KORIR, LOKEDI REPEAT AS BOSTON MARATHON CHAMPIONS
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
BOSTON (April 20) — Just like in 2011, a strong wind blew from Hopkinton to Boston, propelling Kenyans John Korir (Asics) and Sharon Lockedi (Under Armour) to their second straight Boston Marathon titles. The 29-year-old Korir took full advantage of the tailwind, blasting through the second half in a hard-to-believe 1:00:02 and crossing the finish line on Boylston Street in 2:01:52, shattering Jeffrey Muthai’s stunning 2011 course record that beat the world’s oldest course record by more than a minute. Instead, Lockedy, 32, made a late-race surge, running 14:48 between the 35- and 40-K marks to close out the race. He won in 2:18:51, the second-fastest win in the race’s history. Both athletes won $150,000 in prize money, with Korir pocketing an additional $50,000 for setting a new course record.
KORIR “DOESN’T WORRY TOO MUCH.”
Temperatures were only in the low 30s (around 2 °C) at the start, but the sun was out and most elite athletes were comfortable running in their usual racing singlets. The first five kilometers of the race are a breeze, and the 14:19 5-K split wasn’t too fast. Twenty-four men were within three seconds of the official race leader, and it was the same in the 10-K (29:02). Korir was happy to stay tucked into the pack and just hit the road. Last year, he fell right after the start and had to scramble to get back up quickly.
“Last year I fell at the start, so I wasn’t sure if I would run fast (this year),” he said at the post-race press conference. He said earlier. “I had no problems from start to finish.”
The next two five-kilometer sections went down at 14:43 and 14:55. That put the leaders at 58:40 in the 20-K, five seconds faster than Mutai’s split in 2011. But Korir wasn’t thinking about the record just yet.
“I didn’t know I was going to run that fast,” Korir said. “For me it was just about going out there and defending my title.”
The first major step in the race will take place next. Ethiopian veteran Lemi Berhanu, who won this race ten years ago, stepped up. He was seven seconds back with Korir in 1:01:43. Remarkably, 18 men ran under 62 minutes at the halfway mark.
Korir quickly pulled even with Berhanu and then another Ethiopian, Milkesa Mengesha, took the lead. Mengesha, a latecomer to the race after canceling last month’s Tokyo Marathon, had to be taken seriously. He entered the race with a personal best of 2:03:17 and quickly built a 12 second lead. Korir was not concerned.
“For me, I wasn’t too worried because I knew I could shut him down,” Korir said. He added: “I wasn’t too worried.”
Corir closed the gap and took the lead by the 20th mile. Leaving nothing to chance, she clocked a series of fast miles that left all her competitors breathless: 4:35, 4:25, 4:33 and 4:25 by the 24th mile. He was now running well below Muta’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 keep the pace to go under 2:02,” he said.
“Corry” single-handedly zoomed up Boylston Street all the way. He raised his hands and touched his chest with pride before breaking the blue and gold finish ribbon. When he was informed that he had received the recording, he started jumping up and down.
“I feel good today,” he said. “Now I’m the course record holder.”
About a minute behind, Tanzania’s Alphonse Simbu and Kenya’s Benson Kipruto found themselves battling for second. Reigning world champion Simbu 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 metres. The two men finished in 2:02:47 and 2:02:50 respectively, both beating Muthai’s record of 2:03:02.
“For me, I can say that this is a good position,” Simbu told reporters. “I ran 2:02 today. It’s a good result today.”
Ethiopia’s Hailemariam Kiros finished fourth with 2:03:42, and American Zuhair Talbi finished fifth with 2:03:45. He had the fastest Boston Marathon time by an American, surpassing Ryan Hall’s 2011 mark of 2:04:58. Talbi, a 2024 Olympian from Morocco, will be eligible to represent the United States at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. He came into today’s race in great shape after running personal bests in the 10-K (27:38), half marathon (59:41) and marathon (2:05:45) earlier this year.
“I’ve been training very well,” Talbi told reporters. “Since the beginning of this year, I’ve been doing everything at my personal best,” he added. I’ll have to watch the waves and see what happens.”
The wind helped dozens of men run fast today, including Germany’s Richard Ringer (2:04:47) and Americans Charles Hicks (2:04:35), Clayton Young (2:05:41), Ryan Ford (2:05:46), Joe Klecker (2:05:46). All of those marks were personal best times.
American leader Alex Mayer was eliminated. He recorded his final split of 1:29:28 in the 30-K.
LOCKED IS SICK
Today, women took a gentler approach to running. American Susanna Sullivan led through both the 5-K (16:43) and 10-K (33:31). That pace was decent at 2:21:30, but slow enough to give 19 women a chance to be part of the lead group. Lockedy did her best to stay calm.
“I was like, ‘Be patient, be patient,'” he said.
The surprising face at the front of the leading pack was American Cody Kleven. The two-time winner of the St. George, Utah Marathon came into this race with a personal best of 2:29:18 and only ran a time of 2:37:25 in Boston last year. She, along with compatriots Dakota Poppen and Kerry Ellwood, took the lead at the halfway point in 1:11:02, a personal best for Kleven by two minutes. Sixteen women remained in the lead pack, including last year’s top American Jessica McClain.
“I was just kind of game for it to come out either way,” McClain said.
The real running didn’t start until about 30-K (18.6 miles). Uphill miles 20 and 21, which included Heartbreak Hill, were run in 5:25 and 5:22, respectively. That’s when Lockedy decided it was time to show his cards. He covered the next three miles in 4:41, 4:48 and 4:35 respectively (14:48 for 5 kilometers between 35 and 40-K). It was too fast for Kenya’s Irene Chepta and Lois Kemnung, who were trying to stay close.
American record holder Emily Sisson finished 9th in her Boston Marathon debut. He clocked 2:22:39 for the 1:11:03 half.
Back in 22nd was Australia’s Lisa Weightman with a time of 2:32:41. The 47-year-old four-time Olympian became the first runner in history to complete all seven of Abbott’s major commercial marathons, plus the Olympics, World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games. He was awarded his official WMM six-star medal for completing the Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York and Tokyo marathons.
SUPER HUGS AND RAINBOW COUPERS ON SILENT FLATS
Both professional wheelchair races were blowing up. Switzerland’s Marcel Hoog jumped into the lead from the start and clocked the second-fastest time in race history in 1:16:06. He beat runner-up Daniel Romanchuk by six minutes and 38 seconds. He was in the course record, but fell 33 seconds short.
“I was trying,” said Hug, who won the race for the ninth time. “The conditions were very good today.”
Rainbow-Cooper, the surprise 2024 champion, also took an early lead and was never caught. She clocked 1:30:51 to beat Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland by two minutes and eight seconds.
“It’s amazing to come back and do it again,” said Rainbow-Cooper, who is just 24.
Both Hug and Rainbow-Cooper won $50,000 in prize money.
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Today’s race, the 130th edition, including a virtual race held in 2020 during the COVID pandemic, had 32,294 official participants from 137 countries, according to Boston Athletic Association officials. The official results will not be known until tonight.
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