To put it simply: Marathon Monday was delightful.

Spectators were treated to one of the first beautiful spring days in Boston as temperatures hovered in the mid-50s before it warmed up and runners got to enjoy a slight tailwind. And the 128th running of America’s oldest marathon was a memorable one. We saw Sisay Lemma boldly go on 2:00:06 marathon pace through 10K and hold on to win in 2:06:17 and Hellen Obiri win her second consecutive title.

You can view full results from the race here. If you want to rewatch the CITIUS MAG watchalong with us, here:

Hellen Obiri Goes Back To Back

Coming into the race, Hellen Obiri told us that her biggest worry was managing to get her bottles off the tables without any problems. If that was her biggest concern on the starting line, I firmly believed she would be fine and a clear favorite to make history with back-to-back victories. She did just that.

Obiri spent the majority of the race biding her time as part of a pack of 18-20 women who stayed together through the first 20 miles. Obiri’s breakaway didn’t come until Mile 24, at which point she dropped a 4:41 to pull away with Sharon Lokedi. Obiri and Lokedi dueled over the final two miles but the two-time Olympic 5000m silver medalist had the wheels to pull away by eight seconds and win in 2:22:37, becoming the first woman to successfully defend her Boston Marathon titles since Catherine Ndreba in 2005 and 2006.

"Since Boston started, it's only six women [who have repeated],” Obiri said in the post-race press conference. “So I said, 'Can I be one of them? If you want to be one of them, you have to work extra hard.'”

This now makes it clear for Athletics Kenya. You select the woman who has won three consecutive World Majors on hilly courses without pacers! In my opinion, Obiri is the favorite in Paris. She’s been vocal about how much she wants that elusive Olympic gold medal. During our watchalong, Kyle Merber asked, “Is this what Hellen Obiri’s marathoning career will become? She just wins New York and Boston forever?” That doesn’t sound too bad! The only thing is that we’re still left wondering just how fast she can go on a flat, fast course. That’s the one thing two other top women may have on her in Paris: quicker PBs.

However, we still don’t know if Sifan Hassan is planning to run the marathon at the Paris Olympics. If she’s in, you’d have to consider her as a medal favorite. When it comes to winning marathons, she’s two for three and her only “blemish” was her fourth place finish in 2:18:05 in Tokyo last month.

World record holder Tigist Assefa is slated to race Sunday’s London Marathon, which will mark her first outing since her 2:11:53 in Berlin last fall (the performance has strangely yet to be ratified by World Athletics). She was an Olympian in 2016 in the 800m but this would mark her first marathon sans pacers.

Sisay Lemma Executed The Craziest Race Plan

Before Kelvin Kiptum obliterated Eliud Kipchoge’s world record in Chicago, we were fairly skeptical of how Valencia Marathon performances translated onto the World Marathon Major stages. Kiptum changed that perception, yet we still had our own doubts about how 2:01:48-guy Sisay Lemma would fare on Boston’s hilly course. He was a DNF at the 2017 and 2022 editions of the Boston Marathon. His best finish here was 30th in 2:22:08. It was fair to have doubts.

Lemma was the first to make a big move as he hit the front around the 5K mark and proceeded to gap the field immediately. He hit the halfway mark in 1:00:19, which is faster than Kiptum’s first half split (1:00:48) during his world record performance and faster than Geoffrey Mutai’s course record split (1:01:58) from 2011. Lemma nearly led by three minutes at one point.

In Boston, the first 15 miles take care of themselves. Once you get through the Newton Hills and ascend Heartbreak Hill, that’s when the real racing starts. Lemma was clearly hurting for those later stages. Defending champion Evans Chebet, John Korir and Albert Korir were among the Kenyans giving chase and cutting into his lead over the final 10K. Lemma’s final three miles were slower than Hellen Obiri’s final three miles – yet he managed to hold on for the victory in 2:06:17. Classic 1:00:19–1:05:58 positive split that everyone draws up as their strategy to win Boston!

The question coming out of this race is now whether Lemma has done enough to be selected by the Ethiopian Athletics Federation to represent them at the Paris Olympics. He was a DNF at the 2021 Olympic Marathon in the hot conditions in Sapporo. However, he’s proven he can run fast with Valencia and his 2021 victory in London. And now, he backed his case that he can handle a non-paced race with hills.

Sharon Lokedi Will Be Watching the London Marathon Closely

Lokedi gave it a hell of a fight and finished second in 2:22:45, which was a personal best by nearly a full minute.

