Twice in a row, long-distance runner John Korir on Monday successfully defended his Boston Marathon title, finishing in an unofficial time of 2:01:52. He beat the previous course record of 2:03:02 set by fellow Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai in 2011, and is now a potential Sh25,830,000.01 richer.
In the women’s category, another Kenyan, Sharon Lokedi, also claimed victory, clocking 2:18:51 and earning the same prize money as Korir. Both athletes also broke the course records in their respective races.
The annual 26.2-mile road race, held in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, starts in Hopkinton (southern Middlesex County) and passes through Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, and Brookline before finishing on Boylston Street near Copley Square in Boston.
This year’s edition attracted 30,000 participants and featured a total prize purse of $1.13 million, distributed among the top 10 finishers in the men’s and women’s open and wheelchair categories.
The winners of the men’s and women’s open categories each receive $150,000, with an additional $50,000 awarded for breaking the course record—an achievement both 29-year-old Korir and 32-year-old Lokedi accomplished.
Korir, who previously won the 2024 Chicago Marathon in a time of 2:02:44, was the sixth-fastest marathoner in history at that time. He has now completed a double victory in Boston.
Another notable achievement is that Korir is the younger brother of former Cherengany Member of Parliament Wesley Korir, who also won the Boston Marathon in 2012. When the younger Korir first won the