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Fox Sports
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Korir brothers hope a Kenyan school they fund will produce a Boston Marathon champion, like them
Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — John Korir arrived in Hopkinton hoping to join his brother as a Boston Marathon champion. He left Boylston Street with plans to train a future winner. Korir said he will donate the prize money from his Boston victory to the Transcend Talent Academy, which provides an education for aspiring runners who can't afford one. He has worked with the school in Kenya along with his brother, Wesley, who used the proceeds from his 2012 Boston win to build a hospital in their home region. 'It was in our dream to come here and win, and make history of two brothers winning Boston,' Korir said Tuesday, a day after overcoming an early fall to become, with Wesley, the first members of the same family to win the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. 'One day, one time we'll have a child from Transend Academy win Boston,' John Korir said. 'That's now our next dream: to mentor, to bring up a champion who will come one day, come and win Boston.' The reigning Chicago Marathon champion, who had top 10 finishes in both of his previous Boston attempts, Korir broke away from the pack heading into Heartbreak Hill on Monday and ran alone for much of the last 6 miles to win in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 45 seconds — the second-fastest winning time in course history. Fellow Kenyan Sharon Lokedi also took advantage of near-perfect marathon weather to win in 2:17:22 — more than 2 1/2 minutes faster than the previous course record. Korir said he, too, might have challenged for the course record if he'd had another runner to push him. 'But because I was alone, had to try my best and see how fast I could run,' he said. Korir ran more than 26.19 miles with a scraped up knee and hand after getting tripped in the crowded start on East Main Street in Hopkinton, sending him sprawling headfirst down the double yellow line in the middle of the road. His race bib was messed up even worse. Korir quickly popped back up and saw his bib was torn off his shirt in three of its four corners; he detached the last one, folded the bib and tucked it into his shorts as he rejoined the still bunched-up leaders at the rear. The absence of a bib — the professionals' have their names, not numbers like most of the 30,000 runners in the field — was mostly a curiosity for onlookers. But it posed a potential problem for race organizers: On the back is a timing device that registers when the runner crosses a checkpoint. The system provide runners with their split times and also proves that someone ran the entire race — something Boston officials didn't have in 1980, when Rosie Ruiz was initially declared the winner before they found she took a shortcut to the finish line. Ruiz, an unknown before she broke the tape, didn't show up on any pictures or video along the course. Korir — who was running among the leaders, right behind the lead vehicle with the TV camera — was literally front and center. 'It was kind of a nonissue because he was in the main (pack). I mean, the camera was focused on him,' Boston Athletic Association President Jack Fleming said, holding up Korir's mangled bib. 'This is an identification and a timing and scoring device. So he was clearly identified; we knew who he was. We didn't actually need this to identify him as John Korir. And it just so happened that the timing tag was intact.' Fleming said organizers noticed Korir's missing bib early on and went looking for video to find out what had happened. But they also saw that he was showing up at each checkpoint, as normal. No one knew how until he pulled the bib out of his shorts as he ran down Boylston Street to the finish. 'For him to have the presence of mind, with all of that adrenaline, to grab the bib and to hold on to it, tuck it away, ... it's amazing,' Fleming said. The timing devices have come a long way: Early models were plastic chips tied into the runners' shoelaces, but now they are a thin metallic sticker on the back of the bib, surrounded by a sponge-like protective guard. The bib itself is a papery plastic similar to the material used to wrap building frames during construction. It is strong enough to withstand 26.2 miles of pounding in all kinds of weather, but it is not indestructible. 'It's the first thing that's stated on the back of the bid: Do not fold or bend this bib number,' Fleming said, reading the warning printed on every bib. 'But it worked.' ___ AP sports: in this topic
San Francisco Chronicle
22-04-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Korir brothers hope a Kenyan school they fund will produce a Boston Marathon champion, like them
