John Korir defended his championship run at the 2026 Boston Marathon and broke not only his own record, but the all-time record in the race’s 130-year history. Sharon Lokedi also became a back-to-back champion and won the women’s race just one year after breaking the course record.
John Korir has made headlines once again at this year’s Boston Marathon. The defending champion broke the record to have the fastest finish in the race’s 130-year history, winning in 2 hours, 1 minute, and 52 seconds. That time is 70 seconds faster than Geoffrey Mutai’s world best in 2011, which is also the fifth-fastest marathon of all time.
Korir told the media he knew he was on pace to break the record around the 40-kilometer mark, but didn’t distract himself by checking the clock until he crossed the finish line. At that point, the Boston Athletic Association president Jack Fleming informed him of what he just did, prompting Korir to jump for joy.
Sharon Lokedi also joins Korir as a back-to-back champion. Lokedi won the women’s race with a time of 2 hours, 18 minutes, and 51 seconds, just one year after breaking the course record by over 2 and a half minutes. Both winners will be receiving $150,000 and a gilded olive wreath sent from the plains of Marathon, Greece.
29-year-old Korir will also be receiving an additional $50,000 for breaking the course record.
“When they told me I had run the course record, that’s when I started to be happy. knew I would defend my title. But I didn’t know I could run that fast.”
Right behind Korir was Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania, who was 55 seconds behind the champion, and 2021 champion Benson Kipruto was just 3 seconds behind Simbu. They’re time also beat the previous record on the course that is known for being more successful for runners who lay out a proper racing strategy as opposed to just speed. This is due to the fact that the Boston Marathon is a more hilly course when compared to other major marathons.
Kelvin Kiptum is the individual who holds the marathon world record with a time of 2 hours and 35 seconds. He broke this record at the Chicago marathon in 2023.
“Boston is not usually about time. Today, it was about time,” Kipruto said after finishing the race so close to the other runners.
According to AP, “Zouhair Talbi and Jess McClain ran the fastest times ever in Boston for Americans — leading the seven U.S. men and 12 U.S. women who finished in the top 20.”
“I think we’re in an era in distance running, on the men and women’s sides, but especially the women’s side, where we’re all making each other so much better every time we line up with one another, and I think it’s just going to get stronger and stronger,” McClain said.
Korir managed to break away from the main pack of runners this year as they headed into the Newton hills and started with a 40-second lead. Lokedi also moved forward toward the front of the pack around mile 17 and continuously pulled ahead. She explained how after realizing she forgot her watch at the beginning of the race and needing to borrow one, she couldn’t let herself get frazzled, and instead just focused on the marathon itself.
“I didn’t know how fast I was going. I just wanted to run as fast as I could. I just wanted to get to the finish line as fast as possible.”
Loice Chemnung followed Lokedi coming in second 44-seconds after the champion. Mary Ngugi-Cooper placed third.
Other notable champions of the marathon include Marcel Hug of Switzerland, who won his ninth wheelchair title in 1 hour, 16 minutes, and 6 seconds. This is a time second only to his 2024 course record.
Two-time winner Daniel Romanchuk of Champaign, Illinois was second behind Hug for the fourth straight time.
In the women’s wheelchair race, Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Britain won her second Boston title finishing in 1 hour, 30 minutes, and 51 seconds to beat runner-up Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland by more than two minutes.
Clear skies and tailwinds during the race gave the fastest field in the event’s history. McClain said:
“Obviously the tailwind played into a lot of the approach. You don’t get these conditions every year, so if you’re going to go full send and ‘Carpe Diem,’ this is the year to do it. And that was kind of the mindset.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
