Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2021 Boston Marathon
Champions
← 2019
2022 →
Contents
Course[edit]
The marathon distance is officially 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi), as sanctioned by the
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), now known as World Athletics.
The start is in the town of Hopkinton and the first 6 miles (9.7 km) are downhill
[15]
Course map
The first hill is a steep 1,200-yard (1,100 m) climb, the second about 0.25 miles
(0.40 km), the third a steep 800 yards (730 m) before the runners start the infamous
"Heartbreak Hill" at just after mile 20. [16][18] At half a mile long and with a 3.3%
percent incline, it is not especially difficult, but due to the hill being 20 miles (32 km) into
the race, it is still feared as the runners' legs are usually tired at this point. [16][19] The
course is mostly downhill to the end, and passes through Boston College before
entering Cleveland Circle and Kenmore Square, where there are many spectators.
[16]
The final mile has a slight incline, before it flattens off to finish on Boylston Street.[16][19]
Race summary[edit]
For the first time in Boston Marathon history, the elite men's race was started separately
from the mass participation event.[20] The event was won by Kenyan Benson Kipruto.
[21]
CJ Albertson led the race in the early stages, before fading away; [22] at the halfway
point of the race, Albertson was over two minutes ahead of everyone else. [20] Kipruto
pulled away from the leading pack with 3 miles (4.8 km) to go in the race, on Beacon
Street,[21] and won by 49 seconds. Ethiopians Lemi Berhanu and Jemal Yimer finished
second and third respectively.[22] Colin Bennie was the top finishing American, in seventh
place, and Albertson finished tenth overall.[20]
The elite women's race was won by Kenyan Diana Kipyokei; it was the eighth time since
2000 that Kenyans had won both elite events. [21] Kipyokei took the lead 19 miles (31 km)
into the race.[22] Fellow Kenyans Edna Kiplagat and Mary Ngugi finished second and
third respectively.[22] At the halfway point, there were 14 runners in the lead group, and
eight of those ran negative splits.[23] Nell Rojas was the best finishing American; she was
sixth overall.[23] 2018 winner Desiree Linden was ill during the race.[23]
The men's wheelchair race was won by Swiss athlete Marcel Hug. He was on a course
record time, which would have earned him $50,000, until he took a wrong turn. Hug
finished in a time of 01:18:11, seven seconds slower than the course record, [21][24] which
he had set in 2017.[25] American Daniel Romanchuk finished second, seven minutes and
35 seconds behind Hug, and Ernst van Dyk was third overall.[24]
The women's wheelchair race was won by Manuela Schär.[21] Schär won the event by
almost 15 minutes, and it was her third Boston Marathon victory. [25] Schär took the lead
early on, and by half distance, she was five minutes ahead of Tatyana McFadden, her
nearest competitor. McFadden finished second overall. [25]