Monday is the 120th running of the Boston Marathon. The race, once dominated by US athletes, has become headlined by the Ethiopian and Kenyan runners who have won 23 of the last 25 on the men’s side and 17 of the last 19 on the women’s side. An American man, Meb Keflezighi, won in 2014 ending a streak of 31 years without an American male champion. It’s perhaps no surprise that Keflezighi was originally from Eritrea, a neighbor of Ethiopia, and moved to the US at age 1. The last US woman to win the Boston Marathon was Lisa Larsen Weidenbach in 1985.  The US hasn’t had success in the men’s wheelchair either, Jim Knaub in 1993 the latest, but they have won fourstraight on the women’s side with Tatyana McFadden winning the last three.

Monday’s Boston Marathon is also the start of Series X of the World Marathon Majors. The contest awards points to the top 5 of the marathons in Tokyo, London, Berlin, Chicago, Boston, and New York City. Series X will end next year at the Boston Marathon (the same city starts the series one year and ends it the next year, getting counted twice).

Only one American man and one American woman registered points in Series IX. Luke Puskedra finished fifth last year in the Chicago Marathon notching a single point and finishing the series in a tie for 23rd. Desiree Linden was fourth in the Boston Marathon last year and ended up 19th with the four points from that finish. On the wheelchair side of things this is the first year a wheelchair series will be held concurrent with the regular series.