BOSTON (WCIA) — Thousands of runners and wheelchair racers took to the streets of Boston on Monday for the 127th edition of the Boston Marathon. By noon central time, the winners had already crossed the finish line and one of them has a Central Illinois connection.

Susannah Scaroni, the winner of the women’s wheelchair division, is a University of Illinois alumna and still trains with the university’s wheelchair track team. On Monday, she dominated her division with an unofficial time of 1:41:45. The runner-up crossed the finish line five minutes later.

Even more remarkable is that Scaroni did this despite an issue with her wheelchair. 10 miles into the race, Scaroni had built up a 20-second lead when her right wheel came loose. She made a quick pit stop to fix the issue and returned to the race, where she expanded her lead.

Scaroni has raced in the Boston Marathon before, competing from 2014 to 2018 and again in 2022. She always finished in the top four, including runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2022, but victory in Boston eluded her until Monday.

She has, however, won marathons in other cities: the 2013 and 2014 Los Angeles Marathons, the 2022 Chicago Marathon and the 2022 New York Marathon. She set a course record for the women’s wheelchair division in the latter marathon.

In addition to long-distance racing, Scaroni also competes in para-track and has even competed in the Paralympics for Team USA. She won a gold and bronze medal at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.

Scaroni graduated from the College of ACES in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in food science and human nutrition. She also earned a master’s degree in nutritional sciences in 2021. She hopes to work as a dietitian for para-athletes and for patients in hospitals and rehab facilities.