BOSTON (AP) — John Korir arrived in Hopkinton hoping to join his brother as a Boston Marathon champion. He left Boylston Street with plans to train a future winner. Korir said he will donate the prize money from his Boston victory to the Transcend Talent Academy, which provides an education for aspiring runners who can't afford one. He has worked with the school in Kenya along with his brother, Wesley, who used the proceeds from his 2012 Boston win to build a hospital in their home region. 'It was in our dream to come here and win, and make history of two brothers winning Boston,' Korir said Tuesday, a day after overcoming an early fall to become, with Wesley, the first members of the same family to win the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. 'One day, one time we'll have a child from Transend Academy win Boston,' John Korir said. 'That's now our next dream: to mentor, to bring up a champion who will come one day, come and win Boston.' The reigning Chicago Marathon champion, who had top 10 finishes in both of his previous Boston attempts, Korir broke away from the pack heading into Heartbreak Hill on Monday and ran alone for much of the last 6 miles to win in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 45 seconds — the second-fastest winning time in course history. Fellow Kenyan Sharon Lokedi also took advantage of near-perfect marathon weather to win in 2:17:22 — more than 2 1/2 minutes faster than the previous course record. Korir said he, too, might have challenged for the course record if he'd had another runner to push him. 'But because I was alone, had to try my best and see how fast I could run,' he said. Korir ran more than 26.19 miles with a scraped up knee and hand after getting tripped in the crowded start on East Main Street in Hopkinton, sending him sprawling headfirst down the double yellow line in the middle of the road. His race bib was messed up even worse. Korir quickly popped back up and saw his bib was torn off his shirt in three of its four corners; he detached the last one, folded the bib and tucked it into his shorts as he rejoined the still bunched-up leaders at the rear. The absence of a bib — the professionals' have their names, not numbers like most of the 30,000 runners in the field — was mostly a curiosity for onlookers. But it posed a potential problem for race organizers: On the back is a timing device that registers when the runner crosses a checkpoint. The system provide runners with their split times and also proves that someone ran the entire race — something Boston officials didn't have in 1980, when Rosie Ruiz was initially declared the winner before they found she took a shortcut to the finish line. Ruiz, an unknown before she broke the tape, didn't show up on any pictures or video along the course. Korir — who was running among the leaders, right behind the lead vehicle with the TV camera — was literally front and center. 'It was kind of a nonissue because he was in the main (pack). I mean, the camera was focused on him,' Boston Athletic Association President Jack Fleming said, holding up Korir's mangled bib. 'This is an identification and a timing and scoring device. So he was clearly identified; we knew who he was. We didn't actually need this to identify him as John Korir. And it just so happened that the timing tag was intact.' Fleming said organizers noticed Korir's missing bib early on and went looking for video to find out what had happened. But they also saw that he was showing up at each checkpoint, as normal. No one knew how until he pulled the bib out of his shorts as he ran down Boylston Street to the finish. 'For him to have the presence of mind, with all of that adrenaline, to grab the bib and to hold on to it, tuck it away, ... it's amazing,' Fleming said. The timing devices have come a long way: Early models were plastic chips tied into the runners' shoelaces, but now they are a thin metallic sticker on the back of the bib, surrounded by a sponge-like protective guard. The bib itself is a papery plastic similar to the material used to wrap building frames during construction. It is strong enough to withstand 26.2 miles of pounding in all kinds of weather, but it is not indestructible.
The Independent
22-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Korir brothers hope a Kenyan school they fund will produce a Boston Marathon champion, like them
John Korir arrived in Hopkinton hoping to join his brother as a Boston Marathon champion. He left Boylston Street with plans to train a future winner. Korir said he will donate the prize money from his Boston victory to the Transcend Talent Academy, which provides an education for aspiring runners who can't afford one. He has worked with the school in Kenya along with his brother, Wesley, who used the proceeds from his 2012 Boston win to build a hospital in their home region. 'It was in our dream to come here and win, and make history of two brothers winning Boston,' Korir said Tuesday, a day after overcoming an early fall to become, with Wesley, the first members of the same family to win the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. 'One day, one time we'll have a child from Transend Academy win Boston,' John Korir said. 'That's now our next dream: to mentor, to bring up a champion who will come one day, come and win Boston.' The reigning Chicago Marathon champion, who had top 10 finishes in both of his previous Boston attempts, Korir broke away from the pack heading into Heartbreak Hill on Monday and ran alone for much of the last 6 miles to win in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 45 seconds — the second-fastest winning time in course history. Fellow Kenyan Sharon Lokedi also took advantage of near-perfect marathon weather to win in 2:17:22 — more than 2 1/2 minutes faster than the previous course record. Korir said he, too, might have challenged for the course record if he'd had another runner to push him. 