Sharon Lokedi breaks Boston Marathon course record. John Korir joins his brother as a Boston winner

Switzerland's Hug gets 8th wheelchair win, American Scaroni a 2nd in milestone year
Monday, April 21, 2025 2:24PM ET
HOPKINTON, Mass. -- Sharon Lokedi broke the Boston Marathon course record, and fellow Kenyan John Korir joined his brother as a race champion on Monday as the city celebrated the 250th anniversary of the start of the Revolutionary War.

Boston Marathon winner John Korir, of Kenya, right, and women's division winner Sharon Lokedi, of Kenya, celebrate after the race, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Boston.

AP Photo/Charles Krupa



Lokedi outran two-time defending champion Hellen Obiri over the final mile a year after losing a sprint down Boylston Street to her in one of the closest finishes in race history. Lokedi finished in an unofficial 2 hours, 17 minutes, 22 seconds - 19 seconds ahead of Obiri and more than 2 1/2 minutes faster than the previous Boston best.

Sharon Lokedi, of Kenya, crosses the finish line to win the women's division of the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Boston.

AP Photo/Charles Krupa



Six months after winning Chicago, Korir mastered the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston's Copley Square in an unofficial 2 hours, 4 minutes, 44 seconds - the second-fastest winning time in race history.

John Korir, of Kenya, breaks the tape to win the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Boston.

AP Photo/Charles Krupa



After crossing the line, he was greeted by his older brother, 2012 Boston winner Wesley Korir. Although the race has been won by a pair of unrelated John Kelleys and two different Robert Cheruiyots, the Korirs are the first brothers - or relatives of any kind - to win the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon.



Conner Mantz of Provo, Utah, finished fourth after losing a three-way sprint to the finish with Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania and Cybrian Kotut of Kenya. Simbu was second and Kotut was third.

Korir ran without his bib showing, pulling it out of his running tights as he sprinted down Boylston Street.

Marcel Hug of Switzerland blitzed to the front of the field to win his eighth Boston Marathon wheelchair title, claiming the victory Monday in the 129th edition of the race in 1 hour, 21 minutes, 34 seconds.



The 39-year-old Hug crossed the finish line in downtown Boston to claim his fifth consecutive win in the race on the 50th anniversary of the first official wheelchair finisher in Boston. Daniel Romanchuk of the United States was second in 1:25:58, followed by Jetze Plat of the Netherlands in 1:30:16.

Marcel Hug, of Switzerland, breaks the tape to win the men's wheelchair division during the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Boston.

AP Photo/Charles Krupa



Hug and Romanchuk broke from the field and stayed tight for about six miles. But Hug opened about a three-minute lead at the halfway mark and began to widen his advantage.

In the women's race, Susannah Scaroni of the United States won her second Boston title, finishing in 1:35:20. Swiss athletes took the next two spots with Cathering Debrunner second in 1:37:26 and Manuela Schar third in 1:39:18.

Scaroni earned her first Boston title in 2023 but wasn't able to defend it last year because of injury. This time she was dominant late, opening up a 40-second lead 18 miles in, breaking away from Debrunner.



The races came on a clear morning with start temperatures in the low 50s. It made for a much less eventful day for Hug, who last year recovered from a crash in the latter part of the race on his way to victory.

Boston Marathon helps celebrate 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War



Paul Revere rode down Boylston Street to the Boston Marathon finish line - or almost there, as it turned out - proclaiming "the runners are coming" on Monday morning as the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon helped celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War.

Reenactors on horseback, accompanied by a fife and drum playing "Yankee Doodle," helped start the festivities and add a bit of levity when Revere's horse was spooked by the finish line decal on the street and stopped. The actor portraying the colonial silversmith and patriot had to hop off and walk the last few steps himself as the small early crowd laughed and clapped.

After reading a proclamation, Revere gently tugged the horse the rest of the way before riding off to more ceremonies commemorating the midnight ride on April 19, 1775, that warned the colonists in Lexington and Concord that the British were on the march.



A troop of about 40 Massachusetts National Guard members who crossed the starting line at around 6 a.m.

A group of Massachusetts National Guard members cross the start line, launching the 129th edition of the race, in Hopkinton, Mass, early Monday, April 21, 2025.

AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott



Associated Press writer Jennifer McDermott in Hopkinton, Mass., contributed to this story.
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