Newly-crowned Boston Marathon champion John Korir is not just celebrating a major career milestone—he’s also savouring a personal victory over his older brother, Wesley Korir, who won the same race back in 2012.
“Yeah, I can’t wait to crack jokes at him because now I’m officially the fastest in the family,” said a beaming Korir after his win. “He had the Boston title, but now I have it too… I think I’ll tease him a little.”
Korir stormed to victory with a time of 2:04:45, blazing past the previous winning mark set by Wesley (2:12:40) twelve years earlier.
With the win, he joins an elite club of Kenyan runners—including Robert Cheruiyot—who have conquered both the Chicago and Boston Marathons within the same year.
Tanzania’s Alphonce Felix Simbu finished second in 2:05:04, narrowly ahead of Kenyan Cybrian Kotut, who posted the same time to round out the podium in third place.
The decisive moment came after the 34-kilometre mark when Korir launched a solo breakaway.
This move came after defending champion Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia withdrew from the race at the 27-kilometre point.
Earlier, American Conner Mantz had briefly surged to the front of the 10-man lead pack, but Korir quickly took command, dictating the pace to the finish.
Despite late surges from Mantz, Kotut, and Simbu, Korir maintained a firm grip on the lead, sealing a historic triumph in his first race of 2025.
His previous outing was the Chicago Marathon in October, where he clocked an impressive 2:02:44.
Remarkably, Korir’s Boston win nearly didn’t happen. At the start line, the 28-year-old fell—losing his bib in the process. But that early stumble only fueled his fire.
Now, with two World Marathon Majors victories under his belt and family bragging rights secured, John Korir’s star continues to rise.
