Kenyans sweep Boston Marathon but Eliud Kipchoge misses out

Defending champion Evans Chebet of Kenya won the Boston Marathon again on Monday, surging to the front at Heartbreak Hill to spoil the much-anticipated debut of world record holder Eliud Kipchoge and win in 2:05:54.

Hellen Obiri, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 5,000m, won the women’s race in a sprint to finish in an unofficial 2:21:38 and complete the Kenyan sweep.

Chebet, 2021 winner Benson Kipruto of Kenya and Gabriel Geay of Tanzania dropped Kipchoge from the lead pack around Mile 20 and then ran together for the last three miles. Geay won a footrace for second, 10 seconds behind the winner and two seconds ahead of Kipruto.

Kipchoge, a 12-time major marathon winner, was sixth. Scott Fauble was the top American, finishing seventh.

Kipchoge had been hoping to add a Boston Marathon victory to his unprecedented running resume. The 38-year-old has won two Olympic gold medals and four of the six major marathons; Boston – he has never run New York – is now the only one he has competed in and failed to win. He also broke two hours in an exhibition in a Vienna park.

Fighting a trace of a headwind and rain that dampened the roads, Kipchoge ran in the lead pack from the start in Hopkinton until the series of climbs collectively known as Heartbreak Hill. But to the surprise of the fans lined up along Boylston Street for the final sprit, he wasn’t among the three leaders.

Marcel Hug of Switzerland won the men’s wheelchair race in a course record time – his sixth victory in Boston – and American Susannah Scaroni won her first Boston title despite having to stop early in the race to tighten her wheel.

For the first time, the race also includes a nonbinary division, with 27 athletes registered.

A dozen former champions and