Welcome to Patch's official live blog coverage of the 115th Boston Marathon. Stay with us here for regular updates throughout the race.

3:15 pm: Patch photographer Courtney Sacco's photo gallery will be compiled over the next few hours, so keep checking back! Thanks for spending the 115th Boston Marathon with us!

3:00 pm: For our final Boston Marathon day interview, we talked with Leslie Rubin, a former Manhattan-ite living in the South End. She won't tell me her age. "I'll admit, this is a bit hectic," she confided. "But to me, this race is an unabashed celebration of life. There are plenty of cities that don't have anything like this in their annual cycle, and it's a shame, because it's an exhilirating experience. If you moved away from Boston, I bet you'd miss it."

2:50 pm: It only took this Patch reporter an hour to get to a Beacon Hill coffee shop through the throngs of marathon enthusiasts in Back Bay, but I spoke with a few on the way. "This is our favorite part of the day," Collette Maynard tells me, speaking on behalf of herself and her two friends, Jennifer Spoddard and Lexy Corrigan. All three ladies go to Northeastern and all three are 21. "Now we get to celebrate with the runners and their families, only we didn't have to run!" The gals are especially excited this year since this will be the first time they're old enough to bar hop after the race. Where are they headed? "We'll go over to the Rattlesnake first - someone told me the roof deck is open," Spoddard said. "Then we'll go to the Pour House," Corrigan added. "After all, what good is a sporting event if you can't party afterwards?"

1:45 pm: Check out our marathon photo gallery by Courtney Sacco. He set up shop on the Mass Ave. overpass, catching runners as they wille dthemselves down Commonwealth Avenue and toward the finish line less than a mile ahead.

1:35 pm: PATCH READERS-- if you have marathon photos you'd like to share, please upload them to the site!

1:17 pm: Talking to Peter Crispin, 47, from Biddeford, Maine. “My son Roger is running today,” he told me. “He’s run the last couple years – this is his third Boston Marathon. But this has been a family tradition since he was a little kid. This is my favorite part of the race, actually. The hectic, ultra-competitive part has passed, the Kenyans took it again… But now we can just enjoy the race for the beauty of it. People like my son run the Boston Marathon as a way of confirming they have a certain stamina and stick-to-itiveness. It’s a whole different animal from the elite race.”

1 pm: Desiree Davila spoke to the media at a press conference moments ago, saying that she wasn't so much actively strategizing during the race, but rather trying her best to "keep it honest," so when the pace slowed, she'd surge to force the others' pace. "The crowds definitely carried me along during the last six miles, but I felt I could run with anyone today and as the race unfolded I just kept building off of that."

Fifth-place finisher Kara Goucher (2:24:52) told reporters: "My plan was to run with the pack for as long as possible. It was a hard race—very tough. But a great step after having my baby."

"I want to win here," Goucher continued. "Desiree wants to win here...we all want to be the one who ends that drought. But it wasn't my day. That doesn't mean it's over—my goals haven't changed."

12:33 pm: Did you know that Back Bay Patch editor Cate Lecuyer is running today? Good luck Cate!

12:23 pm: Ryan Hall's official time is clocked in at 2:04:58

12:22 pm: Update on Kim Smith—according to folks in the media room at the Copley Plaza, Smith had to call it a day 20 miles in and was picked up by EMTs around 11:45 am.

12:20 pm: Official times for Moses Mosop (2nd pl, from Kenya) 2:03:06, Gebregziabher Gebremariam (3rd pl, from Ethiopia) 2:04:53.

12:15 pm: Official time for Caroline Kilel was 2:22:36. Waiting on Davila's time to be announced.

12:03 pm: Geoffrey Mutai has won the Boston Marathon and set a new world record at 2:03:01.

12:02 pm: Curious observation--Kilel pretty much collapsed as soon as she finished and looked visibly drained. Davila looked like she could've gone another mile or two - this was quite a feat. "She gave it her all," Greg Hudson, 46, said. "That's all anyone can ask." Hudson lives right in town and admits the race clogs up the city. "If you don't have to work and aren't dealing with a car, it's fine. People shouldn't complain, this is an event we should all be proud to host here."

11:55 am: Caroline Kilel just crossed the finish line here in Copley with Davila just inches behind her in second place. People around me seem happy we came so close...

11:52: Davila blows by both Kenyans as she turns onto Hereford Street, but Kilel retakes the lead as they turn onto Boylston Street. Expect another sprint to the finish for the women!

11:50 am: Davila, Kilel and Cherop continue to trade the lead as they enter Kenmore Square. One mile left!

11:45 am: "This is my favorite event...favorite day of the year," Micheal Turner, 36, of Quincy, tells me. "We come out of the winter and this signifies the beginning of spring. You can feel the energy throughout the Greater Boston area for days before and days after." When I tell Turner about our friend Marina E. who told me she'd playing hooky from work he furrows his brow. "What scrooge is making people come to work today? It's Patriots Day and the freakin' marathon! Get with the program..." He has a point.

11:38 am: The men’s field is starting to spread out, and Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai is in the lead. For the women, Davila leads Kenyans Sharon Cherop and Caroline Kilel in a three-woman lead pack on Beacon Street.

