by Justin Lagat
The Boston Marathon, the world’s longest existing marathon, has consistently produced great marathon icons for many years. Monday, the 21st of April, will be another day that the defending champions from last year, Sisay Lemma and Hellen Obiri, will seek to have their names etched in history books as multiple winners. Past winners, including Ednah Kiplagat and Evans Chebet, will also aim to add to their victories in this historic marathon.
Bill Rodgers of the United States is one of the great runners who dominated the Boston Marathon in 1975, 1978, 1979, and 1980. But that was before the Kenyans began to feature.
Ibrahim Hussein was the first Kenyan to win the Boston Marathon in 1988, 1991, and 1992, before another Kenyan, Cosmas Ndeti, won consecutively from 1993 to 1995. Moses Tanui won in 1996 and 98.
The most successful Kenyan, so far, in the marathon is Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, also known as “Mwafrika”, who has won it four times. He won it in 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Kenya’s Geoffrey Mutai still holds the course record of 2:03:02, which he ran in 2011.
On Patriots Day, on the streets of Boston, all eyes will be on Kenya’s Chebet, the winner of 2022 and 2023, as he hopes to add a third title and add his name to the most outstanding Kenyan runners in the history of the Boston Marathon. Despite suffering an injury last year, Chebet managed to finish in third place on the podium.
April 17, 2023, photo by Kevin Morris
Two Kenyan women are chasing third titles at the Boston Marathon on Monday. Ednah Kiplagat won in 2017 and in 2021. But with twenty years of competitive marathon running since she ran at the Las Vegas Marathon in 2005, it is only expected that a superstar cannot remain in their marathon peak for that long. However, she remains a huge inspiration to many, as she continues to compete against talents much younger than her in the major marathon races.
April 17, 2023, photo by Kevin Morris
Hellen Obiri, the defending champion with titles in 2023 and 2024, is seen as the favourite to achieve the three-peat.
However, both the men’s and women’s races are loaded with some of the world’s best marathon runners at the moment.
At 28 years old and fresh from his first World Marathon Majors win at the Chicago Marathon last year, where he ran 2:02:44, Kenya’s John Korir is one of the main contenders in the men’s race. He is only second to Lemma (2:01:48) on the start list.
USA’s 28-year-old Conner Mantz will be the favourite runner for the local spectators. He has an excellent personal best (PB) of 2:07:47, which he ran at the Chicago Marathon in 2023. He has started the year well, with a 59:17 half-marathon American Record in Houston on January 19, and a 59:15 at the NYC Half Marathon in March.
Orlando, Florida
February 3, 2024, photo by Kevin Morris
Some of the leading contenders in the women’s race include Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso, who has an incredible personal best time of 2:14:58, Yalemzerf Yehualaw with the second-best time on the start list of 2:16:52, Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi, who was second to Hellen Obiri last year, and Irene Cheptai, who has a PB of 2:17:51 from the Chicago Marathon last year.
