It was a wire-to-wire win at the Boston Marathon for Ethiopian runner Sisay Lemma, who threatened to set the marathon's all-time course record for much of Monday's Patriots' Day run.
Lemma finished first in the men's division with a time of 2:06:17, coming in 41 seconds ahead of Mohamed Esa. Last year's champion Evans Chabet finished third, 1:05 behind Lemma.
Meanwhile, last year's women's champion Hellen Obiri defended her title in Boston, completing Monday's race in 2:22:37, which was about 59 seconds slower than her 2023 race. She held off 2022 New York City Marathon winner Sharon Lokedi, who made her Boston debut, by nine seconds.
The men's and women's races had little in common.
Lemma finished the first half of Monday's Boston Marathon in 1:00:19, which put him on pace to come more than two minutes under the course record of 2:03:02 set in 2011.
He was nearly two minutes ahead of the nearest competition at the halfway point.
The women's field was tight for nearly the entire duration of Monday's race. There were 15 runners within a second of the lead at Mile 20, including American Emma Bates. But around Mile 23, the field started to fall back, and by Mile 24, the race came down to Obiri, Lokedi and Edna Kiplagat.
After Kiplagat faded, it became a two-woman battle, with Obiri nosing ahead of Lokedi in the final mile.
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Lemma and Obiri led a field of 30,000 runners from over 100 countries. Many runners entered Boston by participating in Boston qualifying races around the world, while others gained entrance by raising large sums for charity.
Lemma last took on Boston in 2022, but failed to cross the finish line. He placed 30th at the 2019 Boston Marathon.
Lemma established himself as a top marathoner in 2021 by winning the London Marathon, marking his first World Major win. He then posted one of the fastest marathon times ever in Valencia in December 2023, completing the race in 2:01:48. His win in Valencia was the fourth-fastest official marathon ever recorded.
Obiri's win in Boston marked her third consecutive World Major she has won. She also was victorious in New York City last fall.
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