Boston Marathon final week
The 130th Boston Marathon is now in race week — organizers list the elite field and say defending champions are expected to run, though sources differ on the exact race date (reports show April 20 vs. April 21). ( ) NBC Boston also reports more than 30,000 participants are expected from 137 countries and all 50 states. ( )
Boston Marathon week is underway, and the Boston Athletic Association says the 130th running is set for Monday, April 20, 2026. (baa.org) The official field size is 30,000 runners, with athletes from more than 130 countries and all 50 United States states expected on the course from Hopkinton to Boston. (baa.org) The Boston Athletic Association has confirmed four defending champions are entered: John Korir of Kenya in the men’s open race, Sharon Lokedi of Kenya in the women’s open race, Susannah Scaroni of the United States in the women’s wheelchair race, and Marcel Hug of Switzerland in the men’s wheelchair race. (baa.org) Organizers also changed the start procedure for 2026. The race will use six start waves instead of four, with the Boston Athletic Association saying the shift is meant to reduce crowding from bus loading through the course. (baa.org) That matters in Boston because this is not a stadium event with a single start gun and a closed campus. Runners are bused to Hopkinton, staged in Athletes’ Village, and then sent over 26.2 miles through eight cities and towns before finishing on Boylston Street. (boston.com) The elite races are stacked well beyond the reigning winners. The men’s field includes 25 athletes who have run under 2 hours 7 minutes, while the women’s field includes 13 Americans who have run under 2 hours 26 minutes, according to the Boston Athletic Association. (baa.org (baa.org)) Boston’s place on the calendar gives the race extra weight. It is the second stop in the 2026 Abbott World Marathon Majors series after Tokyo, and the Boston Athletic Association dates the race to Patriots’ Day, the Massachusetts holiday that has long anchored Marathon Monday. (olympics.com) (baa.org) The event also arrives with a milestone in its own history. Olympics.com notes 2026 marks 60 years since Bobbi Gibb ran the 1966 race, becoming the first woman on record to complete the Boston Marathon. (olympics.com) For spectators and runners, the key date is now settled by the race organizer: Monday, April 20. With six days left on the official countdown, Boston has moved from training season to marathon week. (baa.org)
