The elite performers from Team Kenya will be looking to execute an historic three-sweep in Monday’s 127th running of the BAA Boston Marathon.
The Boston Marathon was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed with a first-time autumn race on Oct. 11, 2021.
Kenyan Benson Kipruto (2:09:51) took the men’s a race while compatriot Edna Kiplagat (2:25:09) broke the tape in the women’s race. Her winning time set a new master’s record on the course.
The Boston Marathon returned to its Patriot’s Day format last April 18, with a predicable result for the Kenyans. Evans Chebet won his first Boston Marathon with a time of 2:06:51, the eighth fastest clocking in BAA history. He was followed across the line by countrymen Lawrence Cherono (2:07:21) and Kipruto (2:07:27).
Peres Jepchirchir took the women’s race in 2:21:01 in her BAA debut, becoming the first athlete to win the Boston, New York City and Olympic marathon titles.
Separating a Kenyan from the winner’s podium in the men’s race will likely require a new course record from a determined group of challengers representing Ethiopia, Eritrea, Tanzania and the United States.
Chebet and Kipruto are back for another run on the arduous 26.2-mile route from Hopkinton to Boston. Dislodging either former champion would be tough enough, but Team Kenya got stronger with the addition Eliud Kipchoge, who is making his Boston debut at age 38. Kipchoge has won 12 Abbott Marathon Majors events and is a two-time Olympic gold medal winner.
“I am excited to run against him (Kipchoge) in the Boston Marathon, which is a much different race and more difficult,” said Kipruto. “He is my role model and I would like beat him and I am looking for a good race.”
Kenya’s chances of holding onto the women’s title are far less certain. Jepchirchir did not return to defend her crown so Kiplagat was awarded the No.1 bib. Kenyan Mary Ngugi (2:31.22) was third last year and Kiplagat was fourth (2:21.40), breaking her own master’s record. Kiplagat, 43, has won Boston twice and remains a favorite even at her advanced age.
“I think we have a good team and we have been assisting each other all the time,” said Kiplagat. “We have a good plan with my coach and I have gotten great support from my family so that I am able to train for a good time.
“That’s has allowed me to maintain this level for a very long time. I am happy about maintaining my career.”
The biggest threat to a Kenyan three-sweep comes from a pair of Ethiopian runners, Amane Beriso and Gotytom Gebreslase. Beriso, 31, made her Boston debut with a 12th-place finish (2:39:38) under abysmal weather conditions on April 16, 2018.
Her career was on the fast track after a winning at Mumbai in 2020, but she fell off the grid for two years with a series of knee injuries. Beriso resumed her career in 2022 with a first-place finish at Mexico City, a demanding course run at high altitude. She came back with a course record time of 2:14:48 at Valencia, the third fastest clocking by a women marathoner.
Valencia is a benign flat course far removed from the treachery of Boston, but raw speed can never be discounted even when the terrain and fair-weather conditions favor a fast race.
Gebreslase scored her first major with a victory at Berlin in 2021 and shocked the field with a winning effort at the World Championships in Eugene, Ore., on July 18, 2022. Gebreslase broke the tape in an event record and personal-best time of 2:18:11.
“Thank you for inviting me and I am really excited to be here,” said Gebreslase. “The Boston Marathon is a big deal.”
The dark horse favorite in the event is a Kenyan woman who competes for Israel and his married to her coach. Lonah Salpeter, who became an Israeli citizen when she married Dan Salpeter, won her first major at Tokyo on March 1, 2021, with a course-record time of 2:17: 45. She placed second at New York on Nov. 6, 2022, traversing the Five Boroughs in a time of 2:23:30.
“Coming to Boston will be an experience because it is a really old marathon and I am excited to see what will happen on Monday,’” said Salpeter. “The field is really strong with a lot of Olympians so for me I think something special is going to happen on Monday.”
Salpeter could be guilty of an understatement in her assessment of the elite women’s field, which is considered the deepest in race history. There are nine women entered in the race that have run under 2:20:00.
“The race has changed, racing has changed and marathoning has changed and the quality of the field has gotten so much better,” said 2018 winner Des Linden, the most accomplished American runner in this event since Joan Benoit-Samuelson.
“What is capable on this course I think has been totally flipped upside down. I think this year you can just feel the energy like there is something magical that is going to happen. I get the vibe something epic is going to happen on Monday.”