The Ethiopian national who won the men's race at the Boston Marathon returned his winners' medal to Secretary of State John Kerry during a ceremony Sunday, saying the event should have been a pleasure and not a battlefield.
The runner, Lelisa Desisa, told the Associated Press his gesture was meant to honor the city and those killed during the terrorist bombings at the world-famous race last month.
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Kerry, a Democrat and former Massachusetts senator, attended the event to honor Desisa, as well as the Ethiopians who won the woman’s runner-up and men’s third place finisher, as part of his trip to Ethiopia to mark the 50th anniversary of the African Union.
Meanwhile, the race was finally completed in Boston Saturday where runner Rosy Spraker told the wire service, “Now I feel like I’ve earned my medal.”
"I wanted to run for the victims, for freedom, to show the world that nothing is going to stop us,” Spraker said.
The April 15 explosions killed three people and injured more than 260 others.
Court hearings for the surviving suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev charged with using weapons of mass destruction are expected to begin this summer.
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