▪ Why is the Boston Marathon so hard to get into? Well, in short, because it’s so iconic. Learn more about how fast runners had to be to qualify — and why some were still left out of the race.
▪ What time does the Boston Marathon start? See the schedule and projected finish times here.
▪ Need to keep track of a friend who’s running? Check out our how-to here.
▪ Find out how to stream the Marathon or watch it live on television on Ch. 5 or ESPN here.
▪ Want to be a Boston Marathon expert (or impress your friends with intel about the day)? Check out our guide for everything you need to know.
Other helpful info: What’s open and closed in Boston on Patriots Day | Road closures, parking restrictions, and T info | See an interactive course map
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Track the elite races live:
Marcel Hug has already broken away in the men’s wheelchair race, putting significant daylight between himself and Daniel Romanchuk at 15K. The seven-time champion and course record-holder upped his pace through Framingham, giving Romanchuk a lot of work to do if he wants to keep Hug from a third consecutive win on Marathon Monday.
The women’s wheelchair race is a group of four at 10K: Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner and Manuela Schär, American Susannah Scaroni, and defending champion Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Great Britain.
The foursome hit the 10K mark in 19:26, with Debrunner setting the pace in the early going.
Scaroni was a bit detached from the initial pack of three in the opening miles, but has put herself on the wheel of Debrunner — the world’s most successful women’s wheelchair racer of recent years — just over six miles in.
Just over six miles in, the men’s wheelchair race has already seen two former champions break away. Seven-time and defending champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland leads, coming through 10K in 16:16, with American Daniel Romanchuk — the 2022 and 2019 champion — right on his wheel.
Hug is seeking an eighth title today, which would move him into a tie with Jean Driscoll for second place on the event’s all-time list of champions.
By Emma Healy
The 129th Boston Marathon got underway just after 9 a.m., with the men’s elite wheelchair field leading the way.
The women’s wheelchair field will set off at 9:09 a.m., followed by the men’s open field at 9:37 a.m. and the women’s open field at 9:47 a.m.
Here are the rest of the start times:
9:50 a.m.: Para athletics divisions
10:00 a.m.: Wave 1
10:25 a.m.: Wave 2
10:50 a.m.: Wave 3
11:15 a.m.: Wave 4
As one Swiss superstar chases his eighth title, another chases her first.
Marcel Hug is once again the man to beat in the men’s wheelchair division, as the “Silver Bullet” looks to join Jean Driscoll as an eight-time champion of the Boston Marathon (South Africa’s Ernst van Dyk has the record with 10 titles). Hug’s win last year was his third time setting the course record, with his time of 1:15:35 putting him more than five minutes clear of the field in a dominant win.
His biggest threat will likely be Daniel Romanchuk, the 2022 and 2019 champion who has had to settle for runner-up finishes to Hug in three of the last four years.
In the women’s wheelchair race, last year’s surprise winner, Great Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper, will look to go back-to-back on Boylston Street. Rainbow-Cooper put daylight between herself and four-time champion Manuela Schär early last year and never looked back, winning by 90 seconds.
Rainbow-Cooper will have a stacked field looking to knock her off the top step of the podium: three Boston Marathon champions in Schär and Americans Tatyana McFadden and Susannah Scaroni, plus a Boston newcomer in Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner.
Debrunner is finally racing in Boston after winning just about everything there is to win in wheelchair racing: six Paralympic gold medals (including the marathon), five world championship golds, and an incredible nine World Marathon Major titles in just four years.
Debrunner has won each of the rest of the World Marathon Majors (excluding the newly-added Sydney) since 2022, winning one title each in Tokyo and New York City, two each in London and Chicago, and three in Berlin.
Debrunner is the best in the world over 26.2 miles. On Monday, she’ll try to prove that she’s the best over a stretch of 26.2 miles unlike anything else on the World Marathon Majors circuit.
The women’s open race comes down to one question: Can anyone beat Hellen Obiri?
The Kenyan has been nearly unstoppable since transitioning from the track to the roads, as the two-time world champion and Olympic silver medalist over 5,000 meters has won three World Marathon Majors in two years, including two Boston titles.
