The Boston Marathon is an annual rite of passage for runners in the springtime, no matter if you’re running it, hoping to qualify for it, a spectator along the course, watching on TV from afar, or just a runner inspired by the world’s oldest continuously held marathon.
This year’s Boston Marathon — the 129th running of the race — is right around the corner on Monday, April 21. It’s Marathon Monday and one of the best days of the year in Boston, but it’s also Patriots’ Day, which is a statewide holiday in Massachusetts commemorating the 250th anniversary of the inaugural battles of the American Revolutionary War.
Here’s a rundown of everything you need to know about this year’s Boston Marathon.
Dating back to 1897, the Boston Marathon is the oldest annual marathon in the world. It’s always held on the third Monday in April, but the course has changed a few times through the years. The current course, which has been used since 1985, sends runners 26.2 miles from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to Copley Square in downtown Boston.
There are 32,080 runners on this year’s entry list — almost 2,500 more than last year (29,685). When the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) bumped the number of time qualifiers to 24,000 (corresponding to age and gender divisions), they didn’t take it from other bib allocations but instead increased the size of the field slightly. Most of the other 8,000 participants are running on behalf of one of the 176 non-profit organizations in the Bank of America Boston Marathon Official Charity Program. Each athlete who participates for one of the official charities is required to raise a minimum of $5,000 for that organization.
The first wave of participants will start at 6 a.m., when a contingent of U.S. military soldiers begin marching the full length of the course. Several hours later, the men’s wheelchair division starts at 9:06 a.m., followed by the women’s wheelchair racers (9:09 a.m,), hand cyclists, and the duo-participant category of adaptive athletes (9:30 a.m.).
The men’s professional race begins at 9:37 a.m., followed by the women’s professional race at 9:47 a.m. After the Para Athletics Division starts at 9:50 a.m., the first time-seeded citizen waves begin at 10 A.M., followed by three subsequent waves of qualified runners and charity runners every 25 minutes.
Just before the fourth and final wave begins at 11:15 a.m., the Boston Red Sox begin their annual Patriots’ Day game 25 miles to the east at Fenway Park (and just a few blocks from the homestretch to the finish line). The early game start time dates back to the 1960s, when it was aligned with the start of the marathon as a joint celebration of Patriots’ Day. This year’s game against the Chicago White Sox will likely end just before the final runners reach the finish line on Boylston Street.
For more comprehensive information about this year’s Boston Marathon, check out the official participant guide.
No matter if you’re running the marathon or just in Boston to hang out and enjoy the race weekend festivities, there are dozens of shakeout runs, brand activations, athlete appearances, speaker panels, unsanctioned races, parties, and more. It’s become a crazy spectacle of running from Friday to Sunday, but the good news is that almost all of it is free and open to the public.
Tracksmith, Puma, Asics, Hoka, Oiselle, Saucony, Brooks, PYNRS, and OOFOS all have shakeout runs planned, most of which start on Newbury Street or Boylston Street. Some of the elite athletes who will be making appearances at brand events include Des Linden, Jess McClain, Zach Panning, Erika Kemp, Jeffrey Stern, CJ Albertson, Allie Ostrander, Sage Canaday, Kara Goucher, Dot McMahan, Thomas Fafard, and Aliphine Tuliamuk, as well as a few notable influencers like Kofuzi and Laura Green. (Here’s a schedule that includes most of the events during Boston Marathon weekend.)
The Boston Marathon race expo will once again be at the Hynes Convention Center (900 Boylston Street) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Aside from being the place where runners pick up their race bibs and browse vendor booths, it will also feature numerous speakers and events—including discussions about fueling, mental strategies, and course details, a panel about marathoning and motherhood (featuring Paula Radcliffe and Sara Vaughn), interview sessions with 2024 Olympians Conner Mantz, Clayton Young, Dakotah Popehn and Susannah Scaroni, a panel about the future of Indigenous Running, an Ali on the Run live podcast, and a fireside chat with Boston Marathon legends Amby Burfoot and Bill Rodgers.
The Boston Marathon Fan Fest is back again this year in City Hall Plaza in downtown Boston adjacent to historic Faneuil Hall. The Fan Fest is open Friday from 3 P.M. to 8 p.m., on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m, and will include athlete appearances, yoga sessions, and a lot of live music.
