Edna Kiplagat triumphant in Boston (© Victah Sailer)
Organisers of the Boston Marathon have announced the full elite fields for the 123rd edition of the IAAF Gold Label road race on 15 April.
The line-up features nine previous winners of the Boston Marathon and includes six men with sub-2:06 PBs and six women with PBs faster than 2:21.
Defending champion Yuki Kawauchi, world champion Geoffrey Kirui and two-time Boston Marathon champion Lelisa Desisa leads the men’s field alongside 2016 Boston winner Lemi Berhanu and 2012 Boston champion Wesley Korir.
Those five former champions will line up alongside two-time Amsterdam Marathon champion Lawrence Cherono and Ethiopian duo Sisay Lemma and Solomon Deksisa, all of whom have PBs faster than 2:05.
Eritrea’s 2015 world marathon champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie and six-time world half marathon champion Zersenay Tadese will also be in Boston, as will Japan’s Asian Games champion Hiroto Inoue and Beppu-Oita runner-up Hayato Sonoda.
The US contingent includes last year’s third-place finisher Shadrack Biwott and Olympians Dathan Ritzenhein, Abdi Abdirahman and Jared Ward.
Rotterdam winner Kenneth Kipkemoi, two-time Toronto champion Benson Kipruto and Beirut winner Mohamed Reda El Aaraby will all be making their Boston Marathon debut.
In the women’s race, defending champion Desiree Linden will take on two-time world champion Edna Kiplagat, 2015 Boston Marathon champion Caroline Rotich and 2012 Boston Marathon winner Sharon Cherop.
The quartet of past Boston winners will line up against a trio of Ethiopian women with sub-2:20 PBs: three-time Dubai Marathon winner Aselefech Mergia, 2015 world champion Mare Dibaba and 2017 Dubai winner Worknesh Degefa.
Kenya’s 2012 Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Sally Kipyego and Ethiopian trio Meskerem Assefa, Belaynesh Oljira and Marta Megra will also be in Boston, while Jordan Hasay, Sara Hall, Lindsay Flanagan, Becky Wade and Sarah Crouch lead the US contingent.
Last year’s second and third-place finishers, USA’s Sarah Sellers and Canada’s Krista DuChene, will return. Betsy Saina, European bronze medallist Eva Vrabcova and marathon debutante Mary Wacera will also be on the start line.
Organisers for the IAAF
Elite field
Men
Lawrence Cherono (KEN) 2:04:06
Sisay Lemma (ETH) 2:04:08
Lemi Berhanu (ETH) 2:04:33
Solomon Deksisa (ETH) 2:04:40
Lelisa Desisa (ETH) 2:04:45
Kenneth Kipkemoi (KEN) 2:05:44
Felix Kandie (KEN) 2:06:03
Geoffrey Kirui (KEN) 2:06:27
Festus Talam (KEN) 2:06:13
Wesley Korir (KEN) 2:06:13
Philemon Rono (KEN) 2:06:52
Hiroto Inoue (JPN) 2:06:54
Benson Kipruto (KEN) 2:07:11
Ghirmay Ghebreslassie (ERI) 2:07:46
Dathan Ritzenhein (USA) 2:07:47
Yuki Kawauchi (JPN) 2:08:14
Zersenay Tadese (ERI) 2:08:46
Abdi Abdirahman (USA) 2:08:56
Mohamed Reda El Aaraby (MAR) 2:09:16
Hayato Sonoda (JPN) 2:09:34
Jeffrey Eggleston (USA) 2:10:52
Scott Overall (GBR) 2:10:55
Jared Ward (USA) 2:11:30
Elkanah Kibet (USA) 2:11:31
Timothy Ritchie (USA) 2:11:56
Shadrack Biwott (USA) 2:12:01
Scott Fauble (USA) 2:12:28
Aaron Braun (USA) 2:12:54
Brian Shrader (USA) 2:13:31
Women
Aselefech Mergia (ETH) 2:19:31
Edna Kiplagat (KEN) 2:19:50
Mare Dibaba (ETH) 2:19:52
Worknesh Degefa (ETH) 2:19:53
Meskerem Assefa (ETH) 2:20:36
Jordan Hasay (USA) 2:20:57
Belaynesh Oljira (ETH) 2:21:53
Sharon Cherop (KEN) 2:22:28
Desiree Linden (USA) 2:22:38
Marta Megra (ETH) 2:22:35
Betsy Saina (KEN) 2:22:56
Caroline Rotich (KEN) 2:23:22
Sara Hall (USA) 2:26:20
Eva Vrabcova (CZE) 2:26:31
Sally Kipyego (USA) 2:28:01
Krista Duchene (CAN) 2:28:32
Alyson Dixon (GBR) 2:29:06
Lindsay Flanagan (USA) 2:29:25
Becky Wade (USA) 2:30:41
Sarah Crouch (USA) 2:32:27
Sarah Sellers (USA) 2:36:37
Mary Wacera (KEN) debut
