John Korir breaks Boston Marathon course record as Kenyans retain titles

There was Kenyan joy at the Boston Marathon for a second year in a row as Sharon Lokedi and John Korir retained their titles.

Korir broke the Boston Marathon course record in the men’s race, riding a tailwind to outrun the strongest field in event history in a time of 2hr 1min 52sec – the fifth-fastest marathon of all time.

Lokedi joined her fellow Kenyan as a back-to-back champion, winning the women’s race in 2:18:51. Zouhair Talbi and Jess McClain ran the fastest times ever for Americans, in the men’s and women’s races, respectively.

A year after joining his brother Wesley, the 2012 champion, as the only relatives to win the race, John Korir broke away from the pack as it headed into Heartbreak Hill in Newton and opened a 40-second lead. He peeked behind him as he went through Kenmore Square with a mile to go, sticking out his tongue and spreading his arms as he ran down Boylston Street to beat the previous course record of 2:03:02 set by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011 by 70 seconds.

Kelvin Kiptum holds the marathon world record, with a 2:00:35 on the flatter Chicago course in 2023.

Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania, 55 seconds back, and 2021 champion Benson Kipruto, another three seconds behind him, also were fast enough to better the previous Boston record. Talbi, who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics for Morocco and became an American citizen last year, was fifth in 2:03:45.

Lokedi, who broke the women’s course record last year by more than two minutes, took the lead entering the Newton Hills and emerged from them with an expanding lead. On a day that started around freezing but warmed to 45F (7C) by the start, Lokedi pulled off her gloves as she went through Coolidge Corner in Brookline and smiled her way down Boylston Street. Loice Chemnung was second, 44 seconds back, followed by Mary Ngugi-Cooper in third. McClain was fifth.

Korir and Lokedi each won $150,000 and a gilded olive wreath sent from the plains of Marathon, Greece. Korir will receive another $50,000 for the course record.

Marcel Hug of Switzerland won his ninth wheelchair title in 1:16:06, missing his own course record by 33 seconds. He is one shy of the all-category record of South African wheelchair athlete Ernst Van Dyk’s 10 Boston Marathon wins.

In the women’s wheelchair race, Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Britain won her second Boston title, finishing in 1:30:51 to beat runner-up Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland by more than two minutes.