Boston Marathon 2026: Lokedi and Korir Defend Their Titles
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Monday, April 20, 2026, marks the 130th edition of the Boston Marathon. The Boston Athletic Association confirmed the final elite field and released start times over the last 24 hours. Reigning champions Sharon Lokedi and John Korir from Kenya are back, along with Marcel Hug defending his title in the wheelchair race. As the world’s oldest marathon approaches, the focus is on the weather, the field, and a loss that will shape the event.
What’s on the course on April 20
The Boston Marathon is the oldest annually held marathon in the world. The route runs from Hopkinton to Boston, 42.195 kilometers with the notorious Heartbreak Hill after kilometer 32. On Monday, April 20, 2026, more than 30,000 runners will start, including an international elite field with the world’s fastest marathon specialists, according to the Boston Globe.
Among the women, Sharon Lokedi returns as the defending champion. She won in 2025 with a time of 2:17:22, one of the fastest women’s times in Boston ever. Her competitors include Fiona O’Keeffe, Dakotah Popehn, and Emily Sisson from the USA. On the men’s side, John Korir will defend his 2025 title. His main opponent is Benson Kipruto, also from Kenya, with a personal best of 2:02:16 from Tokyo 2024.
In the wheelchair race, Marcel Hug from Switzerland is the clear favorite. He has dominated Boston in recent years and holds the course record. If the weather cooperates, another course record is not unlikely.
The loss that shapes this Boston
On April 13, the marathon world lost a key figure. Bob Hall, father of wheelchair marathon racing and two-time Boston winner, passed away at the age of 74. Hall was the first athlete to be officially allowed to participate in the Boston Marathon in a wheelchair in 1975. He finished the race in 2:58, laying the groundwork for a discipline that is now a staple of every major city marathon.
WBUR reported on Sunday that Hall’s pioneering work made wheelchair sports as we know it today possible. What Marcel Hug achieves today with carbon racing wheelchairs and top times under 1:18 builds directly on Hall’s course debut 51 years ago. The BAA has announced that it will hold a minute of silence for Hall on Patriots Day.
The course and its peculiarities
Boston is a marathon with character. The course is net downhill, which contributes to its reputation as a fast race, but the profile is anything but uniform. The first 25 kilometers are mostly downhill, often with an unpleasant pace that lures many runners into high early splits. This comes back to haunt them later. From kilometer 27, the notorious Newton Hills sequence begins, four consecutive climbs that peak at the Heartbreak Hill at kilometer 32.
The Heartbreak Hill is objectively not a steep mountain. It has about 27 meters of elevation gain over 600 meters. What makes it brutal is its position. Those who went too fast in the first 25 kilometers lose seconds here. Those who maintained their pace can use the hill as an opportunity to overtake. The final ten kilometers after the hill lead slightly downhill again and end on Boylston Street, one of the most famous finish lines in running.
A peculiarity of the course: Boston is not eligible for world records. The elevation difference between start and finish exceeds IAAF regulations for record-eligible courses. This frees athletes from the pressure to break a record, leading to more strategically interesting races. Winning in Boston means winning tactically, not by the stopwatch.
Weather, Pace, Live Stream
The weather forecast for Boston on Monday currently predicts stable conditions: 12 to 14 degrees at the start time, light tailwind from west-southwest, low risk of rain. This is marathon weather as it should be. If the forecast holds, fast times are possible in both elite races. The course itself is net downhill, but doesn’t benefit from best-time pressure like Berlin or Chicago, because its profile is irregular.
The start times on Monday: 09:02 local time for the men’s wheelchair, 09:05 for the women’s wheelchair, 09:37 for the elite women, 10:02 for the elite men. In Central Europe, the stream runs on NBC and via the official Boston Marathon app from 15:00 CET.
Those currently training for a marathon can find suitable training content in the IBS network. Our 16-week plan for marathon beginners covers the basic framework, and the UTMB guide explains the transition to trail running. For those who want to try the next format directly after Boston: our Hyrox beginner’s guide shows the step into race sports beyond the classic distance.
Interesting from a German perspective: the 2026 elite field doesn’t include any top German names. The German marathon scene was strongly represented in Berlin and Frankfurt in 2025, but has made little impact in Boston in recent years. Viewers should therefore focus on the Kenya-USA axis and particularly on the tactical pacing arrangements in the first 30 kilometers. In Boston, marathon races are rarely decided in the last five kilometers, but rather in the moment when a runner drops their competitors at Heartbreak Hill or is dropped themselves.
Those watching the race on Patriots Day will also experience a piece of American sports atmosphere in its purest form. Boston celebrates the day with the traditional early start of the Red Sox at 11:10 am in Fenway Park. When the marathon leaders pass the stadium, the game is usually just at halftime. This is no coincidence, but rather sports choreography planned since 1903. Viewers watching the broadcast with a German commentary should consciously keep the live image on the course, because the atmosphere along the route is particularly special. Even through the stream, you can feel that this is no ordinary race.
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