The Boston Marathon course is known for its hills. That includes both the infamous Newton Hills, a notorious stretch of four hills between miles 16 and 21 of the Boston Marathon course, culminating in the famous Heartbreak Hill, but also the significant downhill sections in the first 10K of the course and between miles 21 and 24. It is often the slowest of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors races, partially because of the hilly course but also because of the race tactics that develop on race day. (There are no pacesetters allowed in the Boston Marathon, so tactics develop naturally based on the runners in the elite field, weather conditions, and who decides to surge early in the race.)
The Boston Marathon course records are held by Geoffrey Mutai (2:03:02 in 2011) for men, Buzunesh Deba (2:19:59 in 2014) for women, Marcel Hug (1:17:06 in 2023) for men’s wheelchair, and Manuela Schär (1:28:17 in 2017) for women’s wheelchair. The fastest American runners on the Boston Marathon course are Ryan Hall, who ran the fastest-ever time (2:04:58) by a U.S. runner in 2011 with his fourth-place finish, and Shalane Flanagan, who ran 2:19:59 in 2014 en route to a sixth-place finish. (Hall’s time is not considered the American record because the Boston Marathon course is not record-legal due to it being a point-to-point course with an elevation loss that slightly exceeds the World Athletics limit of 3.33 meters per kilometer.) Meb Keflizighi is the last American man to win (2:08:37 in 2014), while Des Linden is the last American woman to win (2:39:54 in 2018).
This year’s women’s elite field is stacked like never before, with six women who have personal bests under 2:20 and 25 who have run faster than 2:25. The fastest runner in the field is Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso, who owns a 2:14:58 personal best and finished third in the Tokyo Marathon (2:16:58) last year and fifth at the Paris Olympics (2:23:57). She won the marathon at the world championships in 2023 in Budapest (2:24:23) and took second in the Boston Marathon (2:21:50) that year. But two-time defending champion Hellen Obiri, who lives in Boulder, Colorado, is still the betting favorite in the race, given that she won in Boston last year (2:22:37), earned the bronze medal in Olympics (2:23:10) and finished a close second in the New York City Marathon (2:24:49).
Other top contenders in the women’s race based on recent results include Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw (2:16:52) and Rahma Tusa (2:19:33), Kenya’s Irine Cheptai (2:17:51) and Sharon Lokedi (2:22:45), along with Great Britain’s Calli Hauger-Thackery (2:21:34) and American Emma Bates (2:22:10), who was fifth in Boston in 2023 but slid back to 12th last year. Other top U.S. runners include a trio of legends who are 40 or older who are still running strong — Keira D’Amato (2:19:12), Sara Hall (2:20:32) and Des Linden (2:22:38) — along with Sara Vaughn (2:23:24), Gabi Rooker (2:24:29), Dakotah Popehn (2:24:40), Jackie Gaughan (2:24:40), and Nell Rojas (2:24:51) who have all set new PRs in the past two years. Linden is a two-time Olympian but her 2018 Boston Marathon victory in cold, rainy weather made her an American legend. She’s running Boston for the 12th time this year after a strong effort last year (16th, 2:28:27) just 74 days after finishing 11th at the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon (2:28:04)
Five of the top seven men’s finishers from last year’s Boston Marathon return, led by reigning champion Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia, who led wire to wire last year and won in 2:06:17. Kenya’s Evans Chebet (2:03:00 personal best), the two-time Boston Marathon champion (2022 and 2023) who was third in 2024 is also back, as are 2024 fourth- and fifth-place finishers John Korir and Albert Korir of Kenya. John Korir — winner of the 2024 Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2:02:44 — is the brother of 2012 Boston champion Wesley Korir. Kenya’s Cybrian Kotut (2:03:22) and Ethiopia’s Haymanot Alew (2:03:31) were second and third, respectively at last fall’s Berlin Marathon, while Kenya’s Daniel Mateiko is a 58:17 half marathoner making his Boston debut, and Uganda’s Victor Kiplangat (2:05:09), the 2023 world champion, is also a top contender.
