KORIR, LOKEDI REPEAT AS BOSTON MARATHON CHAMPIONS
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
BOSTON (20-Apr) — Like in 2011, a strong tailwind blew from Hopkinton to Boston, propelling Kenyans John Korir (Asics) and Sharon Lokedi (Under Armor) to their second consecutive Boston Marathon titles. Korir, 29, used the tailwind to full advantage, blasting through the second half in a hard-to-believe 1:00:02 and crossing the finish line in Boylston Street in 2:01:52, smashing Geoffrey Mutai’s vaunted 2011 course record by more than a minute, the oldest course record in the Abbott World Marathon Majors. Lokedi, 32, made a late-race surge instead, running a sizzling 14:48 between the 35 and 40-K marks to put the race away. She won in 2:18:51, the second-fastest winning time in the history of the race. Both athletes won $150,000 in prize money, and Korir pocketed an additional $50,000 for setting a new course record.
KORIR “NOT WORRIED TOO MUCH”
Temperatures were only in the low 30’s (about 2 °C) at the start, but the sun was out, and most of the elite athletes were comfortable running in their regular racing singlets. The first five kilometers of the race are downhill, and the 14:19 5-K split was not overly fast. Twenty-four men were within three seconds of the race’s official leader, and the situation was similar at 10-K (29:02). Korir was happy to stay tucked in the pack and just go along for the ride. Last year, he fell right after the start and had to scramble to quickly get back on his feet.
“Last year, I fell at the start, so I was not sure if I would run fast (this year),” he said at the post-race press conference. He said earlier: “I had no problems from the start to the finish.”
The next two five-kilometer segments went down in 14:43 and 14:55. That put the leaders at 58:40 at 20-K, five seconds faster than Mutai’s split in 2011. But Korir was still not thinking about the record.
“I didn’t know I would run that fast,” Korir said. “For me, it was just go out and defend my title.”
The first important move of the race would happen next. Ethiopian veteran Lemi Berhanu, who won this race ten years ago, put in a surge. He hit the halfway mark in 1:01:43 with Korir seven seconds back. Remarkably, 18 men ran under 62 minutes at the halfway point.
Korir quickly pulled even with Berhanu, and then another Ethiopian, Milkesa Mengesha, surged ahead. Mengesha, who was a late entrant to the race after canceling his participation in the Tokyo Marathon last month, had to be taken seriously. He came into the race with a 2:03:17 personal best, and quickly built up a 12-second lead. Korir wasn’t concerned.
“For me, I was not so much worried, because I knew I could close him,” Korir said. He added: “I was not worried too much.”
Korir closed the gap and took over the lead in the 20th mile. Not leaving anything to chance, he ripped off a series of fast miles that left all of his rivals breathless: 4:35, 4:25, 4:33, and 4:25 through the 24th mile. He was now running well below Mutai’s record pace. When Korir checked his split at 40 kilometers (1:55:48), he knew a 2:02 finish time was possible. He continued to press.
“I tried to maintain the pace to go under 2:02,” he said.
Korir zoomed down Boylston Street alone to the finish. Before breaking the blue-and-gold finish tape, he raised his hands and touched his chest with pride. When he was informed that he had gotten the record, he began to jump up and down.
“Today I’m feeling good,” he said. “Now I’m the course record holder.”
About a minute behind, Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu and Kenya’s Benson Kipruto were locked in a pitched battle for second. Simbu, the reigning world champion, won the world title last September in Tokyo with a strong sprint finish. He called on his closing speed again today and dropped Kipruto in the final 20 meters. The two men finished in 2:02:47 and 2:02:50, respectively, both under Mutai’s 2:03:02 record.
“For me, I can say this is a good position,” Simbu told reporters. “Today I ran 2:02 for second. It is a good result today.”
Fourth place went to Ethiopian Hailemaryam Kiros in 2:03:42, and fifth place to American Zouhair Talbi in 2:03:45. His was the fastest-ever time at the Boston Marathon by an American, bettering Ryan Hall’s 2011 mark of 2:04:58. A 2024 Olympian for Morocco, Talbi will be eligible to represent the United States in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. He came into today’s race in excellent shape after running personal bests for 10-K (27:38), half-marathon (59:41), and marathon (2:05:45) earlier this year.
“I was training very well,” Talbi told reporters. “Since early this year, I was doing personal best at every distance I was doing. He added, “I was like, this is the day. I have to follow the surges and see what happens.”
The wind helped dozens of men to run fast today, including German Richard Ringer (2:04:47) and Americans Charles Hicks (2:04:35), Clayton Young (2:05:41), Ryan Ford (2:05:46), and Joe Klecker (2:05:46). All of those marks were personal best times.
A top American hopeful, Alex Maier, dropped out. He recorded his last split of 1:29:28 at 30-K.
LOKEDI STAYED PATIENT
The women took a gentler approach to the race today. American Susanna Sullivan led through both 5-K (16:43) and 10-K (33:31). That tempo was honest –2:21:30 pace– but it was slow enough to allow 19 women to be part of the lead pack. Lokedi did her best just to stay relaxed.
“I was just like, be patient, be patient,” she said.
A surprising face at the front of the lead pack was American Kodi Kleven. The two-time winner of the St. George Marathon in Utah came into this race with a 2:29:18 personal best and only ran last year’s Boston in 2:37:25. She, along with compatriots Dakotah Popehn and Carrie Ellwood, led at the halfway point in 1:11:02, a two-minute personal best for Kleven. Sixteen women remained in the lead pack, including last year’s top American, Jessica McClain.
“I was just kind of game for it to go out in any which way,” McClain said.
The real running didn’t start until about 30-K (18.6 miles). The uphill 20th and 21st miles, which included Heartbreak Hill, went in 5:25 and 5:22, respectively. That’s when Lokedi decided it was time to show her cards. She ripped through the next three miles in 4:41, 4:48 and 4:35, respectively (14:48 for the 5 kilometers between 35 and 40-K). That was just way too fast for Kenya’s Irine Cheptai and Loice Chemnung, who tried to stay close.
American record holder Emily Sisson finished ninth in her Boston Marathon debut. She clocked 2:22:39 off a 1:11:03 halfway split.
Back in 22nd place, Australia’s Lisa Weightman clocked 2:32:41. The 47-year-old four-time Olympian became the first runner in history to complete all seven commercial races of the Abbott World Marathon Majors plus the Olympic Games, World Athletics Championships, and Commonwealth Games. She was given her official WMM Six-Star medal for completing the Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York, and Tokyo Marathons.
HUG AND RAINBOW-COOPER DOMINATE WHEELCHAIR RACES
Both of the professional wheelchair races were blowouts. Switzerland’s Marcel Hug jumped to the lead from the start and pushed to the second-fastest time in race history, 1:16:06. He beat second place Daniel Romanchuk by six minutes and 38 seconds. He was on course-record place, but ended up 33 seconds short.
“I was trying,” said Hug, who won the race for the ninth time. “The conditions were very good today.”
Rainbow-Cooper, who was the surprise champion in 2024, also took the lead early and was never caught. She clocked 1:30:51 to win by two minutes and eight seconds over Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner.
“It’s amazing to come back and do it again,” said Rainbow-Cooper, who is only 24.
Both Hug and Rainbow-Cooper won $50,000 in prize money.
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Today’s race — the 130th edition, including the virtual race held during the COVID pandemic in 2020 — had 32,294 official entrants from 137 countries, according to Boston Athletic Association officials. Official finisher totals will not be known until tonight.
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