MARATHONERS WHO WERE AFFECTED BY HEAT ARE ALL DOING WELL

THE BOSTON GLOBE

Despite summery conditions that exacted a higher toll on the competitors who ran the bulk of the race during the afternoon, more than 97 percent (26,411) of the 27,211 starters completed Monday’s 121st Boston Marathon.

“I’m not sure how it can get any better than how anything went yesterday,” race director Dave McGillivray concluded at Tuesday morning’s wrap-up press conference, reporting that there were no major issues from start to finish. “Was it perfect? No. Was it as good as it gets or can get? Absolutely.”

The heat, which approached 80 degrees, created 6-8 percent more more medical encounters than usual with struggling runners, who numbered 2,596. Chris Troyanos, the event’s medical services coordinator, said that 958 were treated at the course’s 26 stations plus another 1,638 at the two finish-line tents and other locations. Twenty-eight of them were transported from the course to local hospitals, plus another 51 from the finish. Another 136 went to the hospital on their own after they’d been treated.

Of those, more than a dozen were kept overnight.

“All of those runners are doing fine,” said Troyanos. “We had 22 people who came into the medical tent with exertional heat stroke, and that is definitely a medical emergency. We were able to treat them successfully and we did another 15 on the course.”

The Boston Athletic Association also presented its annual Patriots’ Award for “patriotic, philanthropic, and inspirational” qualities to Meb Keflezighi, who won the 2014 Marathon the year after the terrorist bombings near the finish line on Boylston Street.

“To change that to something positive on a Boston street, I had the great fortune that God gave me the strength to be the leader of that,” said Keflezighi, who finished 13th Monday in his final competitive Boston Marathon at 41. “To be here today to receive this award, it’s a journey that cannot be put into words.”