Dreams came true on Boylston Street as tens of thousands of ambitious and determined runners conquered the Boston Marathon, crossing the finish line after the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton. No matter their fatigue and pain, participants of the 129th running of the world’s most iconic marathon couldn’t help but smile and exchange hugs with one another and their loved ones who cheered them on from the sidelines. “Family, friends, everyone, it’s awesome,” Boston-based social media influencer Davis Clarke told the Herald, as fans – fellow runners and spectators – gave him fistbumps. “You hear so many different languages being spoken, it just shows we’re just one team trying our best every day.” Clarke, who has a following of more than 750,000 on Instagram due to his “locked-in” and high-spirited personality, gained international recognition last Marathon Monday as he cruised to the finish line in 2 hours and 56 minutes despite having a messy incident along the route. Moments after he crossed the finish line, Clarke, 28, took to Instagram, saying in a video: “I s*** my pants like crazy.” This year? “100% clean,” Clarke said of his 2:56:47 finish. “I showed up in shape this year.” Some 31,778 participants had registered for Monday’s race, with marathon officials expecting 30,000 to run on Patriots Day, representing 128 countries and all 50 U.S. States. Nearly 4,600 Bay Staters laced up, racing through the eight cities and towns that make up the course. “There is nothing like Boston – the crowd, the course, the city,” said Dan Laster, 66, of Seattle, who has raced Boston 25 years in a row, his first coming when he was a bandit at Harvard in 1983. Those sentiments are felt by the throngs of runners who fly into Boston to experience the marathon “magic,” as 29-year-old Utah resident Lexi Watts describes it. Watts is a social media influencer as she chronicles her running adventures across the country on Instagram, where she has over 250,000 followers. She ran her fourth Boston on Monday alongside her friends Isabelle Jensen and Lizzie Ramey, who made their debut. “I cry every time I run it. I have a special place in my heart for Boston,” Watts told the Herald. “The atmosphere is unmatched, the people are unmatched. … Hearing people cheer my name is the reason I get through the course.” Over the years that he’s organized the marathon, Boston Athletic Association Jack Fleming has said that the volunteers – handing out fluids and energy snacks to runners and rendering first aid – are the ones who make the race possible. Over the decades, Mansfield resident Caroline Cooney, 61, has volunteered at locations along the 26.2-mile route from Hopkinton to Copley Square. On Monday, she put on her running shoes and broke five hours in her first Boston. “It has been on my bucket list,” Cooney told the Herald. East Cambridge resident Kaylee Hill, 25, reflected on what it took over the past four months to achieve a time of 3:21:19, rocking a singlet for the Somerville Road Runners running club on Monday. “Waking up at 6:30 in the morning, running in negative-degree weather, running more miles than digits in the morning, it was definitely worth it,” Hill told the Herald, with a large smile. Marathon Monday came after a bustling weekend in the city, as pre-race festivities converged with the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolution. Reenactments played out in Boston, Concord, and Lexington. The marathon helped celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War as reenactors on horseback, accompanied by a fife and drum playing “Yankee Doodle,” helped start Monday’s festivities before runners and spectators flooded Boylston Street. Monday’s running conditions proved immaculate, with partly sunny skies, light winds and temperatures mostly in the 50s and low-60s. Somerville resident Eleanor Devereux, 25, called finishing the marathon a “dream,” following in the footsteps of her sisters and mom. She said her favorite part of the race came in Wellesley, where her fourth-grade students turned into her cheerleaders. Devereux ran for the Wellesley Scholarship Foundation. The marathon’s official charity program had a fundraising goal of $50 million. “It feels so good to combine the two things – I love running and teaching,” Devereux told the Herald. “To be able to run through the town and have them on the sidelines was incredible.” The Associated Press contributed to this report