Bob Salsberg and Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press

BOSTON — With security tight along the 26.2-mile course, nearly 36,000 runners set out from the Boston Marathon starting line Monday in a “Boston Strong” show of resilience a year after the bombing that turned the race into a scene of carnage.

To the delight of many in the crowd, an American won the men’s division for the first time in more than three decades, dominating a field that included many athletes who were prevented from finishing last year.

“I showed up, I’m back, and I am going to finish what I didn’t finish last year,” said Mary Cunningham, 50, of St. Petersburg, Fla., who was stopped a mile short of the finish line by the explosions on April 15, 2013.

The two pressure-cooker bombs that went off near the finish line killed three people and wounded more than 260 in a hellish spectacle of torn limbs, smoke and broken glass.

Police were deployed in force along the route, with helicopters circling above and bomb-sniffing dogs checking through trash cans. Officers were posted on roofs.

Boston Marathon race director Dave McGillivray said it had been a long and difficult year.

“We’re taking back our race,” he said. “We’re taking back the finish line.”

A total of 35,755 athletes were registered to run — the second-largest field in its history, with many coming to show support for the event and the city that was traumatized by the attack on its signature sporting event.

“I can’t imagine the number of emotions that are going to be there,” said Katie O’Donnell, a doctor at Children’s Hospital who was stopped less than a mile from the end last year. “I think I’m going to start crying at the starting line, and I’m not sure I’ll stop until I cross the finish line.”

Buses bearing the message “Boston Strong” dropped off runners at the starting line in the town of Hopkinton. A banner on one building read: “You are Boston Strong. You Earned This.”

Among the signs lining the end of the route was one paying tribute to 8-year-old Martin Richard, the youngest of those killed in the bombing.

“No more hurting people. Peace,” read the sign. A photograph of Martin holding a poster he made for school with those words was published after his death.

Among the spectators cheering runners near the finish line was Jeff Bauman, who lost his legs in the bombing. It was the first time he had returned to the area since the attack.

“It feels great” to be back, he said. “I feel very safe.”

Joe Ebert, 61, of Hampton, N.H., was cheering on his son-in-law near the spot in downtown Boston where the bombs went off. He was in the same area last year at the time of the attack.

“I wanted to be in this spot,” said Ebert, who wore a jacket and medal from when he ran the race in 2010. “Just wanted to let them know that they can’t beat us down. I think it makes us all stronger when something like that happens.”

Sabrina Dello Russo, 38, of South Boston, was running her first marathon for a good friend, Roseann Sdoia, who lost her right leg in the bombing.

“She is my inspiration from day one last year when I saw her in the ICU. Every run I do, she is in the back of my head, and she will be keeping me going today,” Dello Russo said.

While Gov. Deval Patrick said there had been no specific threats against the race or the city, spectators at the 118th running of the world’s oldest annual marathon had to go through tight checkpoints before being allowed near the starting and finish lines.

Fans hoping to watch near the finish line were encouraged to leave strollers and backpacks behind. Police set up checkpoints along the marathon route to examine backpacks, particularly outside subway station exits. And runners had to use clear plastic bags for their belongings.

More than 100 cameras were installed along the route in Boston, and race organizers said 50 or so observation points would be set up around the finish line to monitor the crowd.

Runner Scott Weisberg, 44, from Birmingham, Ala., said he had trouble sleeping the night before.

“With everything that happened last year, I can’t stop worrying about it happening again. I know the chances are slim to none, but I can’t help having a nervous pit in my stomach,” Weisberg said.

Race organizers expanded the field from its recent cap of 27,000 to make room for more than 5,000 runners who were still on the course last year at the time of the explosions, for friends and relatives of the victims, and for those who made the case that they were “profoundly impacted” by the attack.

Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo won the women’s race in a course-record 2 hours, 18 minutes, 57 seconds, defending a championship from last year. She had been hoping this year for a title she could enjoy.

“It was very difficult to be happy. People were injured and children died,” she had said of last year’s marathon. “If I’m going to win again, I hope I can be happier and to show people, like I was supposed to last year.”

American Meb Keflizighi, a former New York City Marathon champion and Olympic medalist, won the men’s title in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 37 seconds. Cheers rose up as word of the first American man to win in Boston since 1983 spread through the pack of runners.

Keflizighi had the names of last year’s victims written in black marker on the corners of his race bib.

Other runners were expected to remain on the course for several hours after the winners crossed the finish line. Last year, the bombs went off at 2:49 p.m., as spectators crowded around the finish the line to cheer the still-arriving runners about five hours into the race.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, is awaiting trial in the attack and could get the death penalty. Prosecutors said he and his older brother — ethnic Chechens who came to the U.S. from Russia more than a decade ago — carried out the attack in retaliation for U.S. wars in Muslim lands.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died in a shootout with police days after the bombings.

One runner Monday, Peter Riddle, a 45-year-old Bostonian, said he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from being at the finish line last year.

“I did a lot of talking this year, but running has helped me resolve a lot of things in my head,” he said. “Running the marathon this year and running down Boylston Street will help me find peace and help me move forward.”

Associated Press writers Jimmy Golen, Steve Peoples and Rik Stevens in Boston and Paige Sutherland in Wellesley contributed to this report.

UPDATED 12:49 P.M.: BOSTON (AP) — American Meb Keflezighi has won the Boston Marathon, a year after a bombing at the finish line left three dead and more than 260 people injured.

