Kenya’s John Korir lost his footing at the start of the Boston Marathon on Monday morning but recovered to sprint into history, following in the footsteps of his older brother on the same track.
Korir won the Boston Marathon in 2:04:45, 13 years after his older brother, Wesley, won in 2012. They shared an embrace at the finish line after John Korir, who also won the Chicago Marathon in October 2024, built a lead of more than a minute. His finish is the second-fastest in Boston Marathon history.
Kenyans swept the 129th running of the Boston Marathon. Sharon Lokedi shattered the women’s course record to finish in 2:17:22, 19 seconds clear of Kenyan second-place finisher Hellen Obiri.
John Korir was clipped by a runner coming out of the starting gates and landed hard on his stomach. He lost his name and number bib but the 28-year-old was on his feet quickly and barely broke stride for the next two hours.
In a sprint for second place in the men’s race, Tanzanian Alphonce Simbu crossed in 2:05:04, just ahead of Kenyan Cybrian Kotut.
Conner Mantz finished as top American male in Boston, finishing fourth with a personal-best of 2:05:08. Jess McClain claimed top American female honors and finished seventh by overtaking fellow U.S. runner Annie Frisbie in the final five kilometers of the race.
Buzunesh Deba held the women’s race record for the past 11 years before Lokedi smashed the mark by more than two minutes, 30 seconds on Monday.
–Field Level Media