As we continue our discussion on Athletics Kenya’s marathon selection process, Sharon Lokedi will be closely watching the London Marathon on Sunday as former world record holder Brigid Kosgei, reigning Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir, and 2022 Chicago Marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich race against one of the deepest women’s marathon fields in history.

If we assume Obiri is guaranteed a spot, there are only two more on the line. (Note: According to LetsRun’s Jonathan Gault, Obiri endorsed Lokedi for selection for Paris in the post-race press conference. She said, “The Paris course is a tough course. It’s even tougher than Boston. If we have Sharon as my teammate in Paris, we will have a fantastic women’s race.”)

The case for Lokedi is that she’s proven herself on tough courses without pacers. She won the 2022 New York City Marathon in her debut. She had to withdraw from the 2023 Boston Marathon before the race due to injury but returned with a strong third place finish (second Kenyan – only to Obiri again) at the New York City Marathon that fall. She would be a medal contender, if selected.

Evans Chebet Still Has An Olympic Shot

Coming into this race, Evans Chebet was looking to make history as the first man to win three consecutive Boston Marathons since Robert Cheruiyot in 2006, 2007, and 2008. It was also an opportunity to prove himself to Athletics Kenya’s team of selectors for the Paris Olympic team, despite not being named to the short list of athletes in consideration. His coach Claudio Berrardelli told CITIUS MAG that part of the reason for his exclusion was doubt over his Achilles injury that knocked him out of his title defense in New York last fall.

His third place finish in 2:07:22 may have snapped his winning streak, but he wasn’t beaten by any fellow Kenyans. And if consistency is a consideration, Chebet has one of the best resumes in recent history: you have to go all the way back to 2018 to find a marathon where he finished lower than fourth (a DNF in Boston during the crazy weather year). And that’s the only marathon in Chebet’s career that he didn’t finish top four, across 16 races going back to 2014.

As we noted on our watchalong, it’s fairly safe to assume that Eliud Kipchoge will be selected for the team since he is going for a historic third consecutive gold medal (it’s rich for TV storylines, his coach Patrick Sang is one of the coaches for the team and he’s the most marketable runner in the world). Athletics Kenya tries its best not to include multiple athletes from the same training group, which is unfortunate because Benson Kipruto appears to be in line for selection following his Tokyo Marathon victory and course record but that would mean Chebet would be out. We’ll likely have more clarity on who will get the final spots after the London Marathon. Kenya’s “problem” is they have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to marathon talent.

Edna Kiplagat Is A Marathon Marvel

Edna Kiplagat recorded her 14th podium finish at a World Marathon Major or World Championships with her third place finish in 2:23:21. That was also the seventh-fastest performance of her career and her best since 2018.

Kiplagat’s calling card in the latter half of her career has been letting experience be her guide, resisting the temptation to make foolhardy moves early in the race and picking apart the competition in the final miles. And that’s a strategy perfect for New York and Boston. With the exception of a disappointing 30th-place finish at Boston in 2023, Kiplagat has finished first (Boston 2021), fourth (Boston 2022), fourth (NYC 2022), seventh (NYC 2023), and third (Boston 2024) at those two races in the last three years.

For context, when Edna Kiplagat picked up her first World Marathon Major title at New York in 2010, Emma Bates had just arrived at Boise State as a college freshman. Des Linden had yet to make an Olympic team. And Jenny Simpson was still primarily known as a steeplechaser. Gebregziabher Gebremariam, the men’s champion in that race, is five years younger than Kiplagat and retired in 2015.

At 44 years old, she is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. My guess is she’ll opt to return to New York in the fall but a run in Berlin would be fun – she could try to become the first woman to podium in all six World Marathon Majors.

A little over two months after his fifth place finish at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, C.J. Albertson got a long-awaited Boston Marathon breakthrough with a seventh place finish in 2:09:53, good for top American honors. His previous best place in Boston was 10th in 2021, but his fastest performance was 2:10:23 in 2022. We’ve always felt like Albertson was a 2:08ish guy trapped in the body of a 2:10 guy, and while it’s hard to say this race was the top of his bounce, he’s clearly progressing toward his full potential. His fearless racing approach, however, is a double-edged sword that’s possibly cost him faster times in the past.

Clearly, his experience and intimate knowledge of the Boston course was an asset. In the days leading up to the race, Albertson shared his “Ideal Boston Marathon splits that I’ll never run” on Strava. It would’ve resulted in a 2:09:51. When race day came around, he was just two seconds off. On Monday, he posted: “Spoke those splits into existence: Also sat around Dom Scott and Emma Bates pre-race to get the Fauble energy.”

Did Mohamed Esa Leave Too Much In The Tank?