On back-to-back Patriots Days, no woman has been able to hang with Obiri’s kick, honed over a decade of dominance on the track, in the final stages.
Can anyone run the kick out of her, pushing the pace hard enough to keep the race from coming down to a sprint? Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso (2:14:58 personal best), the runner-up in 2023, and Yalemzerf Yehualaw (2:16:52) will try, as will the rest of a remarkably deep field that features 11 women with personal bests faster than 2:22:00.
That field also includes Americans Keira D’Amato (2:19:12, previously the American record), Sara Hall (2:20:32), and last year’s top American Emma Bates (2:22:10), the three of whom lead a group of 10 women who have run under 2:25:00.
They could all very well be in the mix in the final stages, as the women’s elite races have skewed a bit slower and more tactical in recent years. If that trend holds, however, and Obiri is at her best, it’s hard to see anyone outkicking the reigning queen of Boylston Street.
By Amin Touri
If Evans Chebet wants his crown back, he’s going to have to go through Sisay Lemma to get it.
Kenya’s Chebet fell short of a three-peat in the men’s elite race at last year’s Boston Marathon, when Ethiopia’s Lemma blazed the first half of the race in just over an hour to claim a dominant wire-to-wire win.
Lemma is back in Boston and will be the man to beat on Monday, and there will be plenty of men dreaming of beating him: the field features 15 men with personal bests of 2 hours, 8 minutes or faster.
That includes Chebet (PR of 2:03:00), Kenya’s John Korir (2:02:44) — the brother of 2012 champion Wesley Korir — and CyBian Kotut (2:03:22), as well as Ethiopia’s Haymanot Alew (2:03:31).
There’s an impressive cohort of American men to keep an eye on, including Utahn Conner Mantz, perhaps the strongest American contender for a laurel wreath in the men’s open race since Meb Keflezighi’s famous win in 2014.
Mantz broke Ryan Hall’s American record in the half marathon in January with a 59:17 finish in Houston before bettering the mark by two seconds in New York City last month. Mantz won the US Olympic Marathon Trials last February and finished eighth at the Paris Olympics. He was sixth at the 2023 Chicago Marathon with a 2:07:47 performance, the fifth-fastest time ever for an American man.
Mantz’s training partner, Clayton Young, is often hot on Mantz’s heels, finishing within seconds of his teammate in Chicago in 2023 and at both the Olympic Marathon Trials and the Olympics in 2024. It’s hard to count either of the BYU grads out as they continue to climb the ranks of elite marathoning.
A familiar face you might see near the front: American CJ Albertson, who famously led the first 20 miles of the race in 2021 and was the top American last year.
By John Powers
Last year, Hellen Obiri came here to defend her crown and lock in a place on Kenya’s team for the Paris Olympics, where she won the bronze medal.
She’ll be chasing a bit of history at Monday’s 129th Boston Marathon, bidding to become only the third woman in the modern era, and first from her country, to claim three consecutive titles.
“I’ll be the first one to do it, and I want to make it happen,” said the 35-year-old Obiri, who’d join Germany’s Uta Pippig (1994-96) and Ethiopia’s Fatuma Roba (1997-99) as the only three-peaters. “I’m ready, I’m well-focused. So I want to fight up to the end.”
Sisay Lemma, who halted Kenya’s four-year streak last April with his runaway triumph, will be going after a distinction of his own. No Ethiopian men’s champion ever has repeated.
“I’ll be very, very, very happy,” he said. “It will be exciting.”
By Amin Touri
Very little about Keira D’Amato’s rise to the marathoning elite was conventional.
She was an All-American running for American University from 2002-06, but her professional career never got off the ground. Injuries sidelined her — seemingly for good — by 2009.
D’Amato got her real estate license, had two kids, and settled into life as a “hobby jogger.” The 2013 Boston Marathon attacks inspired her to run her first marathon later that year to try to qualify for Boston. She fell very short, having to walk at stages en route to a time of 3 hours, 49 minutes, 49 seconds, and shelved her running career for a few years.