A strong U.S. men’s contingent is led by Utah-based training partners Conner Mantz (2:07:47) and Clayton Young (2:08:00), who finished eighth and ninth, respectively at the 2024 Olympic Marathon, and also placed in the top ten at the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon. Mantz’s lone Boston finish was his 11th-place showing (2:10:25) in 2023, but he’s coming into this year’s race with two fast half marathons under his belt, including his 59:15, second-place finish at the NYC Half on March 16. CJ Albertson, who was seventh in Boston last year (2:09:53), is perhaps the most prolific and consistent U.S. marathoner in recent years, having run five marathons between 2:08:17 and 2:10:57 in 2024. Other top Americans include Zach Panning (2:09:16), Nathan Martin (2:10:45), Reed Fischer (2:10:14), and Colin Bennie (2:09:38), who all finished among the top ten at last year’s U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon.
The 2025 Boston Marathon will be broadcast live in the U.S. on ESPN 2 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Monday. ESPN will also have coverage of the race within SportsCenter before the live coverage and later in the day, as well as coverage appearing on other ESPN shows and its live stream platform. Live streaming of the Boston Marathon will also be available through the Very Local app. (Search for “Very Local” in your device’s app store to download the free app, compatible with smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs.)
Boston-area viewers can enjoy exclusive live coverage of the Boston Marathon on WCVB Channel 5 (ABC), beginning at 4 a.m. The Boston Marathon will also be simulcast regionally on WCVB Channel 5’s Hearst Television sister stations: WMUR News 9 ABC (Manchester, NH), WMTW Channel 8 ABC (Portland/Auburn, ME), and WPTZ NBC5 (Burlington, VT/Plattsburgh, NY). Numerous international outlets will also broadcast the marathon.
Download the B.A.A. Racing App presented by TCS to track runners, get real-time leaderboards, course maps, a plethora of race information, and more. Follow the official Boston Marathon social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @baa and @bostonmarathon.
– Long-time Boston Marathon race director and course director Dave McGillvray will be running the Boston Marathon for the 53rd consecutive year. He’s a legend in the running world for his race direction, his longevity as a runner and his commitment to raising money for charity. McGillivray, now 70, will jump into the back of Wave 2 at 10:25 a.m. and said he expects to finish around 3:30 p.m.
– Carrie Bradshaw is a 43-year-old mother of two who is running the marathon after having two hip replacements in 2022 and 2023. She qualified and ran the race in 2015, but was diagnosed with congenital bilateral hip dysplasia after giving birth to her second child. Coached by 2014 Boston Marathon champion Meb Keflezigh, she’s been on the comeback trail since 2023 and run several half marathons — including 1:46 at the Houston Half Marathon in January.
– Alice Cook, a 69-year-old former elite-level figure skater who represented the U.S. in the 1976 Winter Olympics, will be running the Boston Marathon for the second time since being diagnosed in 2023 with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to muscle weakness, atrophy, and eventual paralysis. The former Boston TV sports reporter can no longer speak, but she can communicate by typing on an iPad, which creates an AI generated version of her voice. “Physically, I feel strong,” she told the Boston Globe recently. “I am running and staying fit.” Meanwhile, Jeffrey Birkel, a 63-year-old resident of Peoria, Illinois, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2023, will be pushed along the Boston Marathon course in a racing wheelchair by his sons, Mike and Matt.
– The Boston-based Boston Beer Company has once again produced its Samuel Adams 26.2 Brew, a light Gose style golden ale brewed with himalayan sea salt, coriander, and citrus. The beer will be available on tap at numerous Boston bars and restaurants through marathon weekend as well as sold in cans at its Boston Taproom and its Boston Brewery beginning April 18 until supplies last.
– Recovery shoe maker OOFOS will be releasing Boston-exclusive colorways of its best-selling OOahh Slide, OOlala Sandal, and OOMyStride recovery sneaker, while Adidas will be one of many brands launching new shoes during the weekend when it unveils the Adidas Adizero 13.
The festivities don’t end when the race does. In fact, that’s when post-race parties begin all over the Back Bay and Downtown sections of Boston. There are several post-race celebrations planned for Marathon Monday, including the official Mile 27 Samuel Adams Party from noon to 8 p.m. at City Hall Plaza. Among the many brand-sponsored parties are the TrackSmith After Party + Poster Stamping at the Tracksmith Trackhouse (Noon to 5 p.m., 285 Newbury Street, Boston), the Brooks Post Race Celebration at the Brooks Hyperion House (Noon to 7 p.m., 141-B Newbury Street, Boston), and the Nike x Heartbreak Running After Party at Carrie Nation Cocktail Club (6:30-9 p.m., 11 Beacon Street, Boston).
