Hellen Obiri of Kenya has won the 127th Boston Marathon, crossing the finish line at 2:21:38.
Amane Beriso of Ethiopia crossed second, Lonah Salpeter of Israel, crossed third. American Emma Bates came in fifth.
Obiri, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 5,000 meters, won the women’s race in a sprint down Boylston Street to finish in an unofficial 2:21:38.
Winning the women's race is an exuberant @HellenObiri in 2:21:38.
— B.A.A. (@BAA) April 17, 2023
Second is Beriso, 2:21:50; third Salpeter, 2:21:57. Bates 5th in 2:22:10.
— B.A.A. (@BAA) April 17, 2023
Evans Chebet, also of Kenya, won the 127th Boston Marathon in the men’s field, crossing the finish line a repeat champion with an unofficial time of 2:05:54.
Chebet’s time is the third fastest in marathon history, according to the Boston Athletic Association.
Chebet, 2021 winner Benson Kipruto and Gabriel Geay pulled away from world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, running his first highly anticipated Boston Marathon, around Mile 20. The trio then ran together for the last three miles. Geay won a footrace for second, 10 seconds behind and 2 seconds ahead of Kipruto.
Kipchoge, a 12-time major marathon winner, was sixth. Scott Fauble was the top American, finishing seventh.
Winning the men's race of the 127th Boston Marathon is Evans Chebet, in 2:05:54. He is first man to defend his title here since Robert Cheruiyot did it in 2008.
— B.A.A. (@BAA) April 17, 2023
Susannah Scaroni won the women’s wheelchair race, crossing the finish with an unofficial time of 1:41:45.
In the Men’s wheelchair division, Marcel Hug, of Switzerland, smashed his own course record with an an unofficial time of 1:17:06.
Also known as the Swiss Silver Bullet, Hug’s victory is his sixth at the Boston Marathon.
It bests his previous course mark of 1:18:04 set in 2017. It was the first race of the day. American Daniel Romanchuk was second in 1:27.45, followed by Jetze Plat of the Netherlands in 1:28.35. Hug’s win was the second-largest in the Boston wheelchair race’s history.
The 37-year-old Hug surged to the front of the field on a foggy and drizzly morning, leading the majority of the 26.2-mile course a year after withdrawing before the race for medical reasons. Hug also broke the course record in Saturday’s 5K race as well.
.@MarcelEricHug smashes his #BostonMarathon course record, winning in an unofficial 1:17:06, good for his sixth win here and a $50,000 bonus. The bells of Old South Church are ringing for today's first champion!
— B.A.A. (@BAA) April 17, 2023
Scaroni’s win is her first Boston title and came as she crossed the line in 1:41.45. Her victory followed runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2022. She was followed by Madison de Rozario of Australia in 1:46.55 and Wakako Tsuchida of Japan in 1:47.04.
Runners set off today on the 127th running of the Boston Marathon.
The men’s elite field starts at 9:37 a.m. and the women’s elite field starts 10 minutes later at 10:37 a.m..
Prancing about the start line on Monday was a robotic dog named Stompy belonging to the the Department of Homeland Security. It was trailed by photographers, capturing the peculiar site.
At 6 a.m. in Hopkinton, race director Dave McGillivray sent out a group of about 20 from the Massachusetts National Guard, which walks the course annually, announcing the start of the marathon. He thanked them for their service and wished them well on the course.
McGillivray said in an interview that on paper the field is the fastest, but Boston is all about strategy, not breaking a world record. It’s very different than other major marathon courses because of the topography, the undulating nature of the course, he added.
“How you run it is as important, if not more important, than how fast you run it,” he said. “Of course you need a fast time in order to win, but at the same time, you don’t necessarily want to take it out and try to run the whole race all by yourself. Some might. Who knows? We’ll see today.”
Complete Herald coverage leading up to this year’s marathon can be found here.
