performance beat Goucher's debut by two minutes and 53 seconds. Prior to Hasay's run, Goucher and Deena Kastor were the only American women to debut under 2:27.

Hasay's performance will also go down in all-time history. Only Shalane Flanagan's 2:22:02 in 2014, Linden's 2:22:38 in 2011, and Joan Benoit Samuelson's 2:22:43 in 1983 are the fastest times run by American women in the marathon.

Making us so proud ladies. @JordanHasay 3rd, @des_linden 4th. #boston2017

— Kara Goucher (@karagoucher) April 17, 2017