American Susannah Scaroni notches first win in Boston Marathon women’s wheelchair race
Scaroni turned the race into a one-woman show, building a sizable lead even after pulling over to repair a wheel.
Susannah Scaroni turned the Boston Marathon women’s wheelchair race into a one-woman show Monday, breaking away from the pack early on and holding onto her lead despite wet conditions and a pit stop to repair a wheel.
The 31-year-old Washington State native finished in an unofficial time of 1:41:45.
She edged out four-time Boston Marathon women’s wheelchair winner Manuela Schär and fellow Paralympic gold medalist Madison de Rozario early on in the race, building her lead even after she pulled over to repair a wheel.
Her wheelchair made an audible squeaking noise as she climbed Heartbreak Hill, according to WCVB.
“This course was pretty bumpy, and what that can mean is my axle can get a little loose, which it did,” Scaroni told WCVB after the race.
Paralyzed from the waist down since she was 5, Scaroni — the reigning 5,000-meter Paralympic gold medalist — placed second and third before in the Boston Marathon, but never first place.
She was hit by a car just weeks before the 2021 Boston Marathon, forcing her to pull out from the race. She returned to Boston in 2022 and notched a second-place finish, followed by wins at the Chicago Marathon and New York City Marathon last fall.
“My favorite part is definitely getting to push my limits,” Scaroni said in an interview with Health Digest last year. “That’s all I ever try to do when I’m racing, is pick a speed that’s hard to hold and see if I can make it feel a little bit easier as I’m going along. I love that.”
She entered Marathon Monday on a high note, having set a new BAA 5K course record with a win at Saturday’s race.
“It’s been one of my all-time favorite courses,” she said of the Boston Marathon, adding that the cheering spectators along the way gave her a boost.
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