2023 Boston marathon elite runners entry list
Double Olympic gold medallist Eliud Kipchoge leads a loaded field that includes six Boston winners, including defending champion Evans Chebet, and several world champions.
Athletics
Rightfully so, the focus this year ahead of the Boston Marathon has been on the great Eliud Kipchoge’s expected debut.
But besides the world’s fastest marathoner, the 127th Boston Marathon elite entry list is loaded with great names.
The ‘historic’ line-up includes six Boston winners, world champions and, in world record holder Kipchoge, a double Olympic marathon champion.
Here is a rundown of world-class contenders to keep an eye on during the April 17 race.
The Olympic champion
Kenyan star Kipchoge returns to the marathon course nearly seven months after his incredible world record of 2:01:09 in Berlin.
He aims to continue to build his legend and legacy by running in his fifth World Marathon Majors, after winning in Tokyo last year, and previous successes in Chicago, Berlin and London.
As he eyes an unprecedented third marathon Olympic title at Paris 2024, now only New York remains on the 38-year-old’s to-do list.
The world champions
The winner of the gold medal in the women's marathon at the World Championships in Eugene, Gotytom Gebreslase, will also run for the first time in Boston.
She finished third in Tokyo and in New York last year and is eager to return to winning ways.
The 2021 Berlin Marathon winner is no stranger to Boston, having competed in several indoor races across the city and in the city's 5km run.
Another first timer in Boston will be Rio 2016 Olympian Ghirmay Ghebreslassie of Eritrea, the 2015 World Championships men’s gold medallist who also topped the 2016 New York City Marathon.
Boston Marathon 2023 marks the 10 year anniversary of the 2013 bombing that killed three people near the finish line, and injured hundreds. That race was Lelisa Desisa’s first major victory. The Ethiopian plans a return to form on a course he’s topped twice in 2013 and 2015. The Tokyo 2020 Olympian then went on to win New York in 2018 and captured gold at the World Championships in Doha in 2019 - his last major triumph.
Hellen Obiri, a double track world champion is the latest addition to the women's elite field. It will be the second marathon for the Kenyan two-time Olympic 5000m silver medallist after her sixth place finish at last year's New York Marathon.
Boston Marathon winners
The former winners in the men’s field are the titleholder Evans Chebet, 2021 champion Benson Kipruto, and the two-time conqueror Desisa.
2022 was a good one for Kenyan Chebet. He became just the sixth man in history to win the Boston and New York City Marathons in the same year.
His personal record of 2:03:00, the winning time at the 2020 Valencia Marathon, makes him the second fastest in the field.
His training partner Benson Kipruto seeks a third Major marathon win after running his personal best of 2:04:24, his winning time in Chicago last year.
Other returning Boston marathon champions are Atsede Baysa of Ethiopia, the 2016 champ and Des Linden, the last American to win the open division in 2018.
Also lining up again in Boston again will be the eternal Edna Kiplagat.
The 43-year-old Kenyan Kiplagat is chasing her third victory on the world’s oldest major marathon race course in six starts. Kiplagat became the first able-bodied female six-star elite finisher at the 2018 Berlin Marathon, and the 2023 edition will be her 19th World Marathon Major race. The 2010 New York marathon champion and 2014 London winner was fourth last year behind compatriot Peres Jepchirchir.
And a lot more
Also, worth keeping an eye on are Albert Korir of Kenya (2021 New York City champion), and Shura Kitata of Ethiopia (2020 London Marathon champion).
Another debutant is Ethiopia’s Herpasa Negasa who boasts of a time of 2:03:40 from his second place at the 2019 Dubai Marathon.
Scott Fauble, the top placed American last year in seventh, will be back for his fourth Boston Marathon run.
Among the 15 women on the elite list who have run under 2 hours, 21 minutes are Israel’s Lonah Salpeter, the bronze medallist from the 2022 World Championships, Kenya’s Hellen Obiri who made her debut Marathon last year in New York, and Amane Beriso, the Ethiopian who ran the third-fastest marathon time in history – 2:14:58—to win Valencia and set a new national record in December.