Defending champions Hellen Obiri and Sisay Lemma return to this year’s Boston Marathon but victory will be no means guaranteed given there are both strong international and domestic fields.
Calli Hauger-Thackery, who is second on the UK all-time marathon list with 2:21:24, will aim to complete her fourth ever race over 26.2 miles.
The wheelchair fields, as always, boast a myriad of talent and this year are led by Susannah Scaroni and Marcel Hug.
Athletes begin on Main Street in Hopkinton, a start that’s mostly downhill, before tackling the notorious hills in Newton. The finish is on Boylston Street near Copley Square.
These are just five things to watch out for at the 129th edition of the Boston Marathon:
Hellen Obiri (Getty)
A hat-trick for Hellen?
Not since Fatima Roba, between 1997 and 1999, has a woman won the Boston Marathon three times in a row, but it’s that feat which Hellen Obiri will be looking to match on April 21. Just four women have won three consecutive Boston Marathon Open Division titles – Bobbi Gibb, Sara Mae Berman, Uta Pippig and Roba.
After making her debut over 26.2 miles in 2022 with sixth place in New York, the former 5000m world champion won Boston at the first attempt and has ruled the roost since.
She was victorious again last year, before finishing third in the OIympic marathon and coming second in New York – an event she also won in 2023.
Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso and Yalemzerf Yehualaw have the fastest PBs in the field, but Boston’s hilly course makes for tactical battles rather than all-out pace. Beriso, the reigning world champion, was second in 2023.
Sisay Lemma (David Hicks)
Did Lemma learn his lesson?
A number of the major contenders in Boston last year are back for more, with five of the top seven from 2024 due to toe the start line in the men’s race. Sisay Lemma, with a PB of 2:01:48 is comfortably the fastest in the field and will be defending his title, but the Ethiopian will also be looking to show that he has learned some valuable lessons from his experience of 12 months ago.
Last April he had appeared well set to break the Boston course record of 2:03:02, set by Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai in 2011, having shot into an early lead. Five miles was passed in 23:12, six seconds faster than anyone ever had at Boston, while his 28:28 split for 10km was 40 seconds faster than the previous best on the course and he hit halfway in 60:19 – another Boston record.
Lemma was still 48 seconds ahead of Mutai’s schedule when he passed the 20-mile mark in 63:48 but the course (and the impact of running the largely downhill first half so hard) bit back and at 35km he had fallen off record pace, eventually coming home in 2:06:17.
Two-time Boston winner and last year’s third placer, Kenya’s Evans Chebet, also returns. So too do the 2024 fourth and fifth place finishers John Korir and Albert Korir.
Calli Thackery (Getty)
Could Hauger-Thackery pose a threat?
Calli Hauger-Thackery makes her Boston Marathon debut on Monday and goes into the race as the 10th fastest female athlete in the field. The Brit has a best of 2:21:24, set at last year’s Berlin Marathon, and she is second to only Paula Radcliffe on the UK all-time marathon list.
This will be Hauger-Thackery’s third race over 26.2 miles in the US, with her previous two performances being 2:11:17 at the 2023 McKirdy Micro Marathon and 2:24:28 at the 2024 California International Marathon.
With the winning time at last year’s Boston Marathon being 2:22:37, Hauger-Thackery could pose a threat at the front of the race and it will be intriguing to see how it unfolds.
Clayton Young and Conner Mantz (Getty)
Leading the home charge
The Boston Marathon always takes place on Patriots’ Day, an American holiday to commemorate the first battles of the revolutionary war. There will be particular poignancy to that connection this year, given that this is the 250th anniversary of those battles.
In terms of the American contingent in the elite races, 2018 Boston champion Des Linden competes in the event for the 12th time and is part of the fastest ever US women’s field at Boston, with 14 of those athletes boasting personal bests under 2:26.
