Boston Marathon results
- The 2026 Boston Marathon concluded April 20 with John Korir and Sharon Lodeki winning the elite races. - Korir set a course record of 2:01:52, while Marcel Hug won his ninth wheelchair title. - WBUR's coverage lists the elite winners and notes Eden Rainbow-Cooper claimed her second wheelchair victory. (wbur.org)
John Korir and Sharon Lokedi repeated as Boston Marathon champions on April 20, with Korir breaking the men’s course record in 2:01:52. (wbur.org) Korir’s time cut 70 seconds off Geoffrey Mutai’s 2011 course mark of 2:03:02, and WBUR, citing the Associated Press, reported it as the fifth-fastest marathon ever run. Lokedi won the women’s race in 2:18:51, nearly a minute ahead of Loice Chemnung. (wbur.org; olympics.com) The men’s race tightened behind Korir, with Alphonce Felix Simbu second in 2:02:47 and Benson Kipruto third in 2:02:50. On the women’s side, Mary Ngugi-Cooper finished third in 2:20:07, completing a Kenyan sweep of the podium. (olympics.com) Boston’s course is point-to-point and hilly, so fast times do not come every year even with elite fields. The 2026 race was the 130th running of the event and the second stop on this year’s World Marathon Majors calendar. (olympics.com; baa.org) Korir’s win made him a back-to-back men’s champion after his 2025 title, and Lokedi also defended the women’s crown she won last year. WBUR reported that Korir broke away heading into the Newton hills, where Boston races often turn. (wbur.org) The wheelchair races also produced repeat winners. Marcel Hug of Switzerland won the men’s wheelchair division for the ninth time, and Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Great Britain won the women’s wheelchair race for her second Boston title. (wbur.org; wtop.com) Hug finished in 1:16:06, according to Associated Press coverage, and that gave him a fourth straight Boston wheelchair victory. Eden Rainbow-Cooper’s win added another repeat champion to a day dominated by returning winners. (wtop.com; wbur.org) American runners also posted notable results. Zouhair Talbi was fifth in the men’s race in 2:03:45, and Jess McClain was fifth in the women’s race in 2:20:49; WBUR reported both were the fastest times ever run by Americans in Boston. (wbur.org; olympics.com) The official Boston Athletic Association live results page listed 28,506 finishers and showed Korir first overall, with Hug first among wheelchair racers. By the end of Marathon Monday, Boston had four division winners, three repeat champions, and one new course record. (baa.org; wbur.org)
