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The third Monday in April once again lived up to its reputation as an amazing day for running. If you were watching the 2024 Boston Marathon on TV, you saw two exciting races play out in entirely different ways. While Sisay Lemma ran away with the men’s race by surging after the first 5K, the women’s race didn’t evolve until the final 5K when Hellen Obiri broke free from Sharon Lokedi after they had ripped a 4:41 mile to separate from a deep pack of women and two-time Boston champion Edna Kiplagat.
1. Sisay Lemma and Hellen Obiri Became Boston Legends
With the way Lemma and Obiri won their respective races on Monday, they should be remembered for years to come. But even before we grant them the legendary status they deserve, we will hopefully see their greatness on display again this summer at the Paris Olympics. Lemma has very quickly established himself as the world’s top marathoner, in part due to the untimely death of world record holder Kelvin Kimputm and marathon GOAT Eliud Kipchoge reaching the sunset of his career. A showdown between Lemma, who is already the fourth-fastest marathoner in history thanks to the 2:01:48 at least December’s Valencia Marathon in Spain, and Kipchoge in Paris could be legendary. Lemma would be trying to become Ethiopia’s first Olympic marathon gold medalist since Gezahegne Abera in 2000, while Kipchoge will be trying to win his third straight for Kenya.
While she’s not the fastest on paper, Obiri has very quickly become arguably the world’s best women’s marathoner after she sandwiched two Boston Marathon wins around last fall’s New York City Marathon title. Keep in mind, she’s only run four marathons in her career (she was also sixth in New York in 2022 in her debut) and has been training for 26.2 miles for less than two years. The other thing is that Lemma is only 33 and Obiri is just 34, which means they could have another four-year cycle through the Los Angeles Olympics to be at the top of the sport.
2. Emma Bates is Back at the Top of American Distance Running
A year after a fifth-place, 2:22:10 personal best effort in Boston last year, American Emma Bates returned on a short buildup after getting through some injuries last fall and competed like a fiend in the most competitive women’s Boston Marathon field in history.
Dissatisfied at what felt like a modest pace cruising down the first net-downhill six miles, Bates charged to the front and yo-yoed with the surging field. Her fitness wasn’t quite there on the Newton Hills, and she wound up 12th in 2:27:14.
Even though she envisioned being a top-five finisher again (or higher), her place and time aren’t a big deal. What is a big deal is how competitively she ran and how she ran consistently at the front as the lead pack surged and slowed around her. Her courageous performance definitely set the tone, and she gained valuable experience mixing it up with many of the best runners in the world. She missed the opportunity to make the U.S. Olympic squad bound for Paris this summer, but hopefully she can recover, refocus, and retool herself to aim for another big breakthrough in a fall marathon.
“I’m proud of being at the start line. I’m proud of pushing myself and the efforts that I put into it,” Bates said. “Finishing 12th is not quite what I would’ve expected or hoped for. That’s just the name of the game. There were so many women in the group, it’s just kind of a crapshoot at that point. My coach said, ‘You’re just gonna have days where there’s just a ton of women that just run those times.’ And I wasn’t able to have the wheels at the end.”
3. CJ Albertson Solidified Himself as One of America’s Best Marathoners
Just 72 days after he ran the best race of his life en route to finishing fifth (2:10:07) at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Orlando, CJ Albertson ran another really good race and lowered his PR in the 2024 Boston Marathon. He was seventh on Monday in 2:09:53, even though he was never prominently in the lead pack as the race was unfolding. Instead, the 30-year-old runner from Fresno, California, ran conservatively for the first 10 miles before taking advantage of the slight tailwind soloing ahead. He continued to move up through the Newton Hills and in the final miles to the finish line. That improved on his 12th-place, 2:10:33 effort last year, but what’s more impressive is that Monday’s race was his fourth marathon since December 3, and he’s run faster in each one, from 2:11:09 to 2:09:53.
While Albertson didn’t seem particularly psyched on finishing in the top 10 or as the top American just after he finished, his eyes lit up when talking about racing Japan’s Yuma Morii (eighth place, 2:09:59) to the finish.
“This is probably my best, easiest feeling Boston,” Alberton said. “I felt strong the whole race. Another guy came up on me with 600 meters to go just as we turned the corner to the finish line, and I just had that confidence that I could outkick him, and I did and it felt fun to sprint to the end.”
