John Korir defended his men’s title at the 2026 Boston Marathon as the Kenyan shattered the course record to become only the fifth man to dip under two hours and two minutes over the distance.
Korir was second at the half-way stage in 1:01:50, seven seconds behind Lemi Berhanu, but the defending champion made a push for the lead after 20 miles and grabbed control of the elite men’s race, surging clear of his rivals to eventually clock a time of 02:01:52 – more than a minute better than the previous best in Boston. Only Kelvin Kiptum, Eliud Kipchoge, Kenenisa Bekele and Sisay Lemma have ever run quicker.
In the women’s race, Sharon Lokedi again proved untouchable as the Kenyan defended her title. Lokedi finished fast to power away from a bunched field and win by a distance, though outside of the course record time set in 2025.
Earlier, Great Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper won the women’s wheelchair race in 1:30:51, beating out Catherine Debrunner by over two minutes to add a second title to her breakthrough success in 2024. The great Marcel Hug, meanwhile, won the men’s wheelchair race, dominating the field to win by more than six minutes in 1:16:06 in a ninth triumph in the city.
Here are the results for the elite races at the 130th edition of the Boston Marathon:
Elite men’s race
1. John Korir 2:01:52
2. Alphonce Simbu 2:02:47
3. Benson Kipruto 2:02:50
4. Hailemaryam Kiros 2:03:42
5. Zouhair Talbi 2:03:45
6 Tebello Ramakongoana 2:04:14
7 Charles Hicks 2:04:35
8 Richard Ringer 2:04:47
9 Alex Masai 2:05:32
10 Milkesa Mengesha 2:05:35
Elite women’s race
1 Sharon Lokedi 2:18:51
2 Loice Chemnung 2:19:35
3 Mary Ngugi-Cooper 2:20:07
4 Mercy Chelangat 2:20:30
5 Jess McClain 2:20:49
6 Irine Cheptai 2:20:54
7 Workenesh Edesa 2:21:52
8 Annie Frisbie 2:22:00
9 Emily Sisson 2:22:39
10 Carrie Ellwood 2:22:53
Elite men’s wheelchair race
1. Hug, Marcel 1:03:05
2. Romanchuk, Daniel 1:09:03
3. Plat, Jetze 1:10:00
4. Xingchuan, Luo 1:10:31
5. Watanabe, Sho 01:11:06
6. Smith, Johnboy 1:11:53
7. Hokinoue, Kota 1:12:05
8. Jimenez-Vergara, Miguel 1:13:11
9. Schipper, Geert 1:13:32
10. Weir, David 1:14:24
Elite women’s wheelchair race
1. Rainbow-Cooper, Eden 51:21
2. Debrunner, Catherine 00:52:13
3. Mcfadden, Tatyana 00:54:30
4. Schär, Manuela 00:55:09
5. De Souza, Vanessa 00:56:36
6. De Rozario, Madison 00:56:36
7. Eachus, Patricia 00:56:37
8. Perry, Emelia 00:59:37
9. Elshorbagy, Hoda 01:00:08
10. Dawes, Christie 01:00:25
