Latest news with #BostonMarathons
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Iowan attempting to finish his 30th Boston Marathon
DES MOINES, Iowa — A Des Moines man is in Boston, attempting to finish his 30th Boston Marathon. John Taylor III knows training for marathons means logging lots of miles. 'It's fun having goals,' he said while running. His most recent goal he's working toward is a meaningful milestone… 'So now I've done 29 Boston Marathons total, with 27 in a row,' Taylor explained. This year will mark 30 Boston Marathons for the 66-year-old. His first one was in 1994. 'I was really sick that morning. My mom's there, thinking you shouldn't do this. You don't feel good,' Taylor recalls. 'And I said, 'you know, Mom, this could be the only time I ever get to run the Boston Marathon. I may never be able to qualify again.' Because it took me five tries before I did qualify.' Drake Week: Relays, Beautiful Bulldog, Shot Put Contest, more He kept qualifying and kept coming back, making him an eventual member of the 'Quarter Century Club.' 'Which are those who have run 25 in a row,' Taylor explained. 'And once you have that, you guarantee entry as long as your string stays active.' Taylor stayed active as a runner throughout his life, participating in 113 marathons: one in every state, 10 outside the U.S., including Antarctica. All those steps eventually took a toll on his body, leading to challenges in future races. 'And so, this next one is a critical one number 30, because I just had a hip replacement surgery in October,' Taylor said. 'And this would be the first one with this new hip. So I'm like learning to run again.' Learning to run again is made a little easier with an anti-gravity treadmill, which creates a lower-impact running surface. Still, it's been hard work for Taylor and his doctors, who had less than six months to get him rehabbed and ready to go. 'Most surgeons doing total hip replacements would not recommend running marathons after that, but we made that way happen,' Beth Schweizer, his physical therapist, said. 'He's doing a combination of running and walking and we feel like it's a safe way and he's gotten the OK with his surgeon to do this. And we're really happy and confident that he's going to reach his goal.' Remember, Taylor likes having goals and is determined to meet them. While this marathon probably won't be his fastest, it could be his most memorable. John Taylor's just focused on getting it done. 'Time doesn't matter. It's that feeling crossing that finish line,' Taylor said. 'I don't care if it's a 5k, 100-yard dash, mile, whatever it is, it's just such a riveting feeling that I did it. Nobody can ever take that away from you.' Taylor said he was never a runner until he decided to do a marathon in college at his alma mater, Drake University. It's a timely nod to the Drake Relays happening this week. Iowan attempting to finish his 30th Boston Marathon Easter Sunday rain kicked off an unsettled week Forecast: Rain ends, but more is on the way One person injured in Sunday morning crash in Beaverdale neighborhood National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cuts could affect your forecast Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
USA Today
21-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Boston Marathon 2025 live coverage: Start time, TV channel, updates, news from race day
Boston Marathon 2025 live coverage: Start time, TV channel, updates, news from race day Show Caption Hide Caption Boston Marathon proposal: Couple shares how they met through the race At the Boston Marathon finish line, Andrew surprises his girlfriend Elizabeth with a proposal, marking a full-circle moment from their first meeting. USA TODAY It's Patriots' Day in Boston, which means it's time for another edition of the world's oldest annual marathon. More than 30,000 runners will make their way from Hopkinton, Massachusetts to Boyleston Street in downtown Boston today for the 129th running of the Boston Marathon. For many amateur marathoners, it will be a momentous occasion – a chance to cross an iconic race off their running bucket lists. And for many pros, it's an opportunity to win one of the most prestigious events in the sport. The professional field will feature both of last year's champions − Ethiopia's Sisay Lemma and Hellen Obiri of Kenya, who is the two-time defending champion − as well as several elite marathoners hoping to win it for the first time. An American woman has not won the Boston Marathon since Des Linden in 2018, and the U.S. men's drought goes back even further to 2014. Here's everything you need to know as the start of the race nears: ESPN2 will have live television coverage from 9 a.m. ET to 12:30 p.m. ET with simultaneous coverage on the network's streaming platform, ESPN+. Stream the Boston Marathon on ESPN+ The race begins at the starting line in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. It takes runners on a scenic journey through Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, and