26,964 participants were part of the 115th Boston Marathon held Monday.

The 2011 Marathon became grounds for a record when Kenyan Geoffry Mutai ran the fastest marathon ever. He won the 2011 Boston Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 2 seconds. However, due to a strong tailwind on a downhill course, Mutai's run is not recognized by track's international governing body as a record.

American Desiree Davila and Kenyan Caroline Kilel were neck and neck in the female arena, until Kilel took the race with 2 hours, 22 minutes and 36 seconds.

The wheelchair titles went to Japanese athletes in both men's and women's categories. Wakako Tsuchida set a new world record time of 1 hour, 34 minutes, 6 seconds to grab her fifth consecutive title in the women's division, while Masazumi Soejima won the men's race in 1:18.50. Soejima wore a sticker reading 'Strength and Courage' in Japanese. The racers' feat has given hope that Japan will get a much needed morality boost as the country recovers from an earthquake. an ensuing tsunami, and a consequent nuclear crisis.

Scroll down to see photos of the winning moments at the Boston Marathon:

Earthquake Japan Tsunami Earthquake