Tatyana McFadden Wins Wheelchair Race At Boston Marathon 2018

BOSTON, MA — Tatyana McFadden of Howard County has done it again. The wheelchair racer won her division for the fifth time at the Boston Marathon.

McFadden, who lives in Maryland, won the women's race in 1:59:30, the slowest winning time in 30 years. Conditions were wet out on the race course.

It was also her 22nd win in the World Marathon Majors, organizers said.

After the race, McFadden told the Boston Globe that she was "so happy and so overwhelmed" with the result, noting she had been practicing multiple times a day and tried to keep a consistent speed on the course.

RELATED: Boston Marathon 2018 Winners, Results, Leaderboard

The 122nd running of the Boston Marathon takes place Monday, April 16. In Boston, Patriots Day has grown to take on a larger meaning as one of the great days of sport and human triumph. Runners from across the globe flock to be tested by the 26.2-mile course from the Hopkinton start line to the famous Boylston Street finish line.

But the conditions for the 2018 race offer a dangerous twist. The rain, wind, and cold are so bad that the Red Sox postponed their annual morning Patriots Day game for the first time since 1984. It's been tradition for fans to pour out of Fenway Park and take the short walk to the Boylston Street finish line, just when many will be crossing.

McFadden tweeted that anyone who crosses the finish line is a winner.

McFadden is not one to back down from a challenge.

As a child orphan in Russia, she walked on her hands to get around because of a condition called "spina bifida," meaning she had a hole in her spine.

Once adopted into a family in Howard County, her family enrolled her in sports to help her build strength, which has translated into a career as a Paralympic athlete.

— By Mike Carraggi and Elizabeth Janney

Photo by Jenna Fisher, Patch.