Brookline before ending in downtown Boston, at the iconic finish line on Boylston Street. It depends on the race. The starting gun will go off for the professional men at 9:37 a.m., followed by the women at 9:47 a.m. But there are other starts before and after, as well. The first athletes to hit the course are the men's and women's wheelchair racers, who start at 9:06 a.m. and 9:09 a.m., respectively. The start for handcycles and duos is at 9:30 a.m. ET. And once the pros get going, para athletes (9:50 a.m. ET start) and four waves of amateurs will follow. If you're trying to keep tabs on a specific runner, visit and search for them by name, bib number or group. You can also download the Boston Athletic Association's mobile app and track runners that way. There is no shortage of contenders in both the men's and women's fields. On the women's side, the favorite is probably Hellen Obiri. The 35-year-old is still relatively new to marathoning but has quickly established herself as a force. She's won each of the previous two editions of the Boston Marathon and could become the first woman to three-peat since Fatuma Roba, who won in 1997, 1998 and 1999. On the men's side, Sisay Lemma is the defending champion, but Evans Chebet of Kenya won back-to-back Boston Marathons before that. And don't sleep on American Conner Mantz, who placed eighth in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics and is probably the United States' best shot at a podium spot. The Boston Marathon, like all other marathons, is 26.2 miles. Visualizing that distance can be as simple as thinking of a local landmark a mile from your home and imagining what it would be like to run there and back 13 times. Calculating marathon finish times and pace requires a bit more math. But to give you an idea of how fast the pros are going: The men's winners over the past five years have all crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 10 minutes or less. That works out to an average pace below 5 minutes per mile. Contributing: Stephen Beard, Elizabeth Flores and Steve Gardner
Chicago Tribune
20-04-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
John Korir hopes to build on Chicago win and join his brother as a Boston Marathon champion
BOSTON — John Korir has the resume that proves he is fast enough to win the Boston Marathon and the family connections that might just help him do it. The reigning Chicago Marathon champion has been getting tips on the course from his brother, Wesley Korir, who won here in 2012. John Korir has finished fourth and ninth in two previous Boston attempts, and he thinks having a champion spilling his secrets could be the difference this time. 'He knows the course well. He knows where to make a move and also to relax the legs,' said the younger Korir, whose time of 2 hours, 2 minutes, 44 seconds in Chicago is the second-fastest in Monday's Boston field. 'So that's been a good help to me in training. I think it's good.' John Korir, 28, is 14 years younger than Wesley and was still in school when his brother won one of the hottest Boston Marathons ever, fighting temperatures that hit 85 degrees at the finish. (This year's forecasts call for more comfortable marathon weather in the high 30s and low 40s at the start in Hopkinton, rising to the mid-50s as the runners make their way toward Copley Square. Winds are expected to be light.) Wesley Korir waited out an early move from the pack at Heartbreak Hill, then passed the leaders when they tired. That kind of experience could be helpful in Boston, which favors strategy over speed: Eliud Kipchoge, the world record holder at the time and considered the greatest marathoner ever, flopped in his only Boston attempt; Wesley Korir's time of 2:12:40 in 2012 was more than nine minutes slower than Geoffrey Mutai's course record the year before, and six minutes off Korir's personal best. But it was a win. 'It's always helpful to have somebody that has gone through it before you, so you don't have to make the mistakes that I've made,' Wesley Korir said. 'For me, my goal is always to look at the mistakes during my running career and help him to prevent that so he can be ahead, ahead in life.' The elder Korir followed his athletic career, which also included two victories in the Los Angeles Marathon, by winning a seat in the Kenyan parliament, where he worked to provide clean water for his region. He used some of his Boston Marathon prize money to build a hospital in Kenya. 'The thing that I've been helping him to do is run for more than yourself. Have a purpose in running,' he said. 'And that's what keeps us running: When you have a purpose higher than yourself, all the pain means nothing.' John Korir has pledged his Boston winnings to the Transcend Talent Academy, which provides an education for aspiring runners who are too poor to pay for one. Wesley Korir has also worked with the school. 'As I am getting old, he's coming to take over,' he said. 