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LRC 2026 Boston Marathon
Boston Marathon
Boston Marathon
Boston Men

John Korir ran 2:01:52 to shatter the Boston Marathon course record as 13 men broke 2:06 in the deepest race in Boston history. Zouhair Talbi ran 2:03:45, the fastest ever by an American citizen and Charles Hicks became the 2nd fastest at 2:04:35.

Boston Women

Lokedi blasted the downhill section from 35k to 40k in 14:48 (with a 4:35 24th mile!) en route to a repeat victory in Boston in 2:18:51. Jess McClain was the top American for the second straight year, running a pb of 2:20:07 for 5th.

Making sense of Boston

Monday's Boston Marathon saw five Americans break 2:06, including the two fastest marathons ever by Americans. How much did the tailwind help their times?

Weekend Track Action

Birnbaum closed in 53.59 at Hayward Field to smash Liam Murphy’s 3:33.02 NCAA 1500m record.

Michael Norman is back and healthy. The 2022 world champion raced for the first time in 19 months at the Tom Jones Memorial and revealed he is now training under a new coach as he begins a fresh comeback.

  • MB: Mt. Sac Disaster in the Elite 800m A cameraman stepped onto the track causing a collision and leading to almost the entire field to DNF. (Arizona State's Dayton Carlson was the only one to keep running and jogged in a 1:57.14.) In the women's 800m, Shafiqua Maloney won in 1:59.45 while former 400H WR holder Dalilah Muhammad ran a 2:03.71 PB in 5th place. *Results
Boston 5k

Ethiopians Addisu Yihune (13:14) and Gela Hambese (15:28) won the titles on Boylston Street on Saturday. Teare (13:25) and Smith (15:33) were the top Americans. In the B.A.A. Mile, American Eric Holt (4:06.64) and Kenyan Dorcus Ewoi (4:29.73) were your winners.

The Marathon Project is BACK (sponsored post)

The Marathon Project has announced a major schedule change for this year's event. The Amateurs and Professionals will now compete together in a 400-person race on Saturday, December 12. The move is designed to amplify the atmosphere and increase the intensity with more athletes, fans, and energy on the flat, fast, loop course in Chandler, AZ. According to race organizers, "The overwhelming feedback we received from last year was that the participants loved being treated like pros. Now they'll get to race with the pros as well. It's a logical next step for us." Press Release here

Non-Track Action
Outside Boston Coverage
Previous Track Results

Lyles won over Max Thomas (19.98) while Taylor finished 3rd overall running in a separate heat to break Lyles' decade-old 20.09 record. On the women's side, Mariah Maxwell moved to #5 on the HS all-time list with 22.44, finishing second to pro McKenzie Long (22.42).

Bryan Clay Invite

Hedengren broke Parker Valby's outdoor record (although she's already ran faster indoors with her 14:44.79 at BU). NCAA champ Pamela Kosgei finished 13 seconds back in 3rd. Kansas' Emmaculate Jemutai won the women's 800m in 1:59.88; Shelby Houlihan was 6th in 2:01.68. In the open 5000m, high schooler Abdinasir Hassan ran 13:52.31 to break Edward Cheserek’s sophomore class record (#9 on the prep all-time list).

2026 Boston Marathon is Monday
2026 Boston Marathon is Monday

Kenyans John Korir & Benson Kipruto will attempt to join the Boston legends club by winning their 2nd title while Zouhair Talbi, Alex Maier, & Clayton Young lead a deep US field.

Defending champ Lokedi is the clear favorite with her longtime rival Hellen Obiri running Boston. Fiona O'Keeffe and American record holder Emily Sisson headline a STACKED US field.

It's been nearly a decade since an American man has finished in the top 3 at Boston. And we've got good news and bad news. The good news? There are 8 sub-2:09 Americans hoping to end that drought. The bad news? We expect the drought to continue.

The latest forecast shows the predicted wind shifting even in more of westerly direction which is great as that means the runners will have a tailwind helping them on Monday. The temps will be ideal as well.

