- The 2025 Boston Marathon is scheduled to be held on Monday, April 21 in the United States.
- Hellen Obiri will be chasing her third back to back Boston Marathon titles in the event that has attracted several other top names.
- Kenya’s Evans Chebet is also seeking to become the fourth man in history to bag three Boston Marathon titles.
Hellen Obiri is among Kenyan road race runners who will be on a mission in the upcoming 2025 Boston Marathon.
Obiri will be seeking to become the first woman to clinch three consecutive Boston Marathon titles since Fatuma Roba attained that remarkable feat in 1999.
The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) athlete won her maiden title in the 2023 edition when she overpowered the likes of Kenyan-born Israel international Lonah Salpeter and the Ethiopian duo of Amane Beriso and Ababel Yeshaneh.
She clocked 2:21:38 in the highly demanding Boston course to beat Beriso by more than 10 seconds.
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Obiri then went on to retain her title in 2024, this time round running a calculated race to cross the finishing line in 2:22:37.
The Paris Olympic Games bronze medalist was followed by fellow country women Sharon Lokedi and Edna Kiplagat, who clocked 2:22:45 and 2:23:21 respectively.
Stiff Competition
Obiri, who recently switched her training base from the United States to Ngong, Kajiado County, is expected to face stiff competition this season especially from Lokedi and Kiplagat.
Kiplagat, a two-time Boston Marathon champion, is still going strong despite celebrating her 45th birthday in November.
Meanwhile, Lokedi has gained more experience since making her marathon debut in 2022 with a win at the New York City Marathon, hence she will be more eager to shine.
Some of the other elite athletes that have been confirmed for the Abbott World Marathon Majors race that is scheduled to be held on Sunday, Monday, April 21 include Beriso, Yalemzerf Beriso (Ethiopia), Irine Cheptai (Kenya), Mary Ngugi (Kenya), Viola Chepngeno (Kenya), and Sharon Cherop Kenya.
Obiri has acknowledged that winning the coveted title for the third time in a row will be difficult but she is optimistic of achieving her goal.
“Defending a win is never easy, and to win the Boston Marathon twice in a row was hard, but I am happy to have done it.
On race day I will again push for the win and hope to make it three in a row,” he was quoted by the organizers.
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Evans Chebet seeks top seat
Besides Obiri, another Kenyan runner in Evans Chebet will be aiming to win the Boston Marathon for the third time in his career.
Should Chebet triumph this year, he will become the fourth runner in history to win the event on three occasions.
The Kenyan pair of Robert Cheruiyot Mwafrika and Cosmas Ndeti as well as American legend Clarence DeMar have already attained that accomplishment.
The Kapsabet based speedster won his first title in 2022 before successfully defending it the following year.
Chebet’s personal best of 2:03:00 that he set in the 2020 Valencia Marathon makes him one of the pre-race favorites.
The athlete, who trains with the likes of Amos Kipruto, Benson Kipruto and Sabastian Sawe, will battle it out for the top prize against the likes of the reigning Bank of America Chicago Marathon champion John Korir and Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma.
Cybrian Kotut (Kenya), Daniel Mateiko (Kenya), Alphonce Felix Simbu (Tanzania), Victor Kiplangat (Uganda) and Abel Kipchumba (Kenya) are some of the other stars who are expected to be in the mix.
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