4. Sara Hall and Des Linden Are Running Strong into Their 40s
They might be in their 40s, but Sara Hall (15th, 2:27:58) and Des Linden (16th, 2:28:27) have continued to run well in major races into their 40s, thanks to their continued level of competitiveness, enhanced training and diligent recovery, as well as the advent of super shoes and additional career opportunities. They had each run well at the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon just 72 days earlier in Orlando—Hall was fifth, Linden was 11th—and in Boston both were among the leaderslate in the race. Linden had been trailing the lead pack for most of the race, but then caught up and latched on to the leaders near mile 14 and took the lead for a moment before dropping back.
“I knew what pace was good for me, and what pace was way too rich,” Linden said. “They shot off at the start, and I was just running my own race and kind of regrouped just by doing my own thing. I knew I was at the front, and I just wanted to check in and see if there was anything I could do [for Bates]. I knew what I was detached that it was going to be me running by myself for a lot of it, so I was like, ‘Can I contribute to what you’re doing, and then go back to running by myself.’”
Hall, who was celebrating her 41st birthday on Monday, stayed with the lead group into the Newton Hills. Even though she and Linden had fallen off the intense pace at the front by the top of Heartbreak Hill at mile 21, they kept running hard over the final five miles and finished within 90 seconds of Bates.
“I didn’t know where they were finishing at that moment, so just seeing them coming across that line right after one another was incredible,” Bates said. “And then to have them come across the line and want to take photos with me, as if I’m kind of in the same realm as them. I’m still like starstruck and in shock. So it really made today a special day in that regard.”
5. Zdeno Chara is an Endurance Machine
Former NHL hockey player Zedno Chara ran his second Boston Marathon on Monday, slicing more than 7 minutes off his finish time from last year’s race. Running again for Team Hoyt, the 6-foot-9 Chara finished in 3:30:52 on Monday (8:08 per mile). The 47-year-old Slovak said he was inspired to want to run the Boston Marathon following the 2013 terrorist bombings (which happened while he was a member of the Boston Bruins), but couldn’t focus on it until he retired from a 24-year hockey career in 2022. (He completed his first Boston Marathon in 3:38:23 last year.) The Boston Marathon was the seventh marathon Chara has run over the last 12 months, and he is planning to run London on April 21 in his quest to complete the World Marathon Majors.
“The fans were so loud and cheering us on,” Chara said. “It was an amazing day. I enjoyed it very much.”
Other notable runners who completed the race included German former pro tennis player Nicolas Kiefer, who was previously ranked No. 4 in the world tennis rankings and won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics. Kiefer’s 3:59:25 Boston finish marked his sixth World Marathon Major, earning him a Six Star Medal.
Meanwhile, Amby Burfoot, the 1968 Boston Marathon champion, finished again this year in 4:59:58 at age 77—while wearing his bib from that race 56 years ago.
“I always say that every mile is a gift and I had 26 miles of gifts today,” Burfoot said. “To me it’s a celebration of life. I’m 77 years old now. And I’m going to keep coming back, because I want to celebrate my life and the Boston Marathon.”
6. The Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 Shoes Keep Winning Races
The Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 ultra-light carbon-plated racing shoe continues to win races. Men’s champion Sisay Lemma (2:06:17) was wearing a pair of the $500, limited-edition, white and black shoes in Monday’s race, as was fifth-place finisher Albert Korir (2:07:47) and women’s fourth-place finisher Buze Diriba. Adidas, which is the footwear sponsor of the Boston Marathon, had a few hundred pairs of the shoe available for sale at the race expo on Friday and they sold out within 15 minutes.
Tokyo Marathon men’s champion Benson Kipruto also wore Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1, as did New York City Marathon men’s champion Tamirat Tola (2:04:58). The shoes debuted last September when Tigst Assefa wore a pair to set a new women’s world record (2:11:53) at the Berlin Marathon in September. So far, Adidas says the shoes have achieved one world record and 11 victories, which includes four national records and four course records.
The Boston Marathon women’s champion Hellen Obiri wore a pair of On Cloudboom Strike LS Dev 1.2 prototype shoes that look similar to what she wore winning Boston last year and the New York City Marathon last fall.
