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The must-see moments of the 2025 Boston Marathon
An early fall from a pro runner, tenacious competitors finishing their race, and a visit from Paul Revere.
More than 30,000 runners will cross the finish line in Copley Square Monday, competing in the 129th Boston Marathon.
Spectators, friends, and family members will line the course from Hopkinton to Wellesley to Brookline, but here are some must-see moments if you weren’t pressed against the barricades.
Men’s winner John Korir took a tumble early in the race
John Korir, of Kenya, ultimately won the 2025 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:04:45. He appeared to lose his bib when he fell but quickly caught up with the leaders. In a video posted to social media, Korir appears to take a rough fall in a large crowd of runners before swiftly hoisting himself onto his feet.
Korir, who also won the 2024 Chicago Marathon, joins his brother as a Boston Marathon champion. Wesley, who won in 2012, and John Korir are the first set of brothers to win Boston.
Runners crawl across the finish line
Some competitors finishing their 26 mile run limped across the finish line in Copley Square, including crawling across the line to get their time. WCVB shared a video of a runner who puts his head in his hands for a moment, just inches away from the finish line, before crawling across. Awaiting staff put him in a wheelchair.
The race’s medical staff are on stand-by at the finish line, as well as at 26 medical stations along the course, according to the Boston Athletic Association.
Police even helped one marathoner across the finish line.
Paul Revere warns that ‘the runners are coming’
America’s 250th birthday celebrations are going strong in Lexington and Concord this month, marking the start of the Revolutionary War. Paul Revere decided to take his midnight ride all the way to the Boston Marathon finish line this year.
Around a dozen colonial militia reenactors crossed the finish line before the start of the Boston Marathon, including a Revere reenactor. He had a special message: “the runners are coming.”
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His horse, however, got a little spooked by the large blue and yellow Boston Marathon finish line, and the actor had to walk his ride across it.
Des Linden crosses her final Boston Marathon finish line
2018 champion Des Linden announced in a full-page Boston Globe ad and social media post that this year’s Boston Marathon will be her final professional marathon.
“I’m ready to leave it all out on the course one last time,” she wrote. “See you on Boylston.
Women’s winner breaks course record
Sharon Lokedi finished second place at last year’s Boston Marathon, but set a new course record with a 2:17:22 time and secured the first place title.
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She embraced her mother at the finish line, describing it as a special moment.
“I can’t believe it. I’m just so excited,” Lokedi said. “It’s always tough and I toughed it out. I just wanted to give my best and just fight to the end.”
Influencer films himself ‘winning the start’ of Boston Marathon
Marc Tortell, a German runner, posted his point of view on Instagram where he sprinted ahead of the other runners in his wave to “win the start” of the Boston Marathon in Hopkinton.
“Since I’m already here, why not do something a bit unconventional,” Tortell, 27, told Boston.com, “Just do it for the ‘gram and win the start of the marathon.”
He said while other runners were “a bit surprised,” everyone was in a good mood and were “hyped” about his sprint ahead. Tortell previously ran in Berlin, where the whole field starts together with the elite runners.
“I don’t want me to distract them,” he said, referring to the pro runners. “However, since [Boston] was the open race and all of those people in the starting area were good mood, chatting and stuff, so everyone was, I think, like, a bit surprised, but also hyped about it.”
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Read more about Tortell’s sprint here.
‘I’m pregnant,’ one runner shares to cheers at the finish line
One woman crossing the finish line shared another special announcement for fans and maybe even her family members waiting for her at the finish line. “I’m pregnant,” her sign read.
WCVB shared the clip on X, where the announcers can be heard repeatedly cheering that “she’s pregnant” as the marathoner crosses the finish line in Copley Square.
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