The message from Boston Athletic Association Executive Director Tom Grilk was clear: This was the year the Boston Marathon proved it could move on.
"We began to write the further history of the Boston Marathon — those runners, those volunteers, those spectators moving forward after the history that we have experienced so poignantly in the recent past, now begin to write the history of Boston Marathons yet to come," Grilk said at a press conference Tuesday.
About 10 percent of the more than 30,000 people who registered for the race didn't pick up their bibs — probably because of the harsh weather.
Thirteen-hundred people who did run the race sought treatment, mostly for hypothermia.
But race director Dave McGillivray noted the 1,400 medical personnel on site outnumbered the people who needed help.
McGillivray said the event was a success despite the cold and rain because nearly all the 9,000 volunteers showed up.
"People say to me all the time, 'Well, runners can run through anything,'" he said. "But that doesn't mean we can manage through anything. But in fact, now I think we can."
Now the Boston Marathon can get back to being well-known as a prestigious athletic event that even Caroline Rotich's mother has heard about. Rotich is the Kenyan runner who won the women's race.
"Everybody know — my mom even was just like, know it even if she doesn't have to know much about running world, how like the running world is," Rotiche said. "And surprisingly, yesterday she called me and said 'I saw you.' So winning a Boston is like one of the big races, make me feel like I'm one of the big runners too."
The winner of the men's race, Lelisa Desisa, also won in 2013 and, after the bombings, gave his medal back to the late Mayor Menino. This one he's keeping, though. And, he said, this year, he'll celebrate.
