Hellen Obiri eyes Boston history; Ethiopian Sisay battles tough men's field
Hellen Obiri will bid to become the first Kenyan woman to win three Boston Marathons in a row after picking up bronze at the Paris Games and finishing second in New York last year.
The world's oldest annual marathon will see the sport's elite athletes trying to carve out a legacy for themselves on Monday, as Boston's defending champion Hellen Obiri hopes to become the first woman to "three-peat" in 26 years.
Part of Boston's annual Patriots' Day holiday, this year's race coincides with the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, which kicked off the American Revolutionary War after Paul Revere's famous midnight ride.
More To Read
The British patrol intercepted Revere before he could complete his mission, but the 30,000-odd runners lining up at Hopkinton on Monday will be ready to go the distance, battling 26.2 miles (42.16 km) over a hilly course.
Obiri will bid to become the first Kenyan woman to win three Boston Marathons in a row after picking up bronze at the Paris Games and finishing second in New York last year.
The 35-year-old was met with scepticism when she made the switch from the 5,000 metres – once her signature event with two world golds – to the endurance distance in 2022 but she has quieted the doubters and won New York two years ago.
"Defending a win is never easy, and to win the Boston Marathon twice in a row was hard, but I am happy to have done it," Obiri said after being named in the elite field.
She will be pushed by Ethiopian Amane Beriso, the 2023 world champion and fastest in the field with a best time of 2:14:58 run in Valencia three years ago, while Desiree Linden, the last American to win the race in 2018, is among home hopes.
Ethiopian reigning champion Sisay Lemma headlines a stacked men's field that includes Kenyan two-time winner Evans Chebet and his compatriot John Korir, who broke the tape in Chicago last year.
There are 22 sub-2:09 men in the field, including two American:in Conner Mantz and Clayton Young.
"I don't think I've found my limit in a marathon in a while," Young told the Citius Magazine podcast this week. "There's something that wants me to know that I left it all out there."
The race will also mark the 50th anniversary of wheelchair racing in Boston, after it became the first of the majors to introduce the category in 1975.
The wheelchair race features Swiss men's defending champion Marcel Hug and American Daniel Romanchuk, along with Eden Rainbow-Cooper, who last year became the first British woman to win it.
Top Stories Today
- World Bank: Africa risks missing growth dream over conflict, weak reforms
- Taita Taveta launches policy to attract investors, boost local economy
- Tanzania nullifies Chadema appointments over quorum breach
- TSC budget shortfall leaves 20,000 intern teachers in limbo
- Victims of human-wildlife conflict urged to claim compensation
- Eastleigh hawkers count losses as rains disrupt business for third day
- Lobby groups urge activation of victim protection fund to protect children
- Deputy Governors seek constitutional changes to have clear mandates
- Funding shortfall leaves Somali women, children facing death
- City Hall to freeze accounts, auction properties over Sh50bn arrears
- Sh40.7bn budget shortfall threatens military recruitment, operations
- Kenya’s security at risk as regional instability grows, warns NIS boss
- Supreme Court Judge Ouko warns of eroding public trust due to case delays
- Palestine lifts ban on Al Jazeera's operations in Palestinian territories
- Kenya aims to quadruple tea exports to China by 2030
- KNEC announces July, August deadlines for 2025 CBC assessments
- Kagame urges Africa to ditch aid dependence after US cuts
- Tanzania arrests Chadema official travelling to Brussels conference
- Garissa residents want colonial-era boundary fuelling disputes scrapped
- Lake Basin Board official Ebel Ochieng detained for 23 days in probe into MP Were's murder