“I don’t think there’s too many pros in the field that have failed to qualify on their first try‚” D’Amato joked last week.
After signing her husband up for the 2017 Shamrock Marathon as a little gag gift for Christmas, D’Amato, then 32, decided to sign herself up too. She finished in a respectable 3:14.
It was enough to spark a return to serious competition. D’Amato’s rise from there was meteoric.
By 35, she was racing at the US Olympic Marathon Trials. At 37, she ran a stunning 2:19:12 to break the American record. And at 40, she’s leading the most-impressive field of American women in history into next week’s Boston Marathon.
By Ken Mahan
You can plan on mostly to partly sunny skies wherever you are along the race route, with temperatures starting the day in the 40s pre-race (the first wave starts shortly after 9 a.m.), aside from a few thin, high clouds before quickly warming into the mid-50s by noon.
The average high in Boston for April 21 is 59 degrees, and today we should end up between 55 and 60 as our high this afternoon, with light winds along the race course — pretty good running conditions for the race.
Here’s a town-by-town weather breakdown.
By Max Schwartzberg
With 30,000 participants flooding the course in a streak of vibrant colors, keeping track of your friend, family member or favorite Olympian won’t be so simple.
Here are the best ways to track competitors over the 26.2-mile stretch.
The BAA racing app will be your go-to tracker. You can find an athlete by entering a name, bib number, city, or team. Once you find your runner, hit the plus sign to save their profile and keep tabs on them during the race.
The app includes a live course map, real-time leaderboards, social media connectivity, runner selfies, and updated results. In addition, you will find a tally of how much money each athlete has raised for charity, along with a direct donation link. There is also a spectator guide and a portal to buy official gear.
The BAA racing app is available for free download on the App Store and Google Play.
Once the race kicks off on Monday, the official BAA website will switch over to a live tracking format, offering an alternative to the app. You can access it here.
By Emma Healy
Ch. 5 in Boston (WCVB) is covering the race for the third year, while ESPN will handle the national broadcast.
Ch. 5’s coverage began and 4 a.m. and will continue all day.
National coverage of the elite races will begin on ESPN2 at 9 a.m. and run until 12:30 p.m. The race will also simulcast on ESPN+ from 4 a.m. until 8 p.m.
ESPN host and “SportsCenter” anchor Hannah Storm and running commentator John Anderson will join the crew of announcers and analysts from WCVB on the race call from Boston.
Anderson will call the race from the finish-line bridge, and he will be joined by analysts including 2014 champion Meb Keflezighi, former professional American distance runner and Olympian Carrie Tollefson, and Amanda McGrory, Paralympic medalist and Boston Marathon wheelchair division podium finisher.
Storm will be covering the race with WCVB anchors Ed Harding and Maria Stephanos.
WCVB sports anchor Duke Castiglione will be stationed at the finish line.
Matt James, a former contestant on reality TV show “The Bachelor” will join the broadcast from the field. James will run the his second Boston Marathon while capturing live content during the race to give fans a first-person look at the course.
Ch. 5 will offer race coverage streaming on their mobile app, Very Local Boston, which is free and available on smartphones and tablets.
You can also watch on ESPN’s streaming platforms.
By Emma Healy
Four-time Boston Marathon winner Bill Rodgers and Bob Hall, the first officially recognized wheelchair athlete to race the Boston Marathon, will be the grand marshals and will guide athletes along the course.
Rodgers won his first Boston title in 1975, beating the second-place finisher by two minutes and posting a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 55 seconds. He smashed the previous American record by 35 seconds, and it was at the time the fifth-fastest marathon ever run. He won again in 1978, 1979, and 1980.
Hall said he didn’t set out to be a pioneer when he entered the 1975 Boston Marathon as the race’s first wheelchair competitor, but his win in 2:58 set the stage for the future of the wheelchair field, now in its 50th year. Hall won again in 1977, shaving nearly 20 minutes off his time.
Patriots legend Rob Gronkowski served as last year’s grand marshal.
By Amin Touri
After 12 trips on the route from Hopkinton to Boylston, including a legendary 2018 win in monsoon conditions, Des Linden is calling it a day.