7. Meb Keflezighi Relives His Monumental 2014 Victory
Meb Keflezighi returned to run the Boston Marathon 10 years after his historic win in the 2014 race the year after the terrorist bombings killed four people and badly injured hundreds more. Wearing race bib number 2014, Keflezighi, 48, ran for the MEB Foundation, his nonprofit that works to empower young people and promote health and education, and finished in 3:08:58. He last raced a competitive marathon at the 2017 New York City Marathon, where he finished 11th, but he ran Boston a year later as a non-elite entry on behalf of Team MR8, which was formed in honor of Martin Richard, an 8-year-old boy who was killed by the bombings.
“I can’t believe it’s been 10 years, but I’m so happy to have the opportunity to connect with fellow runners and the spirit of the Boston Marathon again,” said Keflezighi, who arrived in Boston on the heels of new sponsorship deals with New Balance and Bank of America. “It was an amazing day in 2014 to be able to win that day, not just for me, but for the city of Boston and the entire running community.”
8. Dave McGillivray, Mark Bauman, and Patty Hung Extend Their Amazing Streaks
Boston Marathon course director Dave McGillivray finished his 52nd consecutive race in 5:21:03, the first time he’s run in the daytime since 1987. (For the previous 35 years, he ran at night after he had completed his race directing duties.) McGillivray, 69, ran parts of the race with his 30-year-old son, Max, who ran his second Boston in 5:30:23, and finished with his 19-year-old daughter, Elle, who finished her first Boston in 5:21:03.
Meanwhile, Mark Bauman, a 74 year-old runner from Michigan, ran his 55th consecutive Boston Marathon in 6:01:28, placing 185th in the 70-74 age group. Patty Hung, a 78-year-old runner from Orinda, California, finished her 38th consecutive Boston Marathon—more than any other woman in history—in 5:51:05, placing her in fourth in her division of women aged 75-79.
9. Running Group Sues the Boston Athletic Association
On Saturday, two days before the Boston Marathon, Boston Athletic Association president and CEO Jack Fleming said that fan support is encouraged along the race course, but he reiterated that “spectators are not allowed to enter the course, run alongside athletes or impede runners in any manner.” The BAA had also created new spectator guidelines to its marathon tracking app, which users had to review before they can proceed with tracking runners. Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said police from local departments along the course would intervene and remove spectators who enter the street at any point along the course. Later in the day, news came out that the Black-led TrailBlazHers Run Co. women’s running club is suing the BAA and the Newton Police Department for racial profiling at last year’s race. According to the complaint filed in a Massachusetts court, Newton police had singled out spectators from TrailBlazHers Run Co. and other running crews that serve primarily people of color, racially profiling, targeting, and harassing them, and alleges the race organizers, the city of Newton and its police violated the plaintiffs’ Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection under the law.
That was the result of the controversy that emerged following last year’s Boston Marathon, after Newton police formed a human barrier with their bicycles near mile 21 to keep enthusiastic spectators from at a cheer station from entering the course. (TrailBlazHers Run Co. and PIONEERS Run Crew had posted up near mile 21 in recent years to support runners with cheering, music, dancing, signs, confetti blasts, and more.) This year, race officials decided to barricade four additional miles of the course—along the towns of Ashland, Natick, Wellesley, and Newton (including the mile 21 cheer zone, where the two clubs are traditionally stationed), and Boston. There had already been barricades at various points along the course where spectator activity has been the most concentrated, including at the “scream tunnel” of fans adjacent to Wellesley College, at the One-Mile-to-Go Block Party in front of Cornwall’s Tavern on Beacon Street, and the final 600 meters of the course along Boylston Street in Boston.)
10. Wheelchair Champion Marcel Hug Keeps Getting Faster
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug made history on Monday by winning his seventh Boston Marathon in the men’s wheelchair division. After becoming the first male athlete to sweep all six World Marathon Majors races in 2023, the Paralympic champion set a new Boston course record with a 1:15:33 clocking—that’s an average of 2:53 per mile!—breaking his 2023 record of 1:17:06.
The 38-year-old Hug, known as The Silver Bullet, competed in the OT FOXX, a cutting-edge racing wheelchair crafted in Switzerland. This wheelchair was developed in partnership with Orthotec, a charitable subsidiary of the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation, and F1-derived Sauber Technologies. Although he took a spill late in the race after applying too much pressure on his wheelchair on a turn, he recovered and survived without injury.
“As the world’s oldest marathon event with a legendary course, the Boston Marathon has always been a very special race to me,” Hug said. “Winning for the seventh time feels amazing. Thank you, Boston, for cheering me on and for helping me to inspire others to become wheelchair racers. I’ll be back.”