Just minutes after the finish of the BAA 5K on Saturday where he demolished the field and set a course record, wheelchair winner Marcel Hug explained that competing in a short, fast race two days before the big day fit perfectly into his build up.

“We don’t have the impact on the muscles so it’s different for us,” said the 37-year-old Swiss competitor. “For me it’s (5K) very good training. It’s the best preparation I think we can have.”

Nicknamed ‘The Silver Bullet’ for the bright helmet he often wears in competition, Hug simply bulled away from the field to capture his fifth Boston Marathon title in 1 hour, 17 minutes, 6 seconds. The win was Hug’s most dominant of the five as he put his stamp on the 26.2 mile trek in emphatic fashion, averaging a eye-popping 2:57 per-mile on the way to winning by 10 minutes, 39 seconds.

Hug’s time broke his 2017 course record of 1:18:04.

“I tried to go fast from the first downhill and then tried to keep my pace as strong as possible,” said Hug. “It’s incredible in these conditions with the headwinds and crosswinds. It’s a great time for me. It’s important not to back off too much. I just looked in front of me and didn’t look back. Uphill the rain had an effect, but the other parts were the same.”

Defending champion Daniel Romanchuk finished second in 1:27:45 and Jetze Plat was third with his 1:28:35.

Hug blasted through the opening mile in 2:05, his fastest of the race. Fifteen of his 26 miles were under three minutes.

“Just incredible,” Hug said of holding a seven-minute lead at one point. “I was just pushing for myself … pushing against the clock. I didn’t care what was going on behind me. But yeah! Seven minutes is a lot. I just tried to go fast from the beginning with the first downhill. After the downhills I was alone and tried to keep my pace as good as possible and go as fast as possible.”

Aaron Pike was fourth in 1:30:30, followed by Sho Watanabe (1:34:11), Patrick Monahan (1:34:54), Kota Hokinoue (1:35:43), Jake Lappin (1:36:09), Rafael Jimenez (1:37:38) and 10th-place finisher Mark Millar (1:37:38).