2023 Boston Marathon
Eliud Kipchoge Holds the World Record. But He Won’t Set a New Record in the 2023 Boston Marathon
The Boston course is notoriously challenging, with Heartbreak Hill and more. That’s not the problem
Eliud Kipchoge is the greatest runner ever to enter the 127-year-old Boston Marathon. When he stands on the start line in Hopkinton, Mass., on Monday, April 17, he will bring with him an unmatched resume.
Kipchoge has won the last two Olympic Marathons — in Rio and in Tokyo. But he doesn’t just win races; he runs fast as well. In a 2019 “exhibition” marathon in Vienna, he completed a flat, accurately measured course in an almost-unthinkable 1:59:40. He also holds the official world record in the marathon — the 2:01:09 he ran in Berlin last September. Here’s an 8-minute video on Kipchoge’s preparations for Boston.
However, Kipchoge won’t be setting a new world record in Boston, his first appearance in a U.S. road race. The infamously challenging Boston Marathon course is considered not “record eligible” by World Athletics, which controls road racing and track in field in the Olympics and other major competitions around the globe.
