They call him “Citizen Runner.”
Yuki Kawauchi, the shock winner of the Boston Marathon and first Japanese to do so since 1987, was best known before Monday for owning the world record of 78 marathons run under 2 hours, 20 minutes.
Now that record is 79. Kawauchi overcame 2017 Boston winner Geoffrey Kirui of Kenya in the final two miles of a downpour, clocking 2:15:58 and winning by 2:25 in a downpour, temperatures in the 30s and a headwind.
It was the slowest winning time since 1976, but Kawauchi beat a field that included the last three Boston winners, plus Olympic marathon bronze medalist Galen Rupp.