No one uttered the 23-year-old Ethiopian’s name for much of the race because the broadcast focused on Lemma’s solo push and Evans Chebet’s charge. So it was a bit surprising to see Esa cruising past Chebet and celebrating down Boylston Street, all smiles. He was in fourth place with two kilometers left in the race but timed his final kick well to record his second career podium finish. Last year, he was second in the Tokyo Marathon in 2:05:22, dropped out of Chicago in the fall, and then rebounded with 2:05:40 for eighth place in Valencia last December.

Esa doesn’t have a long resume (yet), but anyone who runs 2:05:05 in their debut (at Valencia in 2022) and has two podium finishes at World Marathon Majors in three attempts is someone to keep an eye on. An Olympic bid is far from guaranteed now that Lemma has the Boston crown and Tamirat Tola finished third and first in London and NYC last year, but Esa has to be in the conversation for the third spot. Esa was the sixth-ranked Ethiopian marathoner per World Athletics before Boston, and no other Ethiopian man aside from Lemma and Tola has finished top two at a major since the 2023 Tokyo Marathon.

Remember his name.

Welcome Back, Emma Bates

After sadly withdrawing from the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials due to a plantar tear, Emma Bates used the additional weeks of training to recover and make her comeback in Boston. Before the race, she told CITIUS that she felt confident in her fitness and was prepared to race with the best women in the world. Last year, she was fifth and so she drew upon that experience to lead for much of the race on Monday. Bates was the top American in 12th place in 2:27:14. Sara Hall finished 44 seconds behind her for 15th place (second American) on her 41st birthday.

Bates is truly the victim of terrible timing, as she’s been one of the strongest and most consistent American marathoners of the last cycle. But the good news is that, unlike many of her current rivals, Bates is only 31 years old. And her ability to bounce back quickly from a serious injury is a great sign for her longevity as a marathoner – and given that she’ll only be 39 at the 2032 Olympic Marathon Trials, the Olympic dream is far from over for her.

MARATHONER Jenny Simpson

Former 1500m world champion Jenny Simpson, unfortunately, dropped out of her marathon debut at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando back in February but quickly pivoted to getting redemption in Boston. The 37-year-old finished 18th in 2:31:39, the fourth American in her first completed 26.2 effort. Simpson slowed significantly in the last few miles, running 6:02 pace from 20 miles to the finish, but she actually picked up a few places over the same stretch, moving from 22nd at halfway to 20th at 20 miles to 18th at the finish.

Seeing former middle distance runners like Assefa, Obiri, Hassan or Genzebe Dibaba have rapid success in the marathon sets the bar way too high for Simpson’s road endeavors. Coming into this race, I’d say few people were picking Simpson to finish as the top American. There were just too many seasoned stars ahead of her on the start list. This one was just about getting a marathon finish on the board. The Jenny Simpson-to-the-roads experiment hasn’t yet provided any major fireworks but it’s good to see an all-time U.S. star still exploring her potential in something new.

Marathons Without Rabbits Are Thrilling

While it can be exciting to watch some of the sport’s greatest athletes chase record-breaking times with the help of a small army of pacers, there’s something fun about the unpredictable nature of championship-style racing. A relatively pedestrian early pace in the women’s race kept a large pack of 15 runners in contention with 10km remaining in the race, and five different women led the second half of the race before Obiri finally closed the door on the competition. And on the men’s side, Sisay Lemma’s crazy early-race heroics would likely have been dampened somewhat by the addition of pacers to either slow him down or help him maintain his lead longer.

Of the six current Abbott World Marathon Majors, New York and Boston traditionally do not employ pacers, whereas the international races do (Chicago has flip-flopped back and forth over the years). Part of the fun of the World Marathon Major circuit is that the six races are all very different and some courses are more conducive to certain can athletes or styles of racing. But World and Olympic marathon championships never feature pacers and, particularly on challenging courses, their absence adds a higher likelihood of early-race drama and hours of entertainment compared with watching 30 kilometers of the top contenders following the rabbits.

There’s No Running Party Like Boston Marathon Weekend

Boston Marathon weekend is one of the best weekends in America. You have a guaranteed treat in the elite races and then you’re moved by the rest of the running community that has worked so hard to get to this stage. We took a break from chatting about records, world rankings, etc. to listen to stories from the pack behind the elites. Recording our “Talking To Strangers: Tell Us Your Boston Marathon Story” podcast was so moving – it was truly inspiring to hear from people of all walks of life toeing the same starting line. If you haven’t watched or listened yet, I definitely encourage you to do so, if you’re ever seeking motivation for your own running.