Boston Marathon 2025 Race Preview: Who Will Win?

With returning champions and some of the fastest runners in the US lining up in Hopkinton for the 2025 Boston Marathon, here are all the names and all the stories to look out for on Patriots’ Day.

The 2025 Boston Marathon takes place on Monday 21 April. Start times are (Eastern Time):

9:37am: Professional Men

9:47am: Professional Women

10:00am to 11:30am: Mass start (with four starting waves)

The course records are: 

Men’s: Geoffrey Mutai (Kenya). 2:03:02 (2011)

Women’s: Buzunesh Deba (Ethiopia). 2:19:59 (2014)

The weather forecast? A few days out from the race and the weather is looking good. Perhaps a little warm, but overcast, light winds, and conditions which shouldn’t impact the running too much.

BOSTON MARATHON 2025 WOMEN’S RACE

With 17 women in the field who have run sub-2:23, the 2025 Boston Marathon could see an attempt on the women’s course record, though the women’s race is often tactical in the early and middle miles, with a large lead pack, before the racing really begins around Heartbreak Hill. 

The defending women’s champion returns and Hellen Obiri is looking to win three Boston Marathons in a row. If she does so she’ll become the fifth woman to achieve the feat. 

On paper, the Kenyan is only the 12th fastest in the field with a personal best of 2:21:38 (Boston 2023), but she is so successful over hilly courses and has shown her abilities in Boston – she has the chance to prove her dominance in this year’s race. She won Olympic bronze in Paris.

In 2024, Obiri’s margin of victory was just eight-seconds over Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi, and the Kenyan is back in Boston to race again. The 2022 New York City Marathon champion was fourth in the thrilling Paris Olympic Marathon and runs very well in hilly marathons. 

Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso is the fastest woman in the field having run 2:14:58 (Valencia 2022), which makes her the fifth-fastest woman in history over the marathon distance. She finished second at the 2023 Boston Marathon and fifth at the Paris Olympic Marathon, and has yet to win a World Marathon Major. Is this her best chance yet?

Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw ran 2:16:52 to win the 2024 Amsterdam Marathon, and she won the 2022 London Marathon, and also look out for her countrywoman Rahma Tusa who ran 2:19:33 (Houston 2024) and has performed well in hilly marathons in Sydney and New York.

Kenya’s Irine Cheptai ran 2:17:51 in Chicago 2024 in only her second marathon, and looks to be a promising runner early in her career. At the opposite end of experience-level is Kenya’s Edna Kaplagat. The 45-year-old finished third in last year’s Boston Marathon. This year’s race will be her 29th appearance in a World Marathon Major, and she’s been on the podium in 14 of them and has twice won the Boston Marathon (2017, 2021). 

Ethiopia’s Buze Diriba finished fourth in both the Boston and New York City Marathons in 2024, so she knows how to run hilly courses, and with a personal best of 2:20:22 she could challenge for the podium. 

WHO WILL BE TOP AMERICAN WOMAN AT THE 2025 BOSTON MARATHON? 

The American women’s field is one of the deepest in history with 14 women who have run under 2:26.

Among the competition will be Emma Bates, Des Linden, Keira D’Amato, Jessica McClain, Sara Hall, Sara Vaughn, Lindsay Flanagan and Olympian Dakotah Popehn.

Bates has finished as top American at the Boston Marathon for the last two years and won’t want to lose that crown.

Look out for the UK’s Calli Hauger-Thackery who has shown some excellent recent form winning the 2024 California International Marathon and has a PB of 2:21:24 from the 2024 Berlin Marathon – both coming just months after a disappointing DNF at the Paris Olympic Marathon. She recently ran a half marathon PB of 1:06:58. Don’t be surprised to see her challenging for a top five finish. 

BOSTON MARATHON 2025 MEN’S RACE

The men’s field features 21 men who have run sub-2:09, and includes Sisay Lemma, the returning men’s champion.

The Ethiopian is the fastest man in the field, and the only man to have run a 2:01 marathon (2:01:48 Valencia 2023). Lemma’s winning time in 2024 was 2:06:17. But he’ll be up against another returning champion.

Kenya’s Evans Chebet is a two-time winner of the Boston Marathon (2022, 2023) and finished third in 2024. He also won the New York City Marathon in 2022 (and was second in 2024), so has proven his strength on hilly courses. He has a PB of 2:03:00 (Valencia 2020). 

Kenya’s John Korir won the 2024 Chicago Marathon where he set a new PB of 2:02:44, making him the second-fastest man in the field. He finished fourth in last year’s Boston Marathon.

Kenya’s Cybrian Kotut has a personal best of 2:03:22 from his second-place finish at the 2024 Berlin Marathon. He has a number of career marathon podium finishes, as does Ethiopia’s Haymanot Alew, who ran 2:03:31 to finish third at the 2024 Berlin Marathon. 

Uganda’s Victor Kiplangat is the reigning Marathon World Champion from Budapest in 2023. He ran in the Tokyo Marathon and Paris Olympic Marathon in 2024 and has a personal best of 2:05:09 (Hamburg 2022).

Kenya’s Daniel Mateiko, who trains with Eliud Kipchoge and coach Patrick Sang, has yet to finish a Major but has a personal best of 2:04:24 from Valencia 2024, and will be hoping to prove his abilities in the biggest races. 

WHO WILL BE TOP AMERICAN MALE AT THE 2025 BOSTON MARATHON? 

The race for top American is headlined by Olympians Conner Mantz and Clayton Young in a field which also features CJ Albertson (top American at Boston in 2024), Zach Panning, Colin Bennie, Brian Shrader and Reed Fischer.

Canada’s Rory Linkletter, who ran in the Paris Olympics, is also racing and will no doubt be trying to beat the Americans.

One story to look out for is how Mantz and Young, who are training partners, have finished one place apart in four consecutive races, and a total of just 67 seconds – that’s cumulative time – has separated them across those four races. Mantz has finished ahead in each race, and he broke the American half marathon record earlier this year (59:17), but can Young get ahead of his training partner in Boston?

One thing’s certain: they will be looking to place as high as possible in the race.

Young documents his training in a fascinating YouTube series if you want to see what it’s like to train at the highest level for the Boston Marathon.

Want to know more about the Boston Marathon? 

Lead image Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images