11:37 am: Word here is that the leading gals have crossed into Brookline and Sullivan from Southie might just get his wish... Davila is apparently leading! "That's awesome news," Sullivan tells me.

11:27 am: Smith has faded and a pack of elite women are now leading the race. Out in front is American Desiree Davila. In the men's race, American Ryan Hall is still in the lead pack. That's right, Americans are leading both the men's and women's races.

11:20 am: Southie resident John Sullivan is gunning for an American win. "Not to make it a racial thing, because it isn't, but the Kenyans have owned this race for too long," he told me. "Unfortunately, Ryan Hall has had some health issues and we're hearing he's fallen behind... I dunno. It's a great race regardless, but I'd really like to see the USA carry more wieght."

11:16 am: Kim Smith has stumbled and is clearly in pain. A pack of women, including former Boston champion Dire Tune, has now overtaken her for the lead.

11:15 am: In a live press conference at the Copley Plaza minutes ago, Ernst Van Dyk and Kurt Fearney commented that as much as the tail wind helped their time(s), it made their chairs more difficult to steer. Both gentlemen felt that Soejima's victory couldn't have come at a better time for morale in Japan.

11:02 am: Kim Smith continues to dominate the women’s race, but the rest of the women's field is slowly closing the gap. She’s  crossing over Route 128, about 34 seconds in front of the women’s chase pack, according to CBS Boston. In the men’s race, there’s still a tight pack of lead runners. American Ryan Hall is in the mix, exchanging the lead with other familiar names like Kenyan Robert Kiprono Chariyot.

10:53 am: Women’s elite wheelchair racer Wakako Tsuchida has just won her fifth Boston Marathon and may have set a new course record.

10:40am: Marina E. (she doesn’t want to give me her last name) is playing hooky from work today. “I have to be careful,” she tells me. “I do this every year and I’ve worked for the same company, which isn't far from here in Copley, for four years now. I bet they’ve noticed the pattern.” Marina says she takes a personal day, so she’s certainly within her rights taking the day off and hasn't lied about being ill or a family emergency, but she’s still worries. Her company is media-realted and holidays aren't necessarily days off. “I’m just not sure how it’d fly if my superiors knew how much this race means to me – obviously I’m putting it ahead of certain other priorities, and I’m pretty sure my boss would frown on that.” Marina tells me her brother Francis used to run in the Boston Marathon every year. "He doesn't live here anymore and one of his knees gave out a few years ago... he's here with me in spirit, though."

10:38 am: It’s a three-man sprint to the finish for the men’s elite wheelchair racers! Japan’s Masazumi Soejima wins, with Australia’s Kurt Fearnley just behind him to take second place. Nine-time champion Ernst Van Dyke finished third.

10:25am: Some useful links. Open these up in a separate tab for more color during the race:

• Hopkinton Patch has a bunch of great photos from today's starting line.
• The Boston University Journalism School has a marathon site up and running with live updates and some great features about the race, and other Patriots Day events in and around the area.
• Are you at work but dying to watch a little of the race? CBS Boston is running a live feed. It's free for New Englanders!

10:20am: In general, the mood here in Copley this morning is celebratory. Obviously, winning is very much a personal conquest for the race's most serious contenders. But for the crowd (and for many of the runners who don't even dream of winning) this is about showing support and giving your all, regardless of the outcome.

10:15am: Keeping Up With the Joneses--Richard Jones is in Boston from Sydney, Australia. "I'm here on business, but when the trip got scheduled, I had trouble booking a hotel room," he told me. Jones, 54, is an Investment Banker. "It'd be foolish to try and have any meetings or anything like that today, so we moved everything over to mid-week. But since I'd been lucky enough to get a hotel room after trying numerous places, I came early... why bother rebooking everything? Gorgeous weather for a race! I'm glad I decided to come."

10:06am: Providence, R.I. resident and New Zeland native Kim Smith is setting a blistering pace for the elite women. She's by herself in the lead, about 25 seconds ahead of the chase pack.

10am: The elite men just crossed the starting line in Hopkinton.

9:55am: Talking to Mary and John Croger, 42 and 44 respectively, from just outside of Hartford, Conn. "We come every year," John told me. "We love the spirit of this event, and even though we're not athletes ourselves, the positive energy is contagious." "And this year feels special," Mary added, "because there's a buzz about a potential American win."

9:45am: This year saw 11.474 woman entrants, which is a record. Runners' ages rannge from 18-81.  Ernst Van Dyk is leading in the mobility impaired division, vying for a 10th time win.

9:34am: Kim Smith has a 20 meter lead going

9:28am: As we get ready for the elite women to begin, word is that a strong tail wind will help propel runners as we head into the late morning hours

9:15am: The wheelchair division is leaving in T-minus 2 minutes

9:15am: The elite women start at 9:32 a.m. The elite men start at 10:00 a.m.

9:05am: USA fave Kara Goucher is back in the race this year just months after having a baby

9:00am: Mobility impaired runners are off!

8:46am: Excitement is mounting here in Back Bay as 27,000 runners gear up in Hopkinton.