Ethiopian Sisay Lemma wins Boston Marathon after setting blazing pace

It was a wire-to-wire win at the Boston Marathon for Ethiopian runner Sisay Lemma who threatened to set the marathon’s all-time course record for much of Monday’s Patriots’ Day run. 

Lemma finished first in the men’s division with a time of 2:06:17, coming in 41 seconds ahead of Mohamed Esa. Last year’s champion Evans Chabet finished third, 1:05 behind Lemma. 

Lemma finished the first half of Monday’s Boston Marathon in 1:00:19, which put him on pace to come more than two minutes under the course record of 2:03:02 set in 2011.

He was nearly two minutes ahead of the nearest competition at the halfway point.

Lemma last took on Boston in 2022, but failed to cross the finish line. He placed 30th at the 2019 Boston Marathon. 

Lemma established himself as a top marathoner in 2021 by winning the London Marathon, marking his first World Major win. He then posted one of the fastest marathon times ever in Valencia in December 2023, completing the race in 2:01:48. His win in Valencia was the fourth-fastest official marathon ever recorded. 

The elite women’s field started shortly after the men’s field and will be concluding early this afternoon. 

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