When is Boston Marathon 2026? Times, schedule, prize money, elite fields and how to watch on TV

TL;DR

The Boston Marathon 2026 is set to take place on Monday, April 19, 2026. Defending champions Sharon Lokedi and John Korir will participate, with Lokedi aiming to break her own course record.

Key points

Boston Marathon 2026 is on April 19, 2026
Sharon Lokedi and John Korir are defending champions
Lokedi set a course record of 2:17:22 in 2025
The marathon starts in Hopkinton, Massachusetts
The finish line is on Bolyston Street, Boston

Mentioned in this story

Hopkinton, MassachusettsBoston

Boston MarathonSharon LokediJohn Korir

Sharon Lokedi is back to defend her 2025 title at the Boston Marathon (Getty)

The Boston Marathon takes place this Monday to kick off a jam-packed spring for world marathon majors, with London following hot on its heels the following week.

The 130th edition of the world’s oldest continously run marathon begins in the rural town of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, before winding its way to Boston and finishing on Bolyston Street, next to the Boston Public Library.

2025 champions Sharon Lokedi and John Korir of Kenya both return to defend their titles, with Lokedi having smashed the course record by over two minutes to win in 2:17:22.

Korir followed in older brother Wesley’s footsteps with his victory, recording a time of 2:04:45 as they made history as the only siblings to win the event.

Kenyan Benson Kipruto - winner in New York last year - is another major contender to reclaim the title he won in 2021 as he returns to Boston for the first time since 2023, while 2025 world championships gold medallist Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania will be desperate to upgrade his runner-up place from last year.

Another two Kenyans line up alongside compatriot Lokedi as favourites: last year’s fourth-place finisher Irine Cheptai and Vivian Cheruiyot, who won four Olympic medals on the track before switching to the marathon distance.

British hopes are represented by Calli Hauger-Thackery, who was sixth in Boston last year in 2:22:38 before winning the Honolulu Marathon in December and the Houston Marathon this January.

The wheelchair divisions are headlined by seven-time Paralympic champion Marcel Hug, who is aiming for a fourth straight Boston title and ninth in total, while his compatriot Manuela Schar is hot favourite to take a fifth victory in Boston in the absence of defending champion Susannah Scaroni.