John Korir runs 2:01:52 to win Boston again and take 70 seconds off the course record
With a tailwind from Hopkinton, Korir beat Geoffrey Mutai's 2011 mark, three men broke 2:03 and Zouhair Talbi ran 2:03:45, the fastest marathon by an American.
Photograph: John Korir, Alphonce Felix Simbu and Zouhair Talbi leading the 2026 Boston Marathon near Walnut Street in Newton, just past mile 19, by ArnoldReinhold, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsJohn Korir won the 130th Boston Marathon on Monday in 2:01:52. Geoffrey Mutai's course record of 2:03:02 had stood since 2011; Korir took 70 seconds off it, a year after winning his first. It was just above freezing at the start in Hopkinton, sunny, with a strong tailwind the whole way to Boylston Street.
Milkesa Mengesha, a late entry with a 2:03:17 best, led early by 12 seconds. Lemi Berhanu, the 2016 champion, hit halfway first in 1:01:43 with Korir seven seconds back; 18 men were under 62 minutes. Korir led at 35 km in 1:41:48, 26 seconds up on Benson Kipruto, and ran the second half in 1:00:02.
Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania, the reigning world champion, was second in 2:02:47 and Kipruto third in 2:02:50: the first time three men have broken 2:03 in Boston. Hailemaryam Kiros was fourth in 2:03:42. Zouhair Talbi, fifth in 2:03:45, ran the fastest marathon ever by an American, beating Ryan Hall's 2:04:58 from the same course in 2011; Charles Hicks, seventh in 2:04:35, also beat it. Boston is point to point and not record eligible, so Conner Mantz's 2:04:43 from Chicago stays the American record. Richard Ringer, Clayton Young, Ryan Ford and Joe Klecker were all under 2:06, and 13 men were under 2:06 in all. Sam Chelanga won the masters race in 2:14:59.
Korir took $150,000 for the win and $50,000 for the record. Boston has never been the place to run fast on purpose. On the right day, with the wind behind, it turns out it is.
Sources: FloTrack; Race Results Weekly via RunBlogRun; USATF.
