Evans Chebet wins Boston Marathon, spoiling event debut of world record holder Kipchoge

Defending champion Evans Chebet won the Boston Marathon again on Monday, surging to the front at Heartbreak Hill to spoil the much-anticipated debut of world record holder Eliud Kipchoge and win in an unofficial two hours five minutes 54 seconds.

It was the third-fastest time in race history.

Chebet, 2021 winner Benson Kipruto and Gabriel Geay dropped Kipchoge from the lead pack around the 32-kilometre mark of the 42.2 km race and then ran together for the last three miles. Geay won a footrace for second, 10 seconds behind and two seconds ahead of Kipruto.

Kipchoge, a 12-time major marathon winner, was sixth.

Hellen Obiri of Kenya won the women’s race.

Hug wins 6th Boston wheelchair title

A familiar name returned to the top of the podium and another one got there for the first time in the wheelchair division.

Marcel Hug of Switzerland captured his sixth men’s wheelchair Boston Marathon title, claiming the victory in a course record of 1:17:06 in the first race of the day. It bests his previous course mark of 1:18:04 set in 2017. American Daniel Romanchuk was second in 1:27.45, followed by Jetze Plat of the Netherlands in 1:28.35.

“Absolutely mind-blowing, incredible,” three-time Paralympian Josh Cassidy told CBC Sports of Hug’s effort. “Every single athlete here is in disbelief.

“How was that [performance] possible in these [cool and rainy] conditions? It’s one of those rare moments when someone takes it to a whole other level.”

Cassidy was 19th on Monday in 1:47:02. He believes it was his 13th Boston Marathon and “the worst to date.”

Not only did he feel heavy (slow) and tight during warmup, he started to cramp during the race and had issues gripping his racing chair.

“I was great off the start, in second,” said Cassidy, who won the 2012 Boston Marathon in a then-world record 1:18:25. “I was in the top 10 for the first bit, then issues set in and [it was] downhill from there.”

In the women’s race, American Susannah Scaroni won her first Boston title, crossing the line in 1:41.45. Her victory followed runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2022. She was followed by Madison de Rozario of Australia in 1:46.55 and Wakako Tsuchida of Japan in 1:47.04.

Hug’s win was the second-largest in the Boston wheelchair race’s history. He received $25,000 US for the victory and a $50,000 bonus for setting the new course mark.

The 37-year-old Hug surged to the front of the field on a foggy and drizzly morning, leading the majority of the course a year after withdrawing before the race for medical reasons. Hug also broke the course record in Saturday’s 5k race as well.

Scaroni built a 20-second lead early before having to stop briefly to adjust a loose right wheel about 16 km in. She dealt with the issue and returned to the race.