As she departed for the start line Monday morning, Linden announced that this Boston Marathon will be her last as a professional, breaking the news in a post styled as a love letter to Boston.
“I made my debut at 26.2 on your roads in 2007 and fell in love — with the distance and with the Boston Marathon,“ Linden wrote. ”Three years later, we were in it together as you lifted me up through the Newton Hills, carried me as l turned Right on Hereford and Left on Boylston, and brought me within two Heartbreaking seconds of victory.
“But you never gave up on me, inviting me to keep showing up; hell, you embraced the fight, because Boston knows grit. The victory in 2018 wasn’t just mine, it was ours.”
Linden’s 2018 win, claimed in swirling winds and driving rain in a race of attrition, made her the first American to win the women’s open race since 1985. It made her a legend in Boston, the pinnacle of a marathon career that featured two trips to the Olympics and more top American finishes than you could count.
“People say you should go out on top, and that’s what I’m doing — because choosing to race my final professional marathon in Boston is indeed going out on top,” Linden continued. “I hope you enjoy one last show. Thanks for all the years and all the cheers.”
By Aiden Barker
Why is the Boston Marathon so hard to get into? Because everyone wants to run it.
The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon and one of the most competitive to enter because of its reputation. Rolling hills, an atypical course, and the festive crowds make it an appealing choice for runners from across the globe.
Here’s a look at the times runners had to finish in to apply to participate:
But it’s not just about qualifying anymore.
For the 2025 race, Boston Athletic Association rejected a record number of applicants for the second consecutive year. The BAA received 36,393 applications, and 12,324 qualified applicants were rejected — more than 1,000 more than the 2024 race.
By Khari A. Thompson
A short walk away from the Ashland commuter rail stop lies Marathon Park, where a blue sign with gold letters and the image of runners captured mid-stride stands to greet visitors.
“Ashland,” the sign reads. “It all started here.”
The Boston Marathon began in 1897, but the starting line didn’t move from Ashland to neighboring Hopkinton until 1924.
“One hundred years ago this April was the last time the race started in Ashland,” said Tim Kilduff, president of the 26.2 Foundation.
The starting line’s current location is a short distance west of where it was when runners took off from Ashland’s Metcalf’s Mill during Boston’s first marathon.
So, why is the line in Hopkinton now? The answer, like the inspiration for the race itself, has Olympic roots.
By John Powers
Fifty years ago Bill Rodgers, little known beyond his Greater Boston Track Club teammates, took the line in Hopkinton wearing a salvaged singlet and a headband and decided that it was his time to win the Boston Marathon.
“Cool day with a tailwind,” he recalled. “I was a Boston College graduate student. I knew the course, I knew the hills. If that’s on your side you’re going to be hard to beat.”
Rodgers broke away at Wellesley that day, and despite stopping four times for water and once to tie a misbehaving shoelace, he set an American record that shocked himself and everyone else.
“This is absurd,” he marveled after winning by two minutes and posting a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 55 seconds, smashing the mark set by Ron Hill by 35 seconds — at the time the fifth-fastest marathon ever run. “I can’t run that fast.”
For his labors, Will Rodgers, as the next day’s headlines called him, got the customary amateur reward — a laurel wreath, a medal, and a bowl of canned beef stew.
If he were to win this coming week’s 129th edition, Rodgers would receive $150,000, plus a $50,000 bonus for a course record.
By Emma Healy
Among the field of 30,000 athletes competing in Monday’s Boston Marathon are some familiar names, including local sports heroes, internet and TV stars, and Olympians.
Here are some of the notable names to look out for on the 26.2-mile course from Hopkinton to Boston.
By Katie McInerney
Good morning. The Globe is at Boston Marathon HQ bright and early on this Marathon Monday. It’s crisp and bright outside, with a temperature of 39 degrees.
The Globe’s Ken Mahan says the weather should reach the low 60s by midday — just perfect running conditions.
They’re also great conditions for a baseball game, and good thing — the Red Sox will play the White Sox at 11:10 a.m. (Ever wonder why the Red Sox play so early on Patriots Day/Marathon Monday? Conor Ryan has you covered.)
