Events

With a loaded field, the Boston Marathon makes its return to Patriots’ Day

The iconic 26.2-mile run from Hopkinton to Boylston Street will be back to its traditional date for the first time since 2019.

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The Boston Marathon is going back to where it belongs on the city’s sports calendar. And it’s bringing with it the fastest field in the race’s history.

For the first time in three years, the Boston Athletic Association’s prestigious 26.2-mile race to Boylston Street will be run on Patriots’ Day, returning to its traditional mid-April date after the 2020 event was held virtually due to COVID-19, and then the enduring pandemic prompted the 2021 event to shift to October. That means it will be barely six months since the last race when the starting gun fires in Hopkinton for the 126th edition — though that appears to have hardly quelled the anticipation, with 30,000 participants registered to run, including some of the world’s premier distance runners.

Last year’s men’s winner, Kenya’s Benson Kipruto, is set to return, but perhaps the biggest news among the runners is that Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia is ready to make his Boston debut. A three-time Olympic gold medalist, he would be the fastest man ever to run Boston, with his personal best time of 2:01:41 ranking as the second-fastest marathon in history. Some consider him the greatest male distance runner ever.

“I recognize the tradition of the Boston Marathon, the world’s most historic marathon, and look forward to racing in April,” Bekele said in a statement released by the BAA. “For many years Ethiopia has had a strong tradition in Boston, and I am excited to join that legacy. I have long looked forward to racing the Boston Marathon.”

He’ll race in a stacked field that not only includes Kipruto, but a total of 12 men who’ll head to Hopkinton with a personal best of 2:06 or better. Among the field are also slated to be seven of Boston’s last eight men’s champions.

The wheelchair field is loaded, too, led by five-time Boston champion Marcel Hug, the world and course record holder who’ll seek his sixth title in seven years. Hug set a new world record during 2021, when he also won four Paralympic golds and took home the top prize in marathons in Boston, Berlin, London, and New York City.

April marks the 50th anniversary of when Boston officially created its women’s division, and while that was comprised of eight total finishers in 1972, this year’s lot promises a dozen runners who’ve bested 2:23 in their careers. Among that group are the fastest women in the world from each of the past two years — Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir, who won Olympic gold last year, and countrywoman Joyciline Jepkosgei — as well as the bronze medalist of last summer’s Tokyo Games, Molly Seidel.

The former Boston resident is one of three American women ever to medal in the Olympic marathon, though the Americans should have a presence among the leaders in Boston. Des Linden, the 2018 Boston champ, is set to compete, as are Sara Hall (the second-fastest American marathoner in history) and Nell Rojas (the top American and sixth place finisher in Boston last October).

The women’s wheelchair race is headlined by paralympic marathon gold medalist Madison de Rozario and three-time Boston Marathon champion Manuela Schär, who’ve been the best on the world stage in recent years. Schär is the course record holder in Boston, and won the race for a third time last year, while Rozario won the New York City Marathon. Both of them will need to contend with five-time Boston champ Tatyana McFadden.

Of course, beyond the world-class talent there are thousands upon thousands of other athletes whose stories may be lesser known but are no less worth cheering on — and fans will do just that along the route from Hopkinton Center. Official start times will be announced closer to the event, but the BAA has advice for those hoping to see the start, and has also provided a list of good viewing spots along the course. Keep in mind that some of those areas may be subject to security checkpoints, and some may be most easily accessed using public transportation.

About as inspiring as an event as there is from a spectator’s perspective, a visit to watch the Marathon should be on the bucket list of any sports fan in the Boston area — or, frankly, beyond.