Kenya’s Korir successfully defends Boston Marathon title; Canadian Linkletter posts personal-best time

Defending champion John Korir broke the Boston Marathon course record on Monday, riding a tailwind to outrun the strongest field in the event’s 130-year history and win in two hours one minute 42 seconds, the fifth-fastest marathon of all time.

“When they told me I had run the course record, that’s when I started to be happy,” said the 29-year-old Kenyan, who last year joined his brother to become the first relatives to win the race. “I knew I would defend my title. But I didn’t know I could run that fast.”

Rory Linkletter continues to close in on the Canadian men’s record after recording a personal-best time on a sunny and cool morning.

On national record pace through 25 kilometres, the Calgary-born runner tailed off by the 32 km mark. However, Linkletter fought his way to the 42.2 km finish in two hours six minutes four seconds, 45 seconds faster than his Chicago performance last Oct. 12.

Linkletter was 14th in his 15th marathon after finishing sixth a year ago in 2:07:02.

Cam Levins of Black Creek, B.C., has held the 2:05:36 Canadian recordsince March 2023 when he also set the North American mark in Tokyo that American Conner Mantz of the United States lowered to 2:04:43 last fall in Chicago.

Last year’s Boston performance was redemption for Linkletter after an “atrocious” debut there in 2021 led to a 33rd-place finish after the Flagstaff, Ariz., resident was in the lead pack a little over halfway through the race.

Three months ago, Linkletter finished the Houston Half Marathon in 59 minutes 49 seconds, the first-ever Canadian under one hour, and beat former record holder Levins by 69 seconds.

Linkletter also ran half marathons in Mesa, Ariz. (1:02:14), and New York City (1:00:00) during his Boston Marathon build.

On May 24, the 29-year-old is scheduled to headline the Ottawa Marathon.

Linkletter charged late in last year’s race, finishing second in 2:08:31. The now-suspended Albert Korir posted a winning time of 2:08:22. Ben Preisner of Milton, Ont., was the other elite Canadian men’s runner Monday and raced his first marathon major, placing 33rd in 2:12:00.

Korir pulls away before Heartbreak Hill

The Vancouver resident is Canada’s third fastest men’s marathoner (2:08:58 PB). He debuted in the event in 2020 after racing on the track in the steeplechase, 5,000 and 10,000 metres.

Preisner, 30, made his third marathon appearance at the World Athletics, Championships last September in Tokyo, finishing 36th.

Meanwhile, a year after joining his brother Wesley, the 2012 champion, as the only relatives to win the race, Korir broke away from the pack as it headed into Heartbreak Hill in Newton and opened a 40-second lead.

He peeked behind him as he went through Kenmore Square with a mile to go, sticking out his tongue and spreading his arms as he ran down Boylston Street to beat the previous course record of 2:03:02 set by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011 by 70 seconds.

Kelvin Kiptum holds the marathon world record, with a 2:00:35 on the flatter Chicago course in 2023. Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania, 55 seconds back, and 2021 champion Benson Kipruto, another three seconds behind him, also were fast enough to better the previous Boston record.

Sharon Lokedi joined Korir as a back-to-back Boston champion, winning the women’s race in 2:18:51.

Lokedi, who broke the women’s course record last year by more than 2 1/2 minutes, took the lead entering the Newton Hills and emerged from them with an expanding lead.

“I didn’t know how fast I was going. I just wanted to run as fast as I could,” said Lokedi, who realized on the bus to the start she forgot her watch and had to borrow one. “I just wanted to get to the finish line as fast as possible.”

On a day that started below 5 C but warmed to 7 C by the start, Lokedi pulled off her gloves as she went through Coolidge Corner in Brookline and smiled her way down Boylston Street.

Loice Chemnung was second, 44 seconds back, followed by Mary Ngugi-Cooper in third.

Cassandra De Winter, from Lethbridge, Alta., topped a group of four elite Canadian women’s runners.

She clocked 2:34:43 for a five-minute personal best to finish 27th, followed by Ottawa’s Teagan Robertson (31st, 2:36:14 PB) and Calgary duo Polly Cunes (59th, 2:43:07) and Leanne Klassen (109th, 2:48:41).

Lokedi and Korir each won $150,000 US and a gilded olive wreath sent from the plains of Marathon, Greece. Korir will receive another $50,000 for the course record.

Marcel Hug of Switzerland won his ninth wheelchair title in 1:16:06, a time second only to his 2024 course record. He is one shy of the all-category record of South African wheelchair athlete Ernst van Dyk’s 10 Boston Marathon wins.

Two-time winner Daniel Romanchuk of Champaign, Ill., 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 1:30:51 to beat runner-up Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland by more than two minutes.

Runners may have noticed some changes this year, with the race turning to a crowd scientist for help in spreading things out a little so they don’t face bottlenecks on the narrow streets of the eight cities and towns along the course. At the start is a new statue of and by marathon pioneer Bobbi Gibb, the first statue on the course honoring a woman.