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Kenyans John Korir and Sharon Lokedi won the 129th running of the B.A.A. Boston Marathon on Monday. Korir surged through the hills to take the dominating win. Lokedi smashed the course record.

The men’s race

The 28-year-old Korir made a strong move at the 32-kilometre point to put some separation between himself and the lead pack; at this point, he turned them into the chase pack. He then built a large gap heading toward the closing kms. At one point, he had a 50-second lead during the final minutes. With the typical late race fatigue, the lead proved insurmountable to the chasers, but they tried. Korir was followed in by Alphonze Felix Simbu — a Tanzanian 2:04:38 runner from Valencia 2024 — and Cybian Kotut, a fellow Kenyan who ran 2:03:22 in Berlin two years ago. They are both credited with a finish time of 2:05:04.

Korir, the 2024 Chicago Marathon winner, ran 2:04:45, the second-fastest men’s winning time in Boston history to fellow Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai’s 2:03:03 in 2011. Korir’s older brother, Wesley, won Boston in 2012.

The women’s race

Meanwhile, Kenyan Sharon Lokedi won the women’s race and set a new course record. Hellen Obiri, the defending champion, finished second. She was hoping to be the first woman to win three straight Boston Marathons since Ethiopian Fatuma Roba did so in 1997 to 1999.

Lokedi, runner-up in 2024, pulled away from two-time defending champion Hellen Obiri during the final mile. She clocked an unofficial 2:17:22 to record a new course record. The old course record was 2:19:59, set by Ethiopian Buzunesh Deba in 2014.

Obiri, the two-time Olympic 5000m silver medallist, finished 19 seconds back.

Yalmzerf Yehualaw finished third in 2:18:06.

Calli Thackery of Great Britain ran well. The 32-year-old ran 2:22:38 for sixth. Although she ran a minute faster in Berlin last September.

North American finishers

Canada’s Rory Linkletter, fist-pumping through the finish, ran a new personal best of 2:07:01 to finish sixth. His 2:08:01 from Seville last year remains his official personal best, as Boston’s course is not eligible for records and standards. But the time is legitimate for the 42.195-kilometre distance.

American Connor Mantz finished fourth in 2:05:08, just four seconds adrift of third and second place. His best on an official course remains 2:07:47 from Chicago two years prior.

Perhaps if Linkletter did not fist pump and focused on a sprint, he would have bests of 2:06:59 and 2:07:59. Regardless, it was a great showing for the runner who calls himself Papalinks on social media. He is now solidly the second-fastest Canadian behind Cameron Levins, who ran 2:05:36 in Tokyo two years ago.

Ethiopian Edris Muktar had a strong debut, finishing between Mantz and Linkletter in 2:05:09. Right behind Muktar was another American in Clayton Young, who crossed the line in 2:07:09. His best is 2:08:00 from Chicago 2023.

American Ryan Ford finished in 10th position in a time of 2:08:00.

While the Boston results do not count towards records and standards, there are faster courses such as Berlin, Chicago, Valencia, Tokyo, Toronto, Rotterdam, among others. The results here bode well for these athletes.

As expected, the top athletes worked together through 30 kilometres, and somewhat into the 32 kilometre or 20 mile point, then Korir took command. At 20 miles (32km), they were at 1:35:02 to 1:35:21 for the top ten — a 19-second gap, which feels like a lot at that point. Whereas 2km prior, they were together and separated by just two seconds. Regardless of how supershoes aid in performance and marathon runners race more aggressively these days, the 20-mile wall continues to exist.

The top American woman was Jess McClain, who clocked in a 2:22:43 performance. Her best is from Orlando 2024, where she ran 2:25:46. She smartly sat outside of the lead group and was back in around 15th position for a period of time. Not until 35km did she enter the lead pack and the top 10.

Fellow Americans Annie Frisbie and Emma Bates were the second and third from the country, finishing in 2:23:21 and 2:25:10, respectively.

Perhaps it was a passing of the torch for the American women as masters Desiree Linden, Sara Hall ran very well, but back a few minutes than they would have run just a few years ago. Linden is a former winner. They finished in 2:26:19 and 2:26:32, respectively.

Canada’s Rachel Hannah from the Toronto area was the top Canadian at 2:34:42.

Complete results

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