American women had a strong showing at the Boston Marathon , placing four women in the top 10 and rewriting the history of U.S. women at the race.

Jess McClain, 34, was fifth in 2:20:49. It was a PR by nearly 2 minutes for her—her previous best was 2:22:43 at Boston last year, where she was also the top American. McClain shattered the American course record, the 2:22:02 Shalane Flanagan ran in 2014.

McClain was in seventh place, 10 seconds behind the leaders, at the 21-mile mark, where eventual champion Sharon Lokedi made her move to break open the race. Over the final five miles to the finish line, McClain passed two runners to move into fifth, passing Irine Cheptai on Boylston Street. Her fifth-place finish earns her $18,000 in prize money.

McClain lives in Phoenix, often training before dawn to beat the Arizona heat. She also has a day job, working for nonprofits.

In training this year, McClain did workouts that featured pace changes to prepare for the late moves.…