Canadian sets world record at Boston Marathon

BOSTON - Canada's Josh Cassidy knew he'd win his first Boston Marathon once he reached the top of the course's Heartbreak Hillwith the lead in the men's wheelchair race. He was less certain about a world-record time, though it was in reach.

"I just started hammering the rest of the way," Cassidy said.

It paid off when the 27-year-old from Oakville, Ont., crossed the finish line in one hour 18 minutes 25 seconds, which beats the world record by two seconds.

Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa set the previous record in Boston in 2004.

Cassidy led from the fifth kilometre and finished comfortably ahead of last year's runner-up Kurt Fearnley of Australia, who finished second in one hour 21 minutes 39 seconds.

Cassidy said when he reached the bottom of Heartbreak Hill at around the 29-kilometre mark, he figured the race was his if he was still ahead of Van Dyk when the climb was over.

"(Van Dyk) is the best climber in the world by far," Cassidy said. "I knew if I could just get to the top first, I'd have it for sure."

Cassidy then switched his cyclometer from speed to time and went for the record, knowing only that it was somewhere in the one hour 18 minutes range.

Diane Roy of Canada raced to third in the women's event.

Cassidy notched the record despite temperatures around 27 C at the time of the finish, and while wearing the long sleeved compression shirt he trained in.

"I wanted to stick with what was familiar and not worry about the heat," he said.

Cassidy won the London Marathon in 2010 and said Monday he'll compete in that race next week.

The women's wheelchair race was far tighter than the blowout men's race.

American Shirley Reilly edged Japan's Wakako Tsuchida during a sprint to the finish line.

Reilly finished in one hour 37 minutes 36 seconds, one second ahead of defending champion Tsuchida.

Last year, Tsuchida beat Reilly by nearly seven minutes.

Reilly and Tsuchida battled throughout, with Tsuchida briefly breaking away around the 29-kilometre mark before Reilly closed the gap.

Roy, from Sherbrooke, Que., finished five minutes behind Tsuchida.

Note to readers: This is a corrected version. A previous version incorrectly had 29-mile mark in sixth paragraph.