Big names to watch out for at the 2022 Boston Marathon on Monday 18th April 2022

The Boston Marathon is the only other World Marathon Major marathon that will happen in the spring, after the Tokyo marathon that happened last month. The race will be returning to its traditional Patriots’ Day date, on Monday the 18^th of April. 

With five men who have run under 2:04:00 for the marathon ready to toe the start line of the 126^th Boston Marathon, it promises to be a thrilling race to follow. The men’s elite field is one of the best ever assembled in any of the biggest city marathons in the world.

This is despite the recent withdrawals by Kenenisa Bekele and Bayelign Teshager of Ethiopia, Kenya’s Titus Ekiru and Bernard Koech, and USA’s Diego Estrada, Tyler Pennel, Joe Stilin and Clayton Young.

Join us on the 26.2 journey from Hopkinton to Boston with our #BostonMarathon Course Overview — powered by @tcs_na, our Official Technology Consulting Partner. #WeBelieveBoston #Boston126 pic.twitter.com/TQZOeXY1mC

— Boston Marathon (@bostonmarathon) April 13, 2022

Fastest on paper is Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese who has 2:02:48, a time that makes him the third-fastest man ever in the marathon behind Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele, as his personal best time. The 2020 Tokyo marathon champion was part of the latest elite entries into the race. Legese is also rated as the second-best to Eliud Kipchoge in the current World Athletics marathon rankings.

With a fraction of a second preventing him from being a sub 2:03 marathon runner, Evans Chebet who won the 2020 Valencia Marathon by running a personal best time of 2:03:00 will also be on the starting line. Chebet is not new to the World Marathon Majors having placed 3^rd at the Berlin Marathon in 2016 and 4^that both the London (2021) and the Tokyo (2017) Marathons.

After all the Olympic medalists from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathon event have done their marathons for this year with the gold medalist, Eliud Kipchoge winning the Tokyo Marathon in March and the silver medalist, Abdi Nageeye winning the Rotterdam Marathon some places ahead of the bronze medalist, Bashir Abdi; it will be the turn of the 4^th placed finisher, Lawrence Cherono at the Boston Marathon.

Cherono, who is ranked at 3^rd place in the World Athletics Marathon rankings, has a personal best time of 2:03:04 which he ran at the Valencia Marathon to finish 2^nd behind Chebet in 2020. This will be a chance for Cherono to show that he can beat Chebet in accordance with his world ranking. After all, Cherono has an impressive profile having won the Chicago Marathon in 2019, which is one of the World Marathon Majors, among other big city marathons that include the Amsterdam, Valencia, the Praha, and the Sevilla marathons.

The 2021 London Marathon champion, Sisay Lemma will be another runner to watch out for in the men’s race. He has a personal best time of 2:03:36, a time he ran to finish 3^rd at the Berlin Marathon in 2019. He is also the 2015 Frankfurt and the 2018 Ljubljana Marathon winner.

Another sub 2:04 marathon runner that was recently added to the men’s elite field is Ethiopia’s 28-year-old Kinde Atanaw who has a personal best time of 2:03:51, a time he ran to win the 2019 Valencia Marathon.

For the first time in 1,099 days, the #BostonMarathon FINALLY returns to Patriots' Day 🦄

ONE👏WEEK👏TO👏GO👏#Boston126 pic.twitter.com/ixcH5qWGW7

— Boston Marathon (@bostonmarathon) April 11, 2022

Geoffrey Kamworor, the man of all surfaces, the three-times world half marathon champion, the two times world senior cross country champion, and the 2017 New York City Marathon champion will be another runner to watch out for with a lot of interest given he is already in the Kenyan marathon team to the world championships in Oregon.

Leading the women’s elite field will be Kenya’s Peres Chepchirchir.

Besides being the fastest on the start list with a 2:17:16 personal best time which she ran in 2020 to win the Valencia marathon, Chepchirchir is as well the reigning Olympic marathon champion, two times world half marathon champion and reigning New York City Marathon champion.

Joyciline Jepkosgei, the 2021 London Marathon champion with a personal best time of 2:17:43 is the other strong Kenyan woman on the start list.

Ethiopia’s Degitu Azimeraw will offer a worthy competition to the two top Kenyan women here given her personal best time of 2:17:58 which she ran to finish second behind Jepkosgei at the London Marathon last year. At just 23 years of age, she is definitely a rising star to watch out for.

USA’s Molly Seidel and Desiree Linden, Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat and Viola Lagat and Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh and Etagegn Woldu will be among other big names to watch out for in the women’s field.