(Reuters) -Kenyan John Korir overcame a tumble near the starting line to win the Boston Marathon on Monday, finishing in two hours four minutes and 45 seconds, while his compatriot Sharon Lokedi denied Hellen Obiri a third straight title in a course record.
The 2024 Chicago winner Korir recovered quickly from the fall and pulled away at the 20-mile mark, building a minute cushion between himself and the rest of the field with two miles to go, before jogging through the finish.
Tanzanian Alphonce Simbu eked out a second-place finish in 2:05:04, battling Kenyan Cybrian Kotut down the final straight.
Korir, who appeared to lose his bib in his early fall, had the paper in his hands as he held his arms out wide to break the tape in the second-fastest time in Boston.
With the victory, he and his older brother, 2012 winner Wesley Korir, became the only two siblings to win the oldest annual marathon, and the former champion was there to offer John a hug at the finish line.
It was a memorable day on the women’s side, too, as last year’s runner-up Lokedi had revenge on her mind while Kenyan Obiri sought a rare Boston “three-peat”.
The 2022 New York winner Lokedi and Obiri had pulled away from the rest of the field and were locked in a tense battle with less than two miles to go before Obiri, who won bronze in Paris, began to lose energy.
Lokedi surged through the final 1,000 metres, taking two minutes and 37 seconds off the course record set in 2014 by Buzunesh Deba as she crossed the line in 2:17:22.
Obiri was 19 seconds slower and Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw (2:18:06) finished third.
Lokedi said she had feared she went out too fast as she approached Boston’s famously demanding hills but had more than enough left in the tank for the final stretch.
“Feel so great, I can’t believe it,” she said. “I just wanted to do my best and just fight to the end.”
The 129th running of the Boston Marathon also marked the 50th anniversary of the first wheelchair winner at the major, when Bob Hall crossed the line in 2:58:00.
Swiss Marcel Hug collected his eighth Boston title in 1:21:34 and offered a tribute to Hall at the finish line.
“He is a real pioneer for our sport – he opened the door for us,” said Hug. “We are so grateful, thankful, that he had the courage to come here and do the Boston Marathon 50 years ago.”
American Susannah Scaroni won the women’s race in 1:35:20, a year after she was forced to miss the event due to injury.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Toby Davis)
