Defending Boston Marathon Champions to Return to 2019 Race

By Adam Kopet

Boston Marathon organizers announced Monday that Desiree Linden and Yuki Kawauchi will compete in the 2019 edition of the race to defend the titles they won in 2018.

Both athletes persevered through cold and wet conditions in 2018 to win while many of the favorites either did not finish or were severely hampered by the weather conditions. Linden's winning time was 2:39:54 and Kawauchi's time was 2:15:58.

For Linden, she became the first American woman to win the race in 33 years. Her first-place finish improved on her second-place finish from 2011 when she was passed in the final meters and lost by two seconds. More recently, Linden finished sixth at the New York City Marathon in 2:27:51.

Kawauchi has not shown the same level of success since his Boston win in April. He has competed in five marathons since Boston with his best finish coming at the Stockholm Marathon where he finished fourth in 2:22:57. Most recently, Kawauchi finished 10th at the Fukuoka Marathon in 2:12:03.