Boston Marathon Announces Elite Field

By Adam Kopet

The Boston Athletic Association and Boston Marathon sponsor John Hancock announced Thursday the elite fields for the 2018 B.A.A. Boston Marathon.

The full lineup includes defending champions Geoffrey Kirui and Edna Kiplagat, both from Kenya. Kirui