2023 Boston Marathon preview: full schedule and how to watch Eliud Kipchoge race live
The 127th edition of the Boston Marathon includes 15 men who have run under 2:07, led by Olympic champion and world record holder Eliud Kipchoge. Here’s everything you need to know about the Boston Marathon, including how to follow the race on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com on Monday 17 April.
Athletics
How fast can Eliud Kipchoge run in his debut Boston Marathon?
That’s the big question, with an elite field that features 15 men who have broken two hours seven minutes, the 2023 Boston Marathon could be one for the history books.
Kenyan athletics star Kipchoge seeks to write more marathon history as the only man ever to win the Boston Marathon as a double Olympic gold medallist and a current world marathon record holder.
A welcome challenge for the first runner to break the two-hour barrier over the marathon distance.
Kipchoge will be up against three men, led by defending champion Evans Chebet, who have previously conquered the legendary course known for its rolling hills with demanding climbs and downhill sections. It'll all be live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com (territorial restrictions apply).
The main contenders for the women’s title include past winners in home favourite Des Linden and Kenya’s evergreen Edna Kiplagat.
Here is a rundown of what to expect from the April 17 race that also marks the 10th anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Top class men's field for Boston Marathon 2023
Kipchoge will be back on the marathon course for the first time since lowering his world record in Berlin last September to 2:01.09. On his return to Japan in March 2022, eight months after securing his second Olympic title in Sapporo, he set a new course record at the Tokyo Marathon.
And there’s a huge expectation among marathon followers that he could blow the quality men's field with an emphatic victory on Monday 17 April.
Kipchoge will be seeking to notch up a fifth straight Marathon victory, and his 15th of 17 starts over the 42.2km distance. But it’s not just about winning his second American marathon ever after Chicago in 2014.
He could add another ‘unofficial record’ to his growing list of achievements after his 2:00:25 run in Monza in 2017 and his 1:59:40 in Vienna from four years ago.
Boston is a ‘point-point’ run and is not eligible as a world record marathon course. World Athletics only recognizes a looped course - with a start and finish line close to each other.
The Boston course record of 2 hours 3 minutes and 2 seconds was set by another Kenyan, Geoffrey Mutai in 2011.
But it’s not going to be an easy race against time for Kipchoge as he faces a world-class field.
There’s Chebet, who rounded off his phenomenal last year with victory in New York.
The other Kenyan who could pull a surprise is Benson Kipruto, the 2022 Chicago marathon champion who won the 2021 Boston Marathon. Another man very familiar with the course is Lelisa Desisa. He is a two-time winner and has also finished as a runner-up twice.
The Ethiopian won the 2013 edition. Shortly afterwards, two explosives went off at the finish line, killing three spectators and injuring hundreds. Desisa donated his winner’s medal back to the city of Boston in recognition of the tragedy, which will also be in the minds of many on race day, 10 years on.
World champions and former Boston winners headline the women's elite and wheelchair races
Two of the 2022 World Championship medallists are part of an impressive women’s elite list for Boston.
World gold winner Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia and Israel’s Lonah Salpeter, who was third in Eugene, are on a start list that also includes former Boston Marathon champions Des Linden (2018**), Edna Kiplagat** (2017, 2021), and **Atsede Baysa (**2016).
Kenya's double Olympic silver medallist Hellen Obiri and Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso, who topped the 2022 Valencia Marathon, have signed up for the first time.
Four-time Boston champion Manuela Schär of Switzerland returns to challenge her own women's wheelchair course record of 1:28:17 but will have to hold off Tokyo Olympic gold medallists USA’s Susannah Scaroni and Madison de Rozario of Australia and another seasoned Boston winner Tatyana McFadden who has topped the Boston podium five times.
In the men’s wheelchair race, the focus will on another returning champ, American Daniel Romanchuk. Wheelchair marathon world record holder and reigning Paralympic marathon gold medalist Marcel Hug returns to chase a sixth Boston Marathon title.
The schedule of Boston Marathon 2023 race events
- Men's Wheelchair - 9:02 am ET.
- Women's Wheelchair - 9:05 am ET.
- Handcycles & Duos - 9:30 am ET.
- Professional Men - 9:37 am ET.
- Professional Women - 9:47 am ET.
- Para Athletics Divisions -9:50 am ET.
- Rolling Start Begins - 10:00 am ET.
- Rolling Start Ends - 11:15 am ET.
How to watch the Boston Marathon 2023 live
Raceday in Boston will be covered extensively on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics apps for mobile and connected devices (territorial restrictions may apply). Click here for more.
Boston residents can also follow the race live by finding a good spot on the spectator guide, or can kick back in their living room as the marathon will be aired lived on WCVB beginning at 4:00 a.m. ET through 8:00 p.m. ET. The race will be exclusively simulcast regionally on WCVB Channel 5’s Hearst Television owned sister-stations WMUR (Manchester, NH), WMTW (Portland/Auburn, ME), and WPTZ (Burlington, VT/Plattsburgh, NY), including their digital platforms and mobile apps.
ESPN will broadcast the 127th Boston Marathon for wider America on its flagship channel from 8:30am ET until 1:00om ET.
Marathon fans can find the full list of international television broadcasters here for their country.