The second cease of the 2026 Abbott World Marathon Main circuit is simply days away, and principally the complete working world can be, each bodily and emotionally, heading to the Boston Marathon. Eight of final yr’s top-10 Boston Marathon finishers within the males’s subject can be returning to the beginning line in Hopkinton, Mass., together with all three podium placers and Canada’s Rory Linkletter. Ontario’s Ben Preisner can even make his world main debut.
Can Korir defend his title?
Headlining the sector is reigning champion John Korirwho received final yr’s race within the second-fastest time in historical past. The Kenyan is available in sizzling off a victory on the Valencia Marathon in December, the place he ran his 2:02:24 private finest. He additionally received Chicago in 2024.
Korir’s brother, Wes Korirreceived Boston in 2012, making them the primary brothers to assert the title.
Final yr’s Boston runner-up and Tokyo 2025 world champion Alphonse Felix Simbu of Tanzania (2:04:38 PB) can even be again within the combine, alongside defending third-place finisher Cybrian Kotut of Kenya (2:03:22 PB). The pair closed out final yr’s race with a dash end.
Kenya’s Benson Kipruto enters with the quickest time within the subject, 2:02:16; he’s the primary individual to win all three American marathon majors (Boston 2021, Chicago 2022, New York Metropolis 2025). In 2024, he additionally received the Tokyo Marathon and Olympic bronze, and is a former Toronto Waterfront Marathon champion.
Different notable entrants embody Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist and NYC 2024 champion Abdi Nageye of the Netherlands (2:04:20), Sydney 2025 champion Hailemaryam Kiros of Ethiopia (2:04:35) and Kenya’s Alex Masaiwho took third at Chicago 2025 in his 2:04:37 PB. With American report holder and final yr’s fourth-place finisher Conner Mantz out with an damage, Clayton Younger is available in as the highest runner from the U.S. contingent.
Ethiopia’s 2016 Boston Marathon champion Lemi Berhanu is slated to return to the beginning line, marking 10 years since his victory.
Canadians purpose to make massive strikes in Boston
Final yr, Calgary’s Linkletter delivered the quickest Boston efficiency ever by a Canadianinserting sixth in 2:07:02. The efficiency smashed his top-10 purpose, marked a 59-second private finest and, on the time, marked the second-fastest marathon in Canadian historical past.
Linkletter has since improved that mark, working 2:06:49 for ninth on the 2025 Chicago Marathon. He nonetheless sits second behind Cam Levins’s 2:05:36 nationwide report. This yr, Linkletter returns to Boston with a a lot greater purpose: searching down a spot on the rostrum.
Preisner, Canada’s third-fastest marathoner, can be making his world main debut. The Oakville, Ont., native owns a 2:08 PB and has represented Canada at three World Championships and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Video games. He’s been sharing his Boston marathon coaching plans on his new Instagram account, @bensmarathontraining.
Schedule + the way to watch
The 2026 Boston Marathon takes place on Monday, April 20.
(All instances in ET)
9:06 a.m. – Males’s wheelchair
9:09 a.m. – Ladies’s wheelchair
9:37 a.m. – Skilled males
9:47 a.m. – Skilled girls
9:50 a.m. – Para athletics
10:00 a.m. – Wave 1
For viewers in Canada, the race can be streamed stay on TSN and Quebec’s RDS.
Watch this area Thursday for our elite girls’s preview.
