John Korir won the 130th Boston Marathon on Monday in 2:01:52, crossing Boylston 55 seconds clear of the field to win back-to-back Boston titles. His time is the fastest ever run on the course, taking more than a minute off the 2:03:02 that Geoffrey Mutai set in 2011.
It is also one of the fastest marathon performances in history on any course, though Boston times are not ratified for world record purposes because of the course’s net elevation drop and point-to-point layout.
Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania took second in 2:02:47, 55 seconds back. Benson Kipruto rounded out the podium in 2:02:50 for his fourth career Boston medal.
A pack of ten that Korir finally broke
The men’s race was tight for 20 miles. Ten runners passed through 20 kilometers in 58:40 on pace for 2:03:46. At the half, Ethiopia’s Lemi Berhanu, the 2016 Boston champion back for the 10-year anniversary of his victory, led in 1:01:43. By 25 kilometers, Milkesa Mengesha had moved to the front in 1:13:02, with ten runners still packed inside four seconds. Mengesha held that lead through 30K in 1:27:26.
Then Korir made his move. The defending champion, who had spent most of the race sitting behind the surging Ethiopians, went to the front by 20 miles in 1:33:48. His projected finish dropped to 2:03:01, right on Mutai’s 2011 tailwind mark. The pack, which had been ten men tight for over 30 kilometers, cracked behind him.
By 21 miles, Korir had opened 22 seconds on Kipruto and Simbu in the chase pack. Mengesha, who had led less than three kilometers earlier, dropped to seventh. At 35 kilometers, Korir’s lead had grown to 26 seconds over Kipruto, and his projected finish had fallen to 2:02:44. By 40K he was through in 1:55:48 with a 43-second gap on Simbu and Kipruto, running all but alone.
The final two kilometers, Korir pushed rather than coasted. He crossed the line in 2:01:52, extended the gap to 55 seconds on Simbu, and delivered the first sub-2:02 finish Boston has ever seen.
The Kipruto-Simbu duel for silver
Simbu and Kipruto ran most of the final 10K in lockstep. At 40K they were tied at 1:56:31. In the final two kilometers Simbu edged clear, crossing in 2:02:47 to Kipruto’s 2:02:50, a three-second margin after 26.2 miles of running together.
For Simbu, second in Boston caps a six-month run that now includes the World Championship title from Tokyo in September, where he won by three one-hundredths of a second. On a course that rewards patient running, he was exactly where he needed to be when the race opened up.
For Kipruto, third extends a Boston record that already includes a 2021 title, a 2022 runner-up finish, and a fourth in 2023. He came to Monday chasing the chance to become the first man to win Boston, Chicago, Tokyo, and New York. That quest continues, but the consolation is a podium at the deepest Boston men’s race in years.
What happened to Mengesha
Mengesha’s collapse was dramatic. He passed 30K in first in 1:27:26 and by 21 miles, six kilometers later, had dropped to seventh, 37 seconds off Korir. He held on to finish 10th in 2:05:35. The Berlin winner’s second major attempt on a hillier course did not go as planned, though a top-10 on a day the winner ran 2:01:52 is hardly embarrassing.
Berhanu, who led at halfway, did not finish in the top 10. Hailemaryam Kiros of Ethiopia was the highest-placed of the East African pack runners who kept climbing, moving from outside the top 10 at halfway to fourth by 35K and finishing there in 2:03:42.
Talbi leads the American charge
Zouhair Talbi ran the race of his life. The Houston winner climbed from outside the top 10 at halfway to fourth by 25K and held contact through the Newton Hills. At 35K he was fifth, 38 seconds off Korir. He held that position to the line, finishing fifth overall in 2:03:45.
That time is a personal best, taking Talbi to third on the U.S. all-time list behind Conner Mantz’s 2:05:08 American record and Khalid Khannouchi. A top-five at a World Marathon Major is rare for an American. A sub-2:04 at Boston is rarer still. It is the fastest American performance ever run on this course and the most significant U.S. men’s marathon result since Mantz’s Chicago record last fall.
Charles Hicks ran in ninth through most of the middle of the race and held up better than almost anyone in the chase pack, finishing seventh in 2:04:35. For a runner in his second marathon, a top-seven at Boston with a sub-2:05 is a substantial result.
Clayton Young, the top American entry on paper, hit the half in fifth in 1:01:52 and stayed with the lead pack through 25K before fading when the pace sharpened. He finished outside the top 10.
2026 Boston Marathon top 10
- John Korir, KEN — 2:01:52
- Alphonce Felix Simbu, TAN — 2:02:47
- Benson Kipruto, KEN — 2:02:50
- Hailemaryam Kiros, ETH — 2:03:42
- Zouhair Talbi, USA — 2:03:45
- Tebello Ramakongoana, LES — 2:04:18
- Charles Hicks, USA — 2:04:35
- Richard Ringer, GER — 2:04:47
- Alex Masai — 2:05:32
- Milkesa Mengesha, ETH — 2:05:35
