What's next for the marathon GOAT after flopping in Boston?

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Monday's Boston Marathon was a memorable one. As the city marked 10 years since the deadly bombing that shook the world's oldest annual marathon to its core, Eliud Kipchoge made his long-awaited Boston debut.

The 38-year-old Kenyan is widely regarded as the greatest marathoner of all time after winning back-to-back Olympic gold medals in 2016 and '21 and running four of the six fastest marathons of all time — including the current world record of 2:01:09 last fall in Berlin. Kipchoge also broke the fabled two-hour barrier in 2019 under carefully manufactured conditions in Vienna, but it doesn't count as a record because he was furnished with certain non-sanctioned advantages including a rotating cast of pacesetters and a lead car that used lasers to project the optimal path on the road.

It's also worth noting that Kipchoge set his unofficial and official world-record times while wearing Nike's cutting-edge racing shoes, which feature a propulsive carbon-fibre plate. But these shoes have been ruled legal by World Athletics, and virtually all elite marathoners now wear some type of carbon-fibre shoe — whether Nike's or one of the other brands that have followed with their own versions.

Recently, Kipchoge has shifted his focus from lowering the world record, which he's owned since 2018, to becoming the first runner to win all six World Marathon Majors. He's already won Berlin and London four times each and Tokyo and Chicago once, leaving only Boston and New York to conquer.

Until Monday, Kipchoge had never attempted either of the two most prestigious U.S.-based marathons.