Stay tuned for live updates from all along the race course. And follow along with our updates from the field on the Globe’s Instagram, too.
By Emma Healy
When the elite racers approach the start line of the 129th Boston Marathon, four athletes will have a chance to defend their titles — and two will be racing for three-peats.
The champions of all four elite races a year ago will be back in the field for this year’s race, set for Monday, April 21.
Kenya’s Hellen Obiri, who won the women’s open division in 2023 and 2024, will be gunning for her third straight Boston title, a feat only four women have accomplished. The most recent was Ethiopia’s Fatuma Roba (1997-99).
Wheelchair athlete and course record-holder Marcel Hug of Switzerland is in the same position and will be racing for his third straight Boston title — and his eighth overall.
Fellow 2024 champions Sisay Lemma (men’s open division) and Eden Rainbow-Cooper (women’s wheelchair division) also have the chance to defend their titles.
An hour after the start of the elite races, the first wave in the field of 30,000 athletes will begin their 26.2-mile pilgrimage from Hopkinton to Copley Square.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Patriots Day, whether you’re a competitor or a spectator.
By Amin Touri
Reilly Kiernan finished Saturday’s Boston Athletic Association Boston 5K about three minutes slower than she did three years ago. In her defense, she was running for two.
Kiernan crossed the line in 19 minutes, 36 seconds on Saturday, finishing sixth in her age group, all while 35 weeks pregnant.
“I’m definitely pregnant enough to warrant lots of double takes from people as I was lining up for the race,” Kiernan said with a laugh. “A person next to me in the crowd at the start was like, ‘Good luck — to both of you!’
Ken Mahan | Forecast
After a more seasonal and breezy Easter Sunday with high temperatures reaching the low 60s, all eyes are on Patriots Day, Monday, when thousands will take part in the Boston Marathon and many more will flock along the race route to cheer on the athletes.
Still others will head to Fenway, where the Red Sox play a day game against the White Sox, with first pitch at 11:10 a.m. And so far, the forecast shows Monday looking like a great spring day with mostly sunny skies. The average high in Boston for April 21 is 59 degrees, and it’s looking like we’ll end up somewhere between 55 and 60 Monday afternoon, with a cooler-than-average start to the day — pretty good running temperatures for the race.
By Katie McInerney
Get caught up on the Boston Marathon with some of our stories from this month …
▪ The Boston Marathon was a far different race when Bill Rodgers shocked himself and the racing world by winning in 1975. John Powers looks back.
▪ Alice Cook knows big challenges. As a US Olympic figure skater, her drive and dedication landed her in the 1976 Games. Nine years later, she became Boston’s first full-time female sports reporter on TV. Now faced with her most daunting challenge, Cook has her athlete’s eye fixed on running the Boston Marathon. It will be her second time running the race since being diagnosed with ALS. Read more from Kevin Paul Dupont.
▪ Tom McCall started running on the dirt track of an Illinois prison. On Monday, he’ll take on Boston. Read about his comeback story from Tara Sullivan.
▪ After a suicide, running helped a Framingham mother and son cope. This will be their first Boston Marathon together. Claire Thornton has the story.
▪ 40,000 bananas, 8 tons of paper cups, and a whole lot of emissions: Go inside the Boston Marathon’s climate footprint with Sabrina Shankman.
▪ Looking for the best race to qualify for the Boston Marathon? Amin Touri crunched the numbers on the competition that may get you that BQ. Prepare your quads.
▪ Fifty years ago, wheelchair racing left the start line at the Boston Marathon. Hear from Bob Hall, the first competitor, and meet the ones he inspired.
▪ In 1961, a dog was blamed for ruining the Boston Marathon. Really. Hayden Bird looks back at the bizarre incident.
▪ How much money do you get if you win the Marathon? If you’re fast enough, it can be a pretty lucrative day.
Emma can be reached at [email protected] or on X @_EmmaHealy_. Amin Touri can be reached at [email protected]. Katie McInerney can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @k8tmac.