International News
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What an indoor season

He’s 17, still in high school, and already a world champion. Cooper Lutkenhaus went undefeated this indoor season and is now LetsRun.com’s Athlete of the Month.

News from Europe
NCAA News
Our Weekly Recap

Gout Gout goes sub-20, Cameron Myers joins Timothy Cheruiyot in the history books, Claudia Hollingsworth gets DQd and un-DQd and we wonder why the closing splits were so fast at the Paris Marathon. Plus Jackson Spencer impresses. It's a massive Week That Was.

What was the right call in the Aussie women's 1500 final?

Your vote has been counted. Thank you!

18-year-old Gout Gout just clocked a staggering 19.67 in Sydney—shattering the Australian record and putting himself in the same conversation as Usain Bolt. But was it a generational leap or a "perfect storm" of wind and environment? From "unicorn conditions" to a deep dive into wind-gauge physics and the FloJo parallel, Robert Johnson breaks down why Gout Gout is a massive talent, but why you shouldn't expect a repeat performance in Europe this summer.

The Latest LRC Exclusive

Sawe underwent 25 out-of-competition drug tests in the two months before winning last year's Berlin Marathon. We spoke to Sawe and the AIU's Brett Clothier about the impact Sawe's announcement has had on the sport, and their plans to keep the program going in 2026.

If you are a fan of Sawe you'll also love this

An interesting read. Did you know he grew up without electricity? That his uncle is the Ugandan 800m NR holder at 1:43.72. That he didn't make his European debut until 2022 when he was almost 27?

Important Administrative News
Mt. SAC Relays
Looking Ahead To Summer Sprinting
NCAA News
LetsThrow.com
Distance News
More Gout News
Arcadia

Simeon Birnbaum's meet record of 8:34.10 is history thanks to Spencer who did much of the early leading and then had as sensational final 200. In the end, Spencer ran an 8:31.80, with a 56.59 last lap - the only boy under 60. He went 4:20.00 - 4:11.80. Watch the race above - we've cued it to start at the bell. For the 2nd year in a row, 55 boys broke 9:00. Abigail Hennessy won the girls race in 9:50.84.
*MB: Jackson Spencer 8:31.80 with a 56.59 last lap!!!

LRC Track Talk

Simeon Birnbaum is having a breakout NCAA year, finishing 2nd at NCAAs, but he's not interested in being second or even running fast. "No one cares about second or third… go win something."

More Distance News
The Latest LRC Exclusives
The Latest LRC Exclusives

We asked Jonathan Gault to try to find out what many of the top pros are up to.

Richardson, who was charged with misdemeanor fourth-degree assault after shoving boyfriend Christian Coleman at the SeaTac airport, and prosecutors agreed to postpone the case for two years when it would be dismissed as long as she met certain criteria, including "no criminal law violations."

Josh Kerr 222 podcast

Josh Kerr is chasing Hicham El Guerrouj’s mile world record his way, choosing a packed London Diamond League over a controlled time trial and insisting on “my race, my rules.” Kerr discussed his world record attempt and most recent world title over Cole Hocker on the LetsRun.com podcast.

Johh Kerr swears by power-to-weight training to improve his speed – here’s how and why you should do the same 'My gym coaches have done a really good job of finding where my weaknesses are. I need to create more power. My goal is that my power-to-weight ratio needs to be good.

World Championships Shake-up

The marathon will still be part of the 2027 and 2029 World Champs, but after that it will be it's own standalone championships with men and women competing in alternate years. Athens is expected to be the first host.

Your opinion counts

We'd love to know a little more about you and how we can improve Letsrun.com.

Day 3 @ 2026 World Indoors
Day 3 @ 2026 World Indoors

Lutkenhaus won gold at the age of 17 years, 93 days, younger than any individual men's gold medalist at not just World Indoors, but World Outdoors and the Olympics as well.

Hodgkinson set a championship record of 1:55.30 to win the 800, then ran the fastest split on the 4x400 (50.10) less than an hour later as her training mate Georgia Hunter Bell won gold in the 1500. Plus a look at why the meet was a TOTAL DISASTER for Africa. Africa had won at least one gold in each of the last 19 editions, and at least two golds in every edition since 1995. Yet in Torun, African athletes didn't just fail to win a distance gold; they failed to win a medal -- of any color -- in any event. Hell, Africa didn't even produce a finalist in the men's 1500.

Cooper Race Video & MB Talk
World Indoors Final Day Non-Distance Recaps
Day 2 @ 2026 World Indoors
Day 2 @ 2026 World Indoors
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Kerr won his second world indoor title in three years in 7:35.56. Hocker was way back with one lap to go and came on strong, but was too far behind to catch Kerr. He nipped France's Yann Schrub at the line by .01 with 7:35.70 for silver. Yared Nuguse was 5th (7:37.08). Italy's Nadia Battocletti (8:57.64) won a tactical women's final ahead of the USA's Emily Mackay (8:58.12) and Australia's Jessica Hull (8:58.18).

Josh Kerr wins a tactical 3000m showdown over Cole Hocker, Cooper Lutkenhaus runs the fastest World Indoors 800 semifinal since 1997, and Emily Mackay earns silver — we break down all the action from Day 2 in Toruń.

Lutkenhaus, who won his 800m semi comfortably in 1:44.29 -- the fastest time at World Indoors in 29 years -- will try to become the youngest medalist in the history of the World Indoor Championships on Sunday.

World Indoor Day 2 Field Recaps
Meet Fotyen Tesfay

Tesfay, who has a half-marathon best of 63:21 (#3 all-time) is the latest star in the group of famed Ethiopian coach Gemedu Dedefo, who has now coached five of the 11 fastest female marathoners in history.

The winners of our prediction contests

World indoors are this week. The LetsRun.com prediction contest team for Worlds is set.  Meet the winners from the USAs contest and some of our other recent contests as well. They highlight the best of LRC.

LRC Exclusive

Since he stopped racing in the middle of the 2025 cross country season for Iowa State, Seth Clevenger has taken DIII by storm. The Rowan University athlete is the DIII leader in three events. But following the release of a video of an alleged EPO order, multiple former teammates told LetsRun.com that Clevenger said he took banned substances in 2025 while at Iowa State and admitted as such to the coaching staff. The situation raises questions about a potential hole in the NCAA’s anti-doping policy. We investigate how a star could allegedly admit to banned drug use and remain eligible to compete.

Best of the LetsRun.com Track Talk Podcast
Best of the LetsRun.com Track Talk Podcast

Your latest American stars share their insights.

Three legends of the sport.

One of the greatest US runners ever.

We chatted with Frank on the 50th anniversary of his Olympic Marathon gold

American Record Holders
American Record Holders

Keira D'Amato, the new American record holder in the marathon, was joined by Deena Kastor, who held the record for 15 years.

Sisson was the guest on the LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast after she became the first American to go sub 67 in the half marathon on a record-eligible course. Podcast highlights above. Full pod here.

Woody Kincaid joined us after he broke the American record indoors at 5000. He talks above why he left the Bowerman Track Club. Podcast highlights and link to full podcast here.

LetsRun.com Pro Coaches Tour
LetsRun.com Pro Coaches Tour

Coogan's New Balance Boston team had 3 Olympians in 2021 and 2022 could be the biggest year yet for the program with 2 new additions and the TRACK at New Balance coming on March 1st.

Danny Mackey has taken the Brooks Beasts from an unproven club to the Olympic podium in its first decade.

Dathan Ritzenhein is the first of the top pro coaches to sit down and talk about his club heading into the 2022 campaign.

Best of Jon Gault
Best of Jon Gault
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Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
Take Your Love of LetsRun to the Next Level
LetsRun Classics
LetsRun Classics

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