Geay, Chebet to battle in Boston Marathon

USA: TANZANIAN long-distance runner, Gabriel Geay, and his fellow top finisher from Kenya, Evans Chebet, will compete against each other for the top honour in the BAA Boston Marathon.

Chebet hopes to become the first man to win three back-toback Boston Marathon titles since Robert Kipkoech in 2008, making the marathon a tough competition to his other close contenders including Geay.

In last year’s race, Chebet successfully defended his Boston title in 2:05:54, and in 2022, he won the title in 2:06:51.

Meanwhile, Geay finished runner-up in last year’s marathon, after clocking 2:06:04. Interestingly, both runners have an identical personal best time of 2:03:00, also set in Valencia.

Other top contenders in the race include Sisay Lemma from Ethiopia. Lemma is the fourth-fastest marathoner in history, with a personal best time of 2:01:48, which he achieved in the Valencia Marathon last December.

He is behind the late Kelvin Kiptum (2:00:35), Eliud Kipchoge (2:01:09), and Kenenisa Bekele (2:01:41).

Another runner to watch in the Boston Marathon is Cyprian Kotut from Kenya. He won the Hamburg Marathon in 2022 with a personal best time of 2:04:47, beating Eliud Kipchoge’s course record from 2013.