'So that makes me happy, as a person, as a big brother, to see him look at a cause that was very important to me, and taking it upon himself to say, I want to help you in this cause and continue what you started.' 'The original fastest Bostonian' There will be a ceremony at the finish line on Monday morning, just before the runners leave Hopkinton, to remember the man Boston Mayor Michelle Wu called 'the original fastest Bostonian: Paul Revere.' The National Lancers, a ceremonial cavalry squadron based in Framingham, will ride on Boylston Street to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Revere's ride at the start of the American Revolution. Revere set off from Boston to warn the colonists in Lexington and Concord that the British regulars were on the march. A reenactment of the first shots fired in the War of Independence is typically held on marathon Monday as part of the state holiday of Patriots' Day; this year's took place on April 19, the actual anniversary. The National Lancers were a unit in the Massachusetts Organized Militia formed in 1836 that served in the Civil War and World War I. Since 1920, it has served as a ceremonial unit that rides in patriotic events. Speaking of revolutionary rides … To honor the 50th anniversary of the official recognition of the wheelchair division, 1975 and '77 winner Bob Hall will serve as grand marshal for this year's race. 'In Boston, we love celebrating anniversaries and the milestones that got us here,' Boston Athletic Association President Jack Fleming said last week. 'What a revolutionary idea that was: wheelchair racing in the 1970s.' Reigning champions Marcel Hug and Eden Rainbow-Cooper will defend their titles. Hug, of Switzerland, recovered from a crash to earn his seventh Boston title last year and set a course record in 1 hour, 15 minutes, 33 seconds. It remains the only major marathon victory for Rainbow-Cooper, of Britain. Also serving as grand marshal is Bill Rodgers, who won the men's race in 1975 for the first of his four Boston victories. In the field Defending women's champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya will try to become the first woman since 1999 — and the fourth woman ever — to win three times in a row. Des Linden, the 2018 champion and the last American runner to win Boston, leads the deepest contingent of U.S. women ever, with 14 contenders heading to Hopkinton with sub-2:26 times. Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia is looking to repeat in a men's field that includes five major marathon champions and 22 runners who have a time below 2:09. Evans Chebet, the 2022 and '23 winner, is looking for his third win. Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa, the 2013 and '15 winner, dropped out of the field on Sunday after determining he wasn't fit to compete for a victory. In all, there were 31,778 people entered — 18,062 men, 13,640 women and 76 nonbinary. The field includes residents of 128 countries and all 50 U.S. states. A total of $1,214,500 in prize money is at stake across the open, wheelchair and para athletics divisions, including $50,000 bonuses for a course record.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
John Korir hopes to build on Chicago win and join his brother as a Boston Marathon champion
BOSTON (AP) — John Korir has the resume that proves he is fast enough to win the Boston Marathon and the family connections that might just help him do it. The reigning Chicago Marathon champion has been getting tips on the course from his brother, Wesley, who won here in 2012. John Korir has finished fourth and ninth in two previous Boston attempts, and he thinks having a champion spilling his secrets could be the difference this time. 'He knows the course well. He knows where to make a move and also to relax the legs,' said the younger Korir, whose time of 2 hours, 2 minutes, 44 seconds in Chicago is the second-fastest in Monday's Boston field. 'So that's been a good help to me in training. I think it's good.' John Korir, who is 28 and 14 years younger than Wesley, was still in school when his brother won one of the hottest Boston Marathons ever, fighting temperatures that hit 85 degrees at the finish. (This year's forecasts call for more comfortable marathon weather in the high 30s and low 40s at the start in Hopkinton, rising to the mid-50s as the runners make their way toward Copley Square. Winds are expected to be light.) Wesley Korir waited out an early move from the pack at Heartbreak Hill, then passed the leaders when they tired. That kind of experience could be helpful in Boston, which favors strategy over speed: Eliud Kipchoge, the world record holder at the time and considered the greatest marathoner ever, flopped in his only Boston attempt; Wesley Korir's time of 2:12:40 in 2012 was more than nine minutes slower than Geoffrey Mutai's course record the year before, and six minutes off Korir's personal best. But it was a win. 'It's always helpful to have somebody that has gone through it before you, so you don't have to make the mistakes that I've made," Wesley Korir said. 'For me, my goal is always to look at the mistakes during my running career and help him to prevent that so he can be ahead, ahead in life.' The elder Korir followed his athletic career, which also included two victories in the Los Angeles Marathon, by winning a seat in the Kenyan parliament, where he worked to provide clean water for his region. He used some of his Boston Marathon prize money to build a hospital in Kenya. 'The thing that I've been helping him to do is run for more than yourself. Have a purpose in running,' he said. 'And that's what keeps us running: When you have a purpose higher than yourself, all the pain means nothing.' John Korir has pledged his Boston winnings to the Transcend Talent Academy, which provides an education for aspiring runners who are too poor to pay for one. Wesley Korir has also worked with the school. 'As I am getting old, he's coming to take over,' he said. 'So that makes me happy, as a person, as a big brother, to see him look at a cause that was very important to me, and taking it upon himself to say, I want to help you in this cause and continue what you started.' 'The original fastest Bostonian' There will be a ceremony at the finish line on Monday morning, just before the runners leave Hopkinton, to remember the man Boston Mayor Michelle Wu called 'the original fastest Bostonian: Paul Revere.' The National Lancers, a ceremonial cavalry squadron based in Framingham, will ride on Boylston Street to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Revere's ride at the start of the American Revolution. Revere set off from Boston to warn the colonists in Lexington and Concord that the British regulars were on the march. A reenactment of the first shots fired in the War of Independence is typically held on marathon Monday as part of the state holiday of Patriots' Day; this year's took place on April 19, the actual anniversary. The National Lancers were a unit in the Massachusetts Organized Militia formed in 1836 that served in the Civil War and World War I. Since 1920, it has served as a ceremonial unit that rides in patriotic events. Speaking of revolutionary rides … To honor the 50th anniversary of the official recognition of the wheelchair division, 1975 and '77 winner Bob Hall will serve as grand marshal for this year's race. 'In Boston, we love celebrating anniversaries and the milestones that got us here,' Boston Athletic Association President Jack Fleming said last week. 'What a revolutionary idea that was: wheelchair racing in the 1970s.' Reigning champions Marcel Hug and Eden Rainbow-Cooper will defend their titles. Hug, of Switzerland, recovered from a crash to earn his seventh Boston title last year and set a course record in 1 hour, 15 minutes, 33 seconds. It remains the only major marathon victory for Rainbow-Cooper, of Britain. Also serving as grand marshal is Bill Rodgers, who won the men's race in 1975 for the first of his four Boston victories. In the field Defending women's champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya will try to become the first woman since 1999 — and the fourth woman ever — to win three times in a row. Des Linden, the 2018 champion and the last American runner to win Boston, leads the deepest contingent of U.S. women ever, with 14 contenders heading to Hopkinton with sub-2:26 times. Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia is looking to repeat in a men's field that includes five major marathon champions and 22 runners who have a time below 2:09. Evans Chebet, the 2022 and '23 winner, is looking for his third win. Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa, the 2013 and '15 winner, dropped out of the field on Sunday after determining he wasn't fit to compete for a victory. In all, there were 31,778 people entered -- 18,062 men, 13,640 women and 76 nonbinary. The field includes residents of 128 countries and all 50 U.S. states. A total of $1,214,500 in prize money is at stake across the open, wheelchair and para athletics divisions, including $50,000 bonuses for a course record. ___ AP sports:
Associated Press
20-04-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
John Korir hopes to build on Chicago win and join his brother as a Boston Marathon champion
BOSTON (AP) — John Korir has the resume that proves he is fast enough to win the Boston Marathon and the family connections that might just help him do it. The reigning Chicago Marathon champion has been getting tips on the course from his brother, Wesley, who won here in 2012. John Korir has finished fourth and ninth in two previous Boston attempts, and he thinks having a champion spilling his secrets could be the difference this time. 'He knows the course well. He knows where to make a move and also to relax the legs,' said the younger Korir, whose time of 2 hours, 2 minutes, 44 seconds in Chicago is the second-fastest in Monday's Boston field. 'So that's been a good help to me in training. I think it's good.' John Korir, who is 28 and 14 years younger than Wesley, was still in school when his brother won one of the hottest Boston Marathons ever, fighting temperatures that hit 85 degrees at the finish. (This year's forecasts call for more comfortable marathon weather in the high 30s and low 40s at the start in Hopkinton, rising to the mid-50s as the runners make their way toward Copley Square. Winds are expected to be light.) Wesley Korir waited out an early move from the pack at Heartbreak Hill, then passed the leaders when they tired. That kind of experience could be helpful in Boston, which favors strategy over speed: Eliud Kipchoge, the world record holder at the time and considered the greatest marathoner ever, flopped in his only Boston attempt; Wesley Korir's time of 2:12:40 in 2012 was more than nine minutes slower than Geoffrey Mutai's course record the year before, and six minutes off Korir's personal best. But it was a win. 'It's always helpful to have somebody that has gone through it before you, so you don't have to make the mistakes that I've made,' Wesley Korir said. 'For me, my goal is always to look at the mistakes during my running career and help him to prevent that so he can be ahead, ahead in life.' The elder Korir followed his athletic career, which also included two victories in the Los Angeles Marathon, by winning a seat in the Kenyan parliament, where he worked to provide clean water for his region. He used some of his Boston Marathon prize money to build a hospital in Kenya. 'The thing that I've been helping him to do is run for more than yourself. Have a purpose in running,' he said. 'And that's what keeps us running: When you have a purpose higher than yourself, all the pain means nothing.' John Korir has pledged his Boston winnings to the Transcend Talent Academy, which provides an education for aspiring runners who are too poor to pay for one. Wesley Korir has also worked with the school. 'As I am getting old, he's coming to take over,' he said. 'So that makes me happy, as a person, as a big brother, to see him look at a cause that was very important to me, and taking it upon himself to say, I want to help you in this cause and continue what you started.' 'The original fastest Bostonian' There will be a ceremony at the finish line on Monday morning, just before the runners leave Hopkinton, to remember the man Boston Mayor Michelle Wu called 'the original fastest Bostonian: Paul Revere.' The National Lancers, a ceremonial cavalry squadron based in Framingham, will ride on Boylston Street to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Revere's ride at the start of the American Revolution. Revere set off from Boston to warn the colonists in Lexington and Concord that the British regulars were on the march. A reenactment of the first shots fired in the War of Independence is typically held on marathon Monday as part of the state holiday of Patriots' Day; this year's took place on April 19, the actual anniversary. The National Lancers were a unit in the Massachusetts Organized Militia formed in 1836 that served in the Civil War and World War I. Since 1920, it has served as a ceremonial unit that rides in patriotic events. Speaking of revolutionary rides … To honor the 50th anniversary of the official recognition of the wheelchair division, 1975 and '77 winner Bob Hall will serve as grand marshal for this year's race. 'In Boston, we love celebrating anniversaries and the milestones that got us here,' Boston Athletic Association President Jack Fleming said last week. 'What a revolutionary idea that was: wheelchair racing in the 1970s.' Reigning champions Marcel Hug and Eden Rainbow-Cooper will defend their titles. Hug, of Switzerland, recovered from a crash to earn his seventh Boston title last year and set a course record in 1 hour, 15 minutes, 33 seconds. It remains the only major marathon victory for Rainbow-Cooper, of Britain. Also serving as grand marshal is Bill Rodgers, who won the men's race in 1975 for the first of his four Boston victories. In the field Defending women's champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya will try to become the first woman since 1999 — and the fourth woman ever — to win three times in a row. Des Linden, the 2018 champion and the last American runner to win Boston, leads the deepest contingent of U.S. women ever, with 14 contenders heading to Hopkinton with sub-2:26 times. Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia is looking to repeat in a men's field that includes five major marathon champions and 22 runners who have a time below 2:09. Evans Chebet, the 2022 and '23 winner, is looking for his third win. Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa, the 2013 and '15 winner, dropped out of the field on Sunday after determining he wasn't fit to compete for a victory. In all, there were 31,778 people entered -- 18,062 men, 13,640 women and 76 nonbinary. The field includes residents of 128 countries and all 50 U.S. states. A total of $1,214,500 in prize money is at stake across the open, wheelchair and para athletics divisions, including $50,000 bonuses for a course record. ___ AP sports:
