The Boston Marathon just got even more competitive with the announcement that Hellen Obiri, a two-time Olympic Medalist and World Champion, is headed to Boston this April. Obiri has opted to enter the marathon’s professional field after winning the NYC Half earlier this month.
Obiri, 33, will compete in just the second marathon of her 12-year professional career. Her first was in New York last fall, where she finished in sixth with a time of 2:25:49.
The Kenyan kicked off her 2023 season by breaking the course record at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in the United Arab Emirates, clocking 1:05:05 in February. Two weeks later, she finished the NYC Half with a course-record time of 1:07:21—still more than 3 minutes off her personal best of 1:04:22, achieved in the UAE in February 2022. (That time ranked her fifth in the all-time half-marathon standings.)
Obiri burst onto the international scene by earning her first significant medal in 2012 at the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, where she claimed the gold in the 3,000-meter event, finishing with a time of 8:37.16. She has since earned silver in two consecutive Olympics, in 2016 and 2020, in the 5,000-meter.
Obiri will be a favorite in Boston’s women’s elite field, as her winning streak proves she is in great shape.
The Boston Marathon elite women’s field is perhaps its strongest ever, with nine runners having personal bests under 2:20. Leading the pack is Ethiopian Amane Beriso, with a 2:14:58 record from the Valencia Marathon in December. Obiri will also be up against 2022 world marathon winner Gotytom Gebreslase, and 2020 Tokyo Marathon winner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter
Laura Ratliff is a New York City-based writer, editor, and runner. Laura's writing expertise spans numerous topics, ranging from travel and food and drink to reported pieces covering political and human rights issues. She has previously worked at Architectural Digest, Bloomberg News, and Condé Nast Traveler and was most recently the senior editorial director at TripSavvy. Like many of us, Laura was bitten by the running bug later in life, after years of claiming to "hate running." Her favorite marathon is Big Sur.