On the men’s side, Conner Mantz and Clayton Young will lead the home charge, having finished eight and ninth at the Olympic marathon respectively, and then both finishing in the top 10 in New York. Mantz also recently broke the US half marathon record with a run of 59:15 in Houston.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper (Getty)
Eyes on the wheelchair prizes
It’s 50 years since Bob Hall became the first wheelchair finisher in Boston history and in 2025 the prize pot has been increased for the elite wheelchair competitors. The champion’s prize has risen from $40,000 to $50,000, while there is also an incentive of $50,000 if either course record is broken.
Marcel Hug and Eden Rainbow-Cooper defend their titles. The Swiss won Boston for the seventh time last year in a course record of 1:15:33 that is also a world best, while Rainbow-Cooper created her own piece of history by becoming the first British woman ever to win the wheelchair race, breaking the tape in 1:35:11.
Four-time winner and women’s course record-holder Manuela Schär of Switzerland is also competing, while her fellow Swiss, Catherine Debrunner, makes her Boston debut after a 2024 that included six Paralympic medals (five gold), including victory in the marathon. Debrunner is also a champion of the Berlin, London, Chicago, and New York City Marathons.
Elite women’s line-up (sub-2:30)
Amane Beriso – 2:14:58 (Valencia, 2022)Yalemzerf Yehualaw – 2:16:52 (Amsterdam, 2024)Irine Cheptai – 2:17:51 (Chicago, 2024)Keira D’Amato – 2:19:12 (Houston, 2022)Rahma Tusa – 2:19:33 (Houston, 2024)Edna Kiplagat – 2:19:50 (London, 2012)Buze Diriba – 2:20:22 (Chicago, 2024)Mary Ngugi-Cooper – 2:20:22 (London, 2022)Sara Hall – 2:20:32 (Chandler, 2020)*Calli Hauger-Thackery – 2:21:34 (Berlin, 2024)Hellen Obiri – 2:21:38 (Boston, 2023)Emma Bates – 2:22:10 (Boston, 2023)Tsige Haileslase – 2:22:10 (Hamburg, 2023)Sharon Cherop – 2:22:28 (Berlin, 2013)Desiree Linden – 2:22:38 (Boston, 2011)Viola Cheptoo – 2:22:44 (New York City, 2021)Sharon Lokedi – 2:22:45 (Boston, 2024)Sara Vaughn – 2:23:24 (Chicago, 2023)Stacy Ndiwa – 2:23:42 (Chicago, 2024)Gabi Rooker – 2:24:29 (Chicago, 2024)Kellyn Taylor – 2:24:29 (Duluth, 2018)Dakotah Popehn – 2:24:40 (Chicago, 2023)Jackie Gaughan – 2:24:40 (Sacramento)Cynthia Limo – 2:25:10 (Hamburg, 2024)Lily Partridge – 2:25:12 (Valencia, 2023)Jess McClain – 2:25:46 (Orlando, 2024)Tristin Colley – 2:25:58 (Chicago, 2023)Annie Frisbie – 2:26:18 (New York City, 2021)Stephanie Bruce – 2:28:41 (Sacramento, 2024)
Elite men’s line-up (sub-2:12)
