13 Boston Marathon Champions To Race Historic Fall 125th Boston Marathon
The
125th Boston Marathon will make history as the first Abbott World
Marathon Major event to offer equal $50,000 course record bonuses across open
and wheelchair divisions
BOSTON—The Boston Athletic
Association (B.A.A.) has announced that 13 Boston Marathon champions with a
combined 30 first-place Boston finishes will headline the John Hancock Professional Athlete Team for
the 125th Boston Marathon. The accomplished group includes World
Athletics Marathon champions, Paralympic medalists, Abbott World Marathon
Majors winners, and Olympians.
The Monday, October 11th
Boston Marathon will also feature restructured
prize money awards that will recognize and
celebrate world class performances in Boston, while maintaining the largest
prize purse of the Abbott World Marathon Majors. Among the incentives that will
debut in October are equal course record bonuses for the Open and Wheelchair
Divisions and the introduction of prize money for the inaugural Para Athletics
Divisions. The Boston Marathon will make history as the first Abbott World
Marathon Major event to offer equal $50,000 course record bonuses across open
and wheelchair divisions, and the first
event to provide a designated prize purse for
athletes with upper limb, lower limb, and visual impairments. For the 36th
year, the prize money awards will be provided by principal sponsor John
Hancock.
“We are delighted to welcome
so many champions from such a diverse range of competition back to Boston for
the 125th running of the Boston Marathon,” said Tom Grilk, B.A.A.
President and Chief Executive Officer. “While October’s race marks a long-awaited
return to racing, it will also recognize and celebrate the many world-class
athletes competing for an historic prize purse across multiple divisions.”
“The John Hancock Professional Team
continues to be a symbol of athletic excellence and accomplishment,” said Kate
Ardini, Chief Marketing Officer at John Hancock. “We are proud to welcome these
13 champions back to Boston for what will be a memorable 125th
Boston Marathon in October.”
WOMEN’S RETURNING CHAMPIONS
Joining
a competitive field at the Hopkinton starting line will be four of the last
five women’s open champions: American Desiree Linden (2018), a
five-time, top-five finisher and two-time Olympian; Kenyan Edna Kiplagat
(2017), a two-time World Athletics Marathon Championships gold medalist and
three-time Abbott World Marathon Majors series champion; Kenyan Caroline
Rotich (2015), who also won the 2010 B.A.A. Half Marathon; and Atsede
Baysa (2016), the 2010 Bank of America Chicago Marathon champion and
two-time Paris champion.
“I
can't wait to line up in this year's historic fall edition of the Boston
Marathon,” said Linden. “Experience goes a long way in Boston and lining up with
so many great champions, who have proven they know how to win on this course,
will be an extra challenge on race day. I'm training hard and more motivated
than ever to be ready to put together a memorable performance this October.”
In
the women’s wheelchair race, two-time champion and course record holder Manuela
Schär returns to defend her title. Schär, a three-time Paralympic medalist
for Switzerland, won Boston in 2017 and 2019 and is the only woman ever to have
clocked a sub-1:30 marathon. Also among the wheelchair contenders is five-time
Boston champion and 17-time Paralympic medalist Tatyana McFadden, who
will race the 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, and marathon at the Tokyo Paralympic
Games for Team USA.
“I
feel very blessed to be able to witness such a huge step towards equality and
recognition of our sport,” said Schär of the equal course record bonuses. “The
Boston Marathon has always played a big role when it comes to ‘first times in
history.’ After such a long time of not being able to race marathons, this will
make it extra special to return to the streets of Boston and I can’t wait.”
MEN’S RETURNING CHAMPIONS
A
trio of men’s open champions with lifetime bests under 2:07:30 return with
hopes of earning a second Boston Marathon title. Kenya’s Geoffrey Kirui,
the 2017 Boston winner and 2017 World Athletics Marathon champion, enters with
a lifetime best of 2:06:27. From Ethiopia is Lemi Berhanu, best known
for skipping across the Boylston Street finish en route to winning in 2016. Yuki
Kawauchi, winner of more than 30 international marathons and the Japanese
record holder in the 50K, looks to become the first man from Japan since
Toshihiko Seiko in 1987 to earn two Boston Marathon titles.
