130th Boston Marathon Sees Records Broken
During the 130th annual Boston Marathon, Kenya’s John Korir blazed into the record books, winning his second consecutive Boston Marathon with a blistering time of 2:01:52 and demolishing a course record that had stood since 2011.
Compatriot Sharon Lokedi matched his dominance on the women’s side, cruising to her own repeat title with a time of 2:18:51, marking the 130th edition of the world’s oldest annual marathon as one of its most memorable days of racing in its history.
Korir’s record-breaking performance shaved nearly three minutes off his own winning time from 2025 and erased the mark set by Geoffrey Mutai fifteen years earlier. Aided by favorable tailwinds, the 26.2-mile journey from Hopkinton to Copley Square produced extraordinary finishes, with 13 men crossing the finish line under 2:06. This marked the deepest field in Boston Marathon history.
Tanzania’s Alphonce Felix Simbu finished second in the men’s race with a time of 2:02:47, just ahead of Kenyan Benson Kipruto, who ran the marathon in 2:02:50. The top American finisher was Zouhair Talbi, whose fifth-place time of 2:03:45 set a new record for the fastest marathon ever run by an American citizen.
In the women’s race, Lokedi was never seriously challenged, building a gap that eventually stretched to nearly a minute over runner-up Loice Chemnung of Kenya, who crossed with a time of 2:19:35.
Mary Ngugi-Cooper rounded out an all-Kenyan podium with a time of 2:20:07. Jess McClain led the American women with a fifth-place finish in 2:20:49.
The wheelchair divisions delivered their own thrilling performances as well. Switzerland’s Marcel Hug, nicknamed “The Silver Bullet,” claimed his ninth Boston title with a time of 1:16:06, leaving him just one victory shy of the all-category record of ten wins. Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper took her second women’s wheelchair crown in 1:30:51, a personal best.
More than 30,000 runners participated in the event, which this year featured six starting waves instead of the usual four in order to help manage congestion along the course. Notable finishers included astronaut Sunita Williams, who completed the race as the 2026 Patriots’ Award recipient after spending 286 days aboard the International Space Station before returning to Earth last year.
