Kenya celebrated a historic victory at the 2026 Boston Marathon on Monday after John Korir and Sharon Lokedi successfully defended their titles in dominant fashion, earning KSh25,830,000 (USD200,000) and KSh19,372,500 (USD150,000) respectively.
Korir delivered a masterclass performance to win the men’s race in a new Boston Marathon course record and a personal best time of 2:01:52.
He stayed with the leading pack before making a powerful surge at Heartbreak Hill, overtaking Ethiopia’s Milkesa Mengesha and opening a commanding lead.
His winning time broke the previous Boston Marathon record of 2:03:02 set by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011, while also improving his previous personal best of 2:02:24.
Korir is now the fastest marathon runner in the world this year over the 42-kilometre distance.
Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu finished second in 2:02:47, while Benson Kipruto completed the podium in third place with 2:02:50.
In the women’s race, Lokedi retained her crown in 2:18:51.
She ran with the lead pack that included Irine Cheptai, Loice Chemnung, and Mary Ngugi-Cooper before accelerating on the Newton Hills and breaking away late in the race.
Chemnung claimed second place in 2:19:35, while Ngugi-Cooper finished third in 2:20:07. Mercy Chelangat completed Kenya’s historic dominance by taking fourth place.
President William Ruto and Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya led Kenyans in celebrating the remarkable achievement.
The Boston Marathon was the second race of the World Marathon Majors (WMM) series this year after last month’s Tokyo Marathon.
It was the first time since 1996 that Boston Marathon champions successfully defended their titles.
Despite the outstanding times, the Boston Marathon course is not eligible for official world record recognition.
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