Korir Breaks Boston Course Record as Lokedi Defends 130th Title

What happened

The 130th Boston Marathon delivered on every promise the stacked elite field had made. Kenya's John Korir successfully defended his men's title and broke the course record in 2:01:52. Sharon Lokedi won a second straight women's crown in 2:18:51. And American Zouhair Talbi, racing outside the podium fight, ran the fastest marathon ever recorded by an American man.

Men's race

Korir, who arrived with a 2:02:24 personal best from Valencia, was pushed hard the entire way. Tanzania's Alphonce Felix Simbu — the reigning world champion who finished second last year — stayed on Korir's shoulder deep into the Newton hills and crossed second in 2:02:47. Former Boston winner Benson Kipruto rounded out the podium in 2:02:50, the three men separated by less than a minute after 42 kilometres of racing.

The American story of the day belonged to Zouhair Talbi. The Moroccan-born US citizen ran 2:03:45, slicing two minutes off his Houston PB from January and becoming the fastest American man in marathon history on a course that, because of its point-to-point net descent, does not count for record purposes — but the raw performance is unmissable.

Women's race

Lokedi's defence was a more controlled affair than her 2:17:22 course-record run from 2025. She pulled away from Kenyan compatriot Loice Chemnung in the final 10 kilometres and finished in 2:18:51. Chemnung held on for second in 2:19:35, with Mary Ngugi-Cooper completing a Kenyan podium sweep in 2:20:07.

American Emily Sisson, the North American record holder coming in, could not match the leaders' pace over the hills but ran strongly to anchor the US effort. Pre-race questions about whether Lokedi could handle the deepest women's field in Boston history were answered inside Kenmore Square.

Wheelchair and handcycle

Switzerland's Marcel Hug, "The Silver Bullet," claimed a ninth Boston Marathon title in the men's wheelchair division, finishing in 1:16:06 ahead of Daniel Romanchuk (1:22:44) and Jetze Plat (1:24:13).

Britain's Eden Rainbow-Cooper won her second Boston title in the women's wheelchair race in 1:30:51, beating Switzerland's Catherine Debrunner (1:32:59) and American legend Tatyana McFadden (1:36:43).

Zachary Stinson (1:04:05) and Edie Perkins (1:40:19) took the men's and women's handcycle divisions.

The bigger picture

This was the Boston Marathon at its deepest and its fastest. Korir's 2:01:52 is the quickest winning time in the race's 130-year history. Three men went under 2:03. Talbi's run reframes what American men can expect to do over 42.2km. And Lokedi — quieter than Korir but no less dominant — now has back-to-back Boston titles in an era when the women's marathon is changing almost race by race.

Des Linden, in her final professional marathon on the course she won in 2018, finished to one of the day's loudest ovations.