Sisay Lemma – 2:01:48 (Valencia, 2023)John Korir – 2:02:44 (Chicago, 2024)Evans Chebet – 2:03:00 (Valencia, 2020)CyBrian Kotut – 2:03:22 (Berlin, 2024)Haymanot Alew – 2:03:31 (Berlin, 2024)Daniel Mateiko – 2:04:24 (Valencia, 2024)Alphonce Felix Simbu – 2:04:38 (Valencia, 2024)Lelisa Desisa – 2:04:45 (Dubai, 2013)Victor Kiplangat – 2:05:09 (Hamburg, 2022)Asefa Boki – 2:05:40 (Amsterdam, 2024)Tebello Ramakongoana – 2:06:18 (Xiamen, 2025) NRAbel Kipchumba – 2:06:49 (Berlin, 2022)Tsegay Weldlibanos – 2:07:35 (Sacramento, 2024)Patrick Tiernan – 2:07:45 (Houston, 2024)Conner Mantz – 2:07:47 (Chicago, 2023)Clayton Young – 2:08:00 (Chicago, 2023)Rory Linkletter – 2:08:01 (Seville, 2024)CJ Albertson – 2:08:17 (Chicago, 2024)Amanuel Mesel – 2:08:17 (Valencia, 2013)Yemane Haileselassie – 2:08:25 (Houston, 2025)Erenjia Jia – 2:08:32 (Berlin, 2024)Zach Panning – 2:09:16 (Chicago, 2024)Colin Bennie – 2:09:38 (Chandler, 2020)Brian Shrader – 2:09:46 (Chicago, 2023)Reed Fischer – 2:10:14 (Chicago, 2024)Tesfu Tewelde – 2:10:21 (St. Paul, 2024)Wesley Kiptoo – 2:10:28 (Chicago, 2023)Johannes Motschmann – 2:10:39 (London, 2024)Nathan Martin – 2:10:45 (Duluth, 2023)Ryan Ford – 2:11:08 (New York City, 2024)Colin Mickow – 2:11:22 (Chandler, 2020)Turner Wiley – 2:11:55 (Chicago, 2024)Robert Miranda – 2:12:07 (Sacramento, 2024)
Elite women’s wheelchair division
Susannah Scaroni – 1:27:31 (Grandma’s, 2022)Manuela Schar – 1:28:17 (Boston, 2017)Tatyana McFadden – 1:31:30 (Grandma’s 2019)Catherine Debrunner – 1:34:16 (Berlin, 2023)Eden Rainbow Cooper – 1:34:17 (Berlin, 2023)Marie Emmanuelle Noemi Alphonse – 1:35:14 (Grandma’s 2022)Christie Dawes – 1:37:12 (Boston, 2017)Madison De Rozario – 1:38:11 (Tokyo, 2021)Patricia Eachus – 1:40:22 (Boston, 2024)Aline Dos Santos Rocha – 1:41:39 (Berlin, 2021)Vanessa Cristina de Souza – 1:43:22 (Boston, 2024)Michelle Wheeler – 1:45:45 (Oita, 2019)Yen Hoang – 1:47:29 (London, 2022)Hoda Elshorbagy – 1:47:32 (Boston, 2024)Eva Houston – 1:59:49 (Grandma’s 2022)Hannah Dederick – 2:02:23 (Chicago, 2022)Chelsea Stein – 2:19:33 (Honolulu, 2023)
Elite men’s wheelchair division
Marcel Hug – 1:15:33 (Boston, 2024)Johnboy Smith – 1:20:05 (Grandma’s 2022)Daniel Romanchuk – 1:20:37 (Boston, 2024)Kota Hokinoue – 1:22:01 (Oensingen, 2011)Rafael Botello Jimenez – 1:22:09 (Boston, 2017)Patrick Monahan – 1:22:23 (Grandma’s 2019)Sho Watanabe – 1:24:00 (Oita, 2019)Hermin Garic – 1:24:18 (Grandma’s 2022)Jeyna Senbeta – 1:24:27 (Boston, 2017)Jetze Plat – 1:24:28 (Dubai, 2023)Simon Lawson – 1:25:06 (Boston, 2017)Brian Siemann – 1:26:46 (Boston, 2017)Evan Correll – 1:27:19 (Grandma’s 2022)Jason Robinson – 1:29:01 (Grandma’s 2022)Jake Lappin – 1:29:25 (Boston, 2024)Phillip Croft – 1:30:14 (Grandma’s 2022)Geert Schipper – 1:30:33 (Berlin, 2024)Wyatt Willand – 1:31:16 (Boston, 2024)Sean Frame – 1:31:18 (Berlin 2023)Dustin Stallberg – 1:36:13 (Boston, 2024)Aidan Gravelle – 1:42:28 (Grandma’s 2024)
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