Susannah Scaroni enjoyed her breakthrough moment in the women’s wheelchair race in Monday’s running of the Boston Marathon.
Scaroni was a serious contender in her previous eight Boston Marathons that included second-place runs in 2018 and 2022, three third-place finishes and a fifth.
Scaroni broke the tape with a winning time of 1:41:45, followed by Australian Madison De Rozano (1:46:55) and Wakako Tsuchida (1:47:04) of Japan.
“It feels really amazing because I love Boston,” said Scaroni, a 31-year-old from Urbana, Ill. “I really love hilly courses and the crowds here are always incredible but today there was an extra spirit.
“I train this way where I try to maintain a pace as fast as I can but kind of comfortably. I have noticed in the past the women’s field is very competitive but I don’t always feel like the speed is as fast as maybe it can be.
“It is more position wise. I was trying to be very economical and tried to maintain a high pace and sort of wondering if the women behind me are doing that. I don’t get a lot of anxiety about it. I just do what I train to do.”
Scaroni took the lead after the six-mile marker raced alone in the through the latter stages of the race. Scaroni was urged on by the crowd as she made the right onto Hereford Street and the left onto Boylston. Scaroni was awarded a champion’s reception as she cruised the final 600 yards to Copley Square.
“It was so rainy and cold and I felt lifted honestly down Boylston Street,” said Scaroni. “I tried not to look behind me and I did not know if there was a group catching me or not.
“The Boylston crowd was amazing and it really made this win extra special for me. I love being here and I always try to go as fast as I can. I am just really happy.”
The racers settled into a controlled pace on the downhill from Hopkinton Center. Scaroni was determined to make an early surge, but her ambitious race plan nearly unraveled because of a mechanical failure at the 10K marker. Scaroni pulled to the curb, opened her tool kit and repaired the problem in short order.
“It was super disappointing when I noticed my axle was coming loose,” said Scaroni. “But it is better to pull over and lose that time tightening it than have you wheel rubbing or come off.
“The time you would lose having your wheel rubbing against the fender is far greater than the time you would lose by tightening it, especially at that point in the race.”
Scaroni got back in the race, battled back to the front and created separation on the Framingham Flats. The inclement weather only worked against Scaroni on the Newton hills where the track got slick.
“It was most noticeably for me on the Newton hills,” said Scaroni. “I had a hard time getting traction and I was noticing quite a bit of slipping there.”