“Last
year was a tough one for everyone. Boston is, for me, the exact right
motivation and light at the end of the tunnel, as it will be for all returning
champions and participants,” said Kirui. “This is the marathon where I feel at
home, and I have big dreams for October.”
Four
men’s wheelchair champions with a combined 16 titles will also return on
October 11. Defending champion Daniel Romanchuk of Illinois leads the
charge. A 2016 and 2021 Paralympian for Team USA, Romanchuk made history by
winning the 2019 race and Abbott World Marathon Majors Series XII at just 20
years old. Course record holder Marcel Hug of Switzerland returns
looking for his fifth victory, having won four straight Bostons from 2015
through 2018. Ernst van Dyk of South Africa, the most decorated champion
in race history with ten titles, also will compete, alongside 2012 winner and
former course record holder Josh Cassidy of Canada.
"As
a young wheelchair racer, if someone said 'marathon,' I thought 'Boston.' It
has always been on the leading edge of inclusion as the first major marathon to
have a wheelchair division, and it's so incredible to see it setting the
example again as the first major marathon to have pay equity between the
runners and wheelchair division for the course record,” said Romanchuk. “I
can't wait to join everyone else racing from Hopkinton toward that finish line
on Boylston Street again!"
BOSTON MARATHON OPEN CHAMPIONS
WOMEN |
PERSONAL BEST |
COUNTRY |
BOSTON WINS |
Edna Kiplagat |
2:19:50 (London, 2012) |
Kenya |
2017 |
Atsede Baysa |
2:22:03 (Chicago, 2012) |
Ethiopia |
2016 |
Desiree Linden |
2:22:38 (Boston, 2011) |
USA (MI) |
2018 |
Caroline Rotich |
2:23:22 (Chicago, 2012) |
Kenya |
2015 |
|
|||
MEN |
PERSONAL
BEST |
COUNTRY |
BOSTON
WINS |
Lemi Berhanu |
2:04:33 (Dubai, 2016) |
Ethiopia |
2016 |
Geoffrey Kirui |
2:06:27 (Amsterdam, 2016) |
Kenya |
2017 |
Yuki Kawauchi |
2:07:27 (Otsu, 2021) |
Japan |
2018 |
BOSTON MARATHON WHEELCHAIR CHAMPIONS
WOMEN |
PERSONAL BEST |
COUNTRY |
BOSTON WINS |
Manuela Schär |
1:28:17 (Boston, 2017) |
Switzerland |
2017, 2019 |
Tatyana McFadden |
1:31:30 (Grandma’s, 2019) |
USA (MD) |
2013-2016, 2018 |
|
|||
MEN |
PERSONAL
BEST |
COUNTRY |
BOSTON
WINS |
Marcel Hug |
1:18:04 (Boston, 2017) |
Switzerland |
2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 |
Ernst van Dyk |
1:18:04 (Boston, 2017) |
South Africa |
2001-2006, 2008-2010, 2014 |
Josh Cassidy |
1:18:25 (Boston, 2012) |
Canada |
2012 |
Daniel Romanchuk |
1:21:36 (Boston, 2019) |
USA (IL) |
2019 |
For the 36th year, John Hancock
will serve as principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon. Due to the COVID-19
pandemic, the 2021 Boston Marathon was moved from its traditional date of the
third Monday in April to Monday, October 11. The fall race will feature a field
size of 20,000 participants, as well as a rolling start for the first time. The
in-person race will be complemented by a virtual race, which will be held from
Friday, October 8 through Sunday, October 10. The full international field,
including the Para Athletics Divisions field, will be announced the week of
August 9-16.
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