John Korir recovers from fall to claim sibling history at Boston Marathon
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Reading Time: 2min | Mon. 21.04.25. | 19:11
This was the fastest winning time since Geoffrey Mutai set the course record of 2:03:02 in 2011
After missing out on the podium by a whisker in the 2024 edition, John Korir returned to the Boston Marathon with a vengeance, taking the 2025 win in 2:04:44
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The reigning Chicago Marathon winner had prepared for the race with insider advice from his older brother Wesley Korir, the 2012 Boston champion who proudly waited at the finish line to celebrate with his younger sibling.
Korir recovered from what many thought was a devastating fall mid-race that could easily have shattered the momentum to make his move after 90 minutes in the race.
With the win, the Korir brothers made history as the first siblings to ever conquer Boston.
"I am the fastest in the family," John said after going eight minutes quicker than Wesley in 2012 (2:12:40). "He had the title in the family, but now I have it too."
Alphonce Simbu of Tanzania finished second in 2:05:04, inches ahead of Kenya's Cybrian Kotut who was given the same time for his third-place finish.
American Conner Mantz was fourth in 2:05:08, just behind Ryan Hall’s mark for the fastest U.S. time on the course and one of the fastest times ever by a U.S. runner in any conditions.
The Race
The men covered the first mile in 4:32 with American half-marathon record holder Conner Mantz leading the charge with his training partner Clayton Young right on his heels.
The leading pack went through 10km in 28:52 with a huge group led by defending champion Sisay Lemma. The push soon got to him as he stopped to stretch and was dropped by the leading pack, which had about 12 runners.
90 minutes in, Korir made his move, putting some distance between him and the chasing pack, soon after creating a 25-second lead.
He passed the 35km mark with a 19-second lead ahead of the rest of the field, and five kilometres later, he had stretched that lead to 55 seconds, going on to win by more than eight minutes from his brother's time more than a decade ago.
