The first group of the world’s top marathoners have taken the starting gun in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, officially getting their 129th Boston Marathon underway. Earlier, women’s and men’s wheelchair marathoners started their 26.2-mile trek to Boston.More than 30,000 athletes from 128 countries and 50 states are seeking glory in the event. From the starting line to the finish line on Boylston Street in Boston, spectators are cheering on the racers who are chasing their dreams and records.Of the dozens of world-class athletes racing are two-time women’s champion Hellen Obiri and defending men’s champion Sisay Lemma.Kenya’s Obiri, who won the race in 2023 and 2024, will seek to become the first woman to win three consecutive Boston Marathon races since Fatuma Roba from 1997 to 1999. She’ll race against elite women from 20 countries, including past champions Des Linden, Edna Kiplagat and Sharon Cherop.”Defending a win is never easy, and to win the Boston Marathon twice in a row was hard, but I am happy to have done it,” Obiri said. “On race day, I will again push for the win and hope to make it three in a row.”Before the race began, Linden announced her retirement, saying the 2025 Boston Marathon would be her last.Competing in the men’s field, Ethiopia’s Lemma will also look to repeat after winning the 2024 race against a field including five of the top seven finishers from last year’s race.”I was unlucky, because of an injury, not to be able to participate at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and I was not completely ready at the Valencia Marathon last December, but I will be 100% ready next April because the Boston Marathon is a special event,” Lemma said.In the wheelchair divisions, Marcel Hug, of Switzerland, who set a course record last year despite a crash, is hoping to win his eighth Boston. Eden Rainbow-Cooper, the first British woman to win the wheelchair division since the race’s inception, finished last year 90 seconds ahead of the next competitor.Other familiar athletes in the division will include four-time winner and women’s course record holder Manuela Schär of Switzerland, American champions Daniel Romanchuk, Susannah Scaroni, and Tatyana McFadden, as well as 2024 Boston Half champion Michelle Wheeler. Romanchuk won the Boston Half in 2024 and is a two-time Boston Marathon winner, while Scaroni broke the tape on Boylston Street in 2023 despite stopping to fix a loose wheel early in the race.A group of about 40 Massachusetts National Guard members in uniform crossed the Boston Marathon start line at 6.a.m. to begin their traditional journey to the finish line.This year’s Boston Marathon marks the 50th anniversary of Bob Hall’s pioneering 1975 finish, when the Massachusetts native became the first official wheelchair finisher in race history. Since the Belmont native made history, the Boston Athletic Association said that more than 1,880 wheelchair athletes have completed the race.This year is also the 50th anniversary of Bill Rodgers’ first win in Boston. The Connecticut native, known affectionately as “Boston Billy,” would go on to take three more titles: 1978, 1979 and 1980.Hall and Rodgers are the grand marshals for the race, traveling from Hopkinton to Boylston Street, signaling that runners are on their way, and will be recognized at the finish.What’s a win worth?Wheelchair athletes are competing for new, larger prizes this year: A total prize purse of $262,500 is available to the top ten men’s and women’s finishers and the champion’s prize is now $50,000, up from $40,000 in recent years.For the open division runners, the top prize is $150,000, along with the opportunity to earn the course record bonus. Second place earns $75,000, and third place earns $40,000.Athletes who set a course record can also earn a $50,000 bonus.WCVB is the broadcast partner of the Boston Marathon.
BOSTON —The first group of the world’s top marathoners have taken the starting gun in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, officially getting their 129th Boston Marathon underway.
Earlier, women’s and men’s wheelchair marathoners started their 26.2-mile trek to Boston.
More than 30,000 athletes from 128 countries and 50 states are seeking glory in the event. From the starting line to the finish line on Boylston Street in Boston, spectators are cheering on the racers who are chasing their dreams and records.
Of the dozens of world-class athletes racing are two-time women’s champion Hellen Obiri and defending men’s champion Sisay Lemma.
Kenya’s Obiri, who won the race in 2023 and 2024, will seek to become the first woman to win three consecutive Boston Marathon races since Fatuma Roba from 1997 to 1999. She’ll race against elite women from 20 countries, including past champions Des Linden, Edna Kiplagat and Sharon Cherop.
“Defending a win is never easy, and to win the Boston Marathon twice in a row was hard, but I am happy to have done it,” Obiri said. “On race day, I will again push for the win and hope to make it three in a row.”
Before the race began, Linden announced her retirement, saying the 2025 Boston Marathon would be her last.
Competing in the men’s field, Ethiopia’s Lemma will also look to repeat after winning the 2024 race against a field including five of the top seven finishers from last year’s race.
“I was unlucky, because of an injury, not to be able to participate at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and I was not completely ready at the Valencia Marathon last December, but I will be 100% ready next April because the Boston Marathon is a special event,” Lemma said.
In the wheelchair divisions, Marcel Hug, of Switzerland, who set a course record last year despite a crash, is hoping to win his eighth Boston. Eden Rainbow-Cooper, the first British woman to win the wheelchair division since the race’s inception, finished last year 90 seconds ahead of the next competitor.
Other familiar athletes in the division will include four-time winner and women’s course record holder Manuela Schär of Switzerland, American champions Daniel Romanchuk, Susannah Scaroni, and Tatyana McFadden, as well as 2024 Boston Half champion Michelle Wheeler. Romanchuk won the Boston Half in 2024 and is a two-time Boston Marathon winner, while Scaroni broke the tape on Boylston Street in 2023 despite stopping to fix a loose wheel early in the race.
A group of about 40 Massachusetts National Guard members in uniform crossed the Boston Marathon start line at 6.a.m. to begin their traditional journey to the finish line.
This year’s Boston Marathon marks the 50th anniversary of Bob Hall’s pioneering 1975 finish, when the Massachusetts native became the first official wheelchair finisher in race history. Since the Belmont native made history, the Boston Athletic Association said that more than 1,880 wheelchair athletes have completed the race.
This year is also the 50th anniversary of Bill Rodgers’ first win in Boston. The Connecticut native, known affectionately as “Boston Billy,” would go on to take three more titles: 1978, 1979 and 1980.
Hall and Rodgers are the grand marshals for the race, traveling from Hopkinton to Boylston Street, signaling that runners are on their way, and will be recognized at the finish.
What’s a win worth?
Wheelchair athletes are competing for new, larger prizes this year: A total prize purse of $262,500 is available to the top ten men’s and women’s finishers and the champion’s prize is now $50,000, up from $40,000 in recent years.
For the open division runners, the top prize is $150,000, along with the opportunity to earn the course record bonus. Second place earns $75,000, and third place earns $40,000.
Athletes who set a course record can also earn a $50,000 bonus.
WCVB is the broadcast partner of the Boston Marathon.
