By Zjan Shirinian

Tatyana McFadden punched the air as she crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon ©AFP/Getty ImagesApril 21 - A crowd of thousands cheered Ernst Van Dyk on to a record tenth men's wheelchair title at the Boston Marathon, while Tatyana McFadden secured her second win in a row in the women's race.

South African Van Dyk led from start to finish on the 26.2-mile course, winning for the first time since 2010 in a time of 1 hour 20min 36sec.

The 41-year-old's haul of 10 wins puts him two clear of women's wheelchair racer Jean Driscoll of the United States, who last won in Boston in 2000.

He has competed at six Paralympic Games, winning gold in the handcycling road race at Beijing 2008.

Japanese pair Kota Hokinoue and Masazumi Soejima crossed the finish line together in a time of 1:21:14, with Hokinoue edging second place.

Meanwhile, McFadden won the women's wheelchair race on her 25th birthday in an unofficial time of 1:35:05.

She wore the name of Martin Richard, an eight-year-old boy killed in the bombings last year, on her back.

McFadden is a 10-time Summer Paralympic gold medallist, winning three track golds at London 2012 and securing a silver cross-country skiing medal at the Sochi Winter Paralympics last month.

Wakako Tsuchida of Japan finished second in a time of 1:37:24, with Susannah Scaroni of the United States clocking 1:38:33 for third.

Around 36,000 runners, the second largest number in the race's history, are returning to the scene of last year's bombings as they make the journey from Hopkinton, a town west of Boston, to the race finish on the city's Boylston Street.

It was on that street where two homemade pressure-cooker bombs killed three people and left 264 injured just over a year ago.

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