Keflezighi is a former New York City Marathon champion and Olympic medalist. He ran the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to the finish on Boylston Street in Boston’s Back Bay on Monday in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 37 seconds.

Keflezighi held off Wilson Chebet of Kenya who finished 11 seconds behind. The 38-year-old from San Diego looked over his shoulder several times over the final mile. After realizing he wouldn’t be caught, he raised his sunglasses, began pumping his right fist and made the sign of the cross.

No U.S. runner had won the race since Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach took the women’s title in 1985; the last American man to win was Greg Meyer in 1983.

Here at mile 25, Meb Keflezighi, a 38-year-old immigrant from Eritrea, won the Boston Marathon.1st American since 83. pic.twitter.com/hdCXpfQHkS

— Bill Webster (@LewistonSuper) April 21, 2014

Tweets by @bostonmarathon

BOSTON — Tatyana McFadden of the University of Illinois has won the women’s wheelchair race at the Boston Marathon for the second straight year.

McFadden celebrated her 25th birthday Monday and listened as “The Star-Spangled Banner” played on Boylston Street one year after the bombings that left three dead and more than 260 injured.

She crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 35 minutes, 6 seconds.

McFadden was born in Russia and lived in an orphanage as a child. She also won the 2013 New York City Marathon women’s wheelchair race after taking the titles in Boston, London and Chicago last year.

No other athlete has won those four races in the same year.

UPDATED 11:05 A.M.: BOSTON — Ernst van Dyk of South Africa has won the men’s wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon for a record 10th time.

The 41-year-old crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 20 minutes, 36 seconds.

Van Dyk holds the record for most all-categories Boston Marathon wins. This was his first win at this race since 2010.

Van Dyk finished 38 seconds ahead of two Japanese racers. Kota Hokinoue finished less than a wheel length ahead of Masazumi Soejima, with both recording a time of 1:21:14.

Marathon survivor throws out 1st pitch at Sox game 

Near the Boston Marathon finish line and site of last year’s bombing. The energy of the crowd is electric. pic.twitter.com/1ce6xCiGbf

— Bill Webster (@LewistonSuper) April 21, 2014

BOSTON — The 118th running of the Boston Marathon began under heavy security Monday morning, a year after the bombings near the race’s finish line that killed three people and wounded more than 260 others.

A moment of silence was observed and “America the Beautiful” was played over a loudspeaker before the race began for mobility-impaired marathoners. The elite men and women runners were starting later in the morning.

Despite heightened security, the mood was festive at the finish line on Boylston Street. Spontaneous applause broke out as a group of Boston police officers walked near the site of last year’s twin bombing and children danced as the Rolling Stones’ song “Start Me Up” blared over the loudspeakers.

A total of 35,755 athletes entered the race — the second-largest field in its history, many of them coming to show support for the event and the city that was shocked by the attack on its signature sporting event.

“I can’t imagine the number of emotions that are going to be there,” said Katie O’Donnell, who was running the marathon last year and made it 25½ miles before she was stopped less than a mile from the finish line when the bombs exploded. “I think I’m going to start crying at the starting line and I’m not sure I’ll stop until I cross the finish line.”

The most obvious change for this edition of the world’s oldest annual marathon was the heavy security presence. State and local police officers were everywhere, even on the rooftops of some buildings.

Helicopters circled above and bomb-sniffing dogs checked through trash cans. Yet for all the security, the atmosphere was calm and friendly.

“I think everybody is being very pleasant,” said Jean Bertschman, a Hopkinton resident who comes to watch the start of the marathon most years and had never seen anything close to this level of security. “I think it’s going to be a very good race.”

Buses bearing the message “Boston Strong” dropped off runners. A banner on one building read: “You are Boston Strong. You Earned This.”

Spectators went through tight security checkpoints before being allowed near Hopkinton Common.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said officials were trying to keep a traditional family feel to the marathon while maintaining tight security.

As he started the mobility-impaired race, Patrick said he encountered a woman who had suffered a brain injury in last year’s attack but was determined to run this year.

“Just before we set off the runners, she burst into tears,” the governor said.

Runners attending the event will have to use clear plastic bags for their belongings, and fans hoping to watch near the finish line are encouraged to leave strollers and backpacks behind. More than 100 cameras have been installed along the route in Boston, and 50 or so “observation points” will be set up around the finish line “to monitor the crowd,” the Boston Athletic Association said.

Race organizers expanded the field from its recent cap of 27,000 to make room for more than 5,000 runners who were still on the course last year at the time of the explosions, for friends and relatives of the victims and for those who made the case that they were “profoundly impacted” by the attack.

Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia and Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo, who crossed the finish line on Boylston Street about three hours before the explosions, will return to defend their championships. Desisa returned to Boston last fall to donate his first-place medal to the city as a gesture of support.

Jeptoo, who also won the race in 2006, said she is hoping for a third victory — and one she can enjoy.

“It was very difficult to be happy. People were injured and children died,” she said of last year’s marathon. “If I’m going to win again, I hope I can be happier and to show people, like I was supposed to last year.”

Authorities say two ethnic Chechen brothers who lived in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan and the Dagestan region of Russia planned and orchestrated the marathon bombings with pressure cookers on April 15, 2013.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died following a shootout with police days after the bombings. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges and is awaiting a trial in which he faces a possible death sentence. Prosecutors say the brothers also killed MIT police Officer Sean Collier days after the bombings in an attempt to steal his gun.

Associated Press writers Bob Salsberg in Hopkinton and Michelle R. Smith in Boston contributed to this report.

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