'But because I was alone, had to try my best and see how fast I could run,' he said. Korir ran more than 26.19 miles with a scraped up knee and hand after getting tripped in the crowded start on East Main Street in Hopkinton, sending him sprawling headfirst down the double yellow line in the middle of the road. His race bib was messed up even worse. Korir quickly popped back up and saw his bib was torn off his shirt in three of its four corners; he detached the last one, folded the bib and tucked it into his shorts as he rejoined the still bunched-up leaders at the rear. The absence of a bib — the professionals' have their names, not numbers like most of the 30,000 runners in the field — was mostly a curiosity for onlookers. But it posed a potential problem for race organizers: On the back is a timing device that registers when the runner crosses a checkpoint. The system provide runners with their split times and also proves that someone ran the entire race — something Boston officials didn't have in 1980, when Rosie Ruiz was initially declared the winner before they found she took a shortcut to the finish line. Ruiz, an unknown before she broke the tape, didn't show up on any pictures or video along the course. Korir — who was running among the leaders, right behind the lead vehicle with the TV camera — was literally front and center. 'It was kind of a nonissue because he was in the main (pack). I mean, the camera was focused on him,' Boston Athletic Association President Jack Fleming said, holding up Korir's mangled bib. 'This is an identification and a timing and scoring device. So he was clearly identified; we knew who he was. We didn't actually need this to identify him as John Korir. And it just so happened that the timing tag was intact.' Fleming said organizers noticed Korir's missing bib early on and went looking for video to find out what had happened. But they also saw that he was showing up at each checkpoint, as normal. No one knew how until he pulled the bib out of his shorts as he ran down Boylston Street to the finish. 'For him to have the presence of mind, with all of that adrenaline, to grab the bib and to hold on to it, tuck it away, ... it's amazing,' Fleming said. The timing devices have come a long way: Early models were plastic chips tied into the runners' shoelaces, but now they are a thin metallic sticker on the back of the bib, surrounded by a sponge-like protective guard. The bib itself is a papery plastic similar to the material used to wrap building frames during construction. It is strong enough to withstand 26.2 miles of pounding in all kinds of weather, but it is not indestructible. 'It's the first thing that's stated on the back of the bid: Do not fold or bend this bib number,' Fleming said, reading the warning printed on every bib. 'But it worked.' ___
Associated Press
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Korir brothers hope a Kenyan school they fund will produce a Boston Marathon champion, like them
BOSTON (AP) — John Korir arrived in Hopkinton hoping to join his brother as a Boston Marathon champion. He left Boylston Street with plans to train a future winner. Korir said he will donate the prize money from his Boston victory to the Transcend Talent Academy, which provides an education for aspiring runners who can't afford one. He has worked with the school in Kenya along with his brother, Wesley, who used the proceeds from his 2012 Boston win to build a hospital in their home region. 'It was in our dream to come here and win, and make history of two brothers winning Boston,' Korir said Tuesday, a day after overcoming an early fall to become, with Wesley, the first members of the same family to win the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon. 'One day, one time we'll have a child from Transend Academy win Boston,' John Korir said. 'That's now our next dream: to mentor, to bring up a champion who will come one day, come and win Boston.' The reigning Chicago Marathon champion, who had top 10 finishes in both of his previous Boston attempts, Korir broke away from the pack heading into Heartbreak Hill on Monday and ran alone for much of the last 6 miles to win in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 45 seconds — the second-fastest winning time in course history. Fellow Kenyan Sharon Lokedi also took advantage of near-perfect marathon weather to win in 2:17:22 — more than 2 1/2 minutes faster than the previous course record. Korir said he, too, might have challenged for the course record if he'd had another runner to push him. 'But because I was alone, had to try my best and see how fast I could run,' he said. Korir ran more than 26.19 miles with a scraped up knee and hand after getting tripped in the crowded start on East Main Street in Hopkinton, sending him sprawling headfirst down the double yellow line in the middle of the road. His race bib was messed up even worse. Korir quickly popped back up and saw his bib was torn off his shirt in three of its four corners; he detached the last one, folded the bib and tucked it into his shorts as he rejoined the still bunched-up leaders at the rear. The absence of a bib — the professionals' have their names, not numbers like most of the 30,000 runners in the field — was mostly a curiosity for onlookers. But it posed a potential problem for race organizers: On the back is a timing device that registers when the runner crosses a checkpoint. The system provide runners with their split times and also proves that someone ran the entire race — something Boston officials didn't have in 1980, when Rosie Ruiz was initially declared the winner before they found she took a shortcut to the finish line. Ruiz, an unknown before she broke the tape, didn't show up on any pictures or video along the course. Korir — who was running among the leaders, right behind the lead vehicle with the TV camera — was literally front and center. 'It was kind of a nonissue because he was in the main (pack). I mean, the camera was focused on him,' Boston Athletic Association President Jack Fleming said, holding up Korir's mangled bib. 'This is an identification and a timing and scoring device. So he was clearly identified; we knew who he was. We didn't actually need this to identify him as John Korir. And it just so happened that the timing tag was intact.' Fleming said organizers noticed Korir's missing bib early on and went looking for video to find out what had happened. But they also saw that he was showing up at each checkpoint, as normal. No one knew how until he pulled the bib out of his shorts as he ran down Boylston Street to the finish. 'For him to have the presence of mind, with all of that adrenaline, to grab the bib and to hold on to it, tuck it away, ... it's amazing,' Fleming said. The timing devices have come a long way: Early models were plastic chips tied into the runners' shoelaces, but now they are a thin metallic sticker on the back of the bib, surrounded by a sponge-like protective guard. The bib itself is a papery plastic similar to the material used to wrap building frames during construction. It is strong enough to withstand 26.2 miles of pounding in all kinds of weather, but it is not indestructible. 'It's the first thing that's stated on the back of the bid: Do not fold or bend this bib number,' Fleming said, reading the warning printed on every bib. 'But it worked.' ___ AP sports:
San Francisco Chronicle
21-04-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Kenya's John Korir follows brother's advice to men's Boston Marathon title, place in history
BOSTON (AP) — Six months after claiming the top spot on the podium at the Chicago Marathon, John Korir toed the start line of his third Boston Marathon feeling good about his chances for another strong performance. After finishing one place short of the top 3 at the Boston Marathon a year ago, the 28-year-old Kenyan began his training for this year's race by first seeking the advice of a trusted past champion: his big brother. Wesley Korir, who is 14 years older than John, won the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon in 2012. 'He told me to expect the race to be tough and believe in myself,' John Korir said. 'So, I believed in myself and I followed his advice.' It led John — and his brother — into Boston history. Korir powered over the 26.2-mile course from Hopkinton to Boston's Copley Square in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 45 seconds — the second-fastest winning time in race history. After crossing the line, he was hugged by Wesley, who'd been jumping up and down as soon as John came into view near the finish line on Boylston Street. Although the race has been won by a pair of unrelated John Kelleys and two different Robert Cheruiyots, the Korirs are the first brothers — or relatives of any kind — to win the marathon in Boston. Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania and Cybrian Kotut of Kenya were shoulder to shoulder down the stretch and both crossed in 2:05:04. The photo review revealed Simbu was second and Kotut third. Conner Mantz of Provo, Utah, was in hunt but faded to fourth in 2:05:08 after losing a three-way battle with Simbu and Kotut. If not for some fast reflexes, Korir's win wouldn't have happened. The Kenyan stumbled near the start and appeared to lose his race bib. He pulled it out of his running tights as he sprinted past the finish line. 'Somebody tripped me from behind,' he said. Korir was fourth in last year's race and ninth in 2023, his only two previous Boston attempts. He won $150,000 for Monday's victory. Wesley Korir used some of his Boston prize money to build a hospital in Kenya. John reiterated a pledge to give some of his winnings to the Transcend Talent Academy, which provides an education for aspiring runners who are too poor to pay for one. Wesley has also worked with the school. Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia, last year's champion, followed a fast pace to the front of the field about the six-mile mark and led until around Mile 9. But the 34-year-old Lemma couldn't sustain it and fell back into a deep pack before pulling up around the 17-mile mark with an apparent leg issue. Rory Linkletter of Canada was in front of a pack of 10 runners at the halfway mark, then Mantz pulled in front around Mile 16. Mantz stayed there until Korir made a move about 20 miles in, around Heartbreak Hill, and opened about a 20-second lead on the group. 'For me that was the plan,' Korir said. 'We say at 20 miles that is where I would try to make a move. I made the move and it worked well.' His lead grew close to a minute as he passed the famed downtown Citgo sign behind Fenway Park with about a mile to go. Mantz was in contention for a spot on the podium as he sprinted down in the final mile down Boylston Street flanked by Simbu and Kotut. But he was outkicked by both of them down the stretch. 'I made my hard move and they responded as if I wasn't there making a move. So it was a little bit humbling,' Mantz said. 'Missing it and getting outkicked for the last 300 meters is a little bitter. It's still probably the best race I've had." 'Afterwards he told me he was proud,' John said. 'Now we're two brothers to win Boston.' ___
