(20-Jan) — The best USA women over the marathon distance, including all six members of the 2024 Olympic and 2025 World Championships teams, plan to line up for the 2026 Boston Marathon on Monday, April 20, Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) officials announced today. So strong is Boston’s allure that a total of 13 American women with personal bests under 2:26:00 have decided to make Boston their spring marathon for 2026.
“The best of the best have circled the Boston Marathon on their calendar,” said B.A.A. chief operating officer Mary Kate Shea through a media release
Leading the Americans is the national record holder Emily Sisson, 34, who will be making her Boston Marathon debut (officials had announced her participation last month). Sisson, a two-time Olympian who ran the USA record of 2:18:29 at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2022, will be joined by her Paris 2024 teammates Fiona O’Keeffe and Dakotah Popehn. O’Keeffe, 27, the fastest-ever American woman at the TCS New York City Marathon, will also be running her first Boston Marathon. Popehn, 30, has run Boston four times with a best result of 2:26:09 in 2025.
“The Boston Marathon has been a race I’ve looked forward to competing in for many years,” Sisson said through a statement. “I’m ready to take on the challenging course and be part of one of the legendary races in our sport.”
Read Also: Maggi Congdon Claims Victory in Women’s Mile and 800m at Washington Indoor Preview
From the 2025 World Championships team Jess McClain is the top Boston returner. She was the first American in last year’s race in a personal best 2:22:43, good for seventh place. McClain, 33, finished eighth at last September’s World Championships in Tokyo.
“2025 was my strongest racing year on the world stage, between Boston and the World Championships Marathon in September,” said McClain, who finished fourth at the 2024 USA Olympic Team Trials Marathon. “I look forward to carrying that momentum and experience into April’s 130th Boston Marathon and will be working hard in the months ahead.”
McClain will be joined by her Tokyo teammates Susanna Sullivan (2:21:56 PB) and Erika Kemp (2:22:56). In Tokyo, Sullivan bravely ran alone at the front for 28 kilometers before being caught and eventually finishing fourth. Kemp had a difficult day in Tokyo; in hot and humid conditions she finished 52nd.
“The whole time when I was in the front I was just reminding myself that they are going to come back,” Sullivan said just after the race. “You have to run your own race and you can’t panic.” She added: “When they went by I kept it together.”
Read Also: Kenyans Brian Kibor and Daisilah Jerono Triumph at Santa Pola Half Marathon-Results
Other top American women who are expected to compete are former national record holder Keira D’Amato (2:19:12 PB), twelve-time national champion Sara Hall (2:20:32), two-time Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon winner Annie Frisbie (2:23:21), 2020 national cross country champion Natosha Rogers (2:23:28), and 2025 USATF 6-K champion Amanda Vestri (2:25:40). Vestri made her marathon debut last November at the TCS New York City Marathon.
Of course as an Abbott World Marathon Majors event and a World Athletics Platinum Label road race, Boston will feature a top-notch international field including reigning champion Sharon Lokedi of Kenya. Lokedi, 31, who was the 2018 NCAA 10,000m champion for the University of Kansas, won a two-way battle at last year’s race over two-time reigning champion Hellen Obiri. Lokedi, the fourth place finisher at the 2024 Paris Olympics, ran a course record 2:17:22 and earned $200,000 in prize money and record bonuses.
“I just tried to say, ‘stay strong and keep fighting,'” Lokedi told reporters after last year’s race. “Fight, fight, fight, fight.”
While Obiri is not in the 2026 Boston elite field, Lokedi will face a powerful group of international women including Kenya’s Irine Cheptai (2:17:51 PB) and Loice Chemnung (2:18:24), Ethiopia’s Workenesh Edesa (2:17:55) and Bedatu Hirpa (2:18:27), Tanzania’s Magdalena Shauri (2:18:03), and Romania’s Joan Melly (2:18:04). In all, the race will feature 11 athletes who have broken 2:20:00.
“The 130th edition of the Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America will feature unrivaled depth and head-to-head racing that’ll be exciting from start to finish,” Shea also said. “The strength of the American field, combined with the international field’s experience, is setting the stage for a clash that could result in records and sprint finishes on Boylston Street.”
Finally, defending champion Susannah Scaroni will lead the professional wheelchair division. In 2025 she won the Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, New York, and Sydney Marathons, and was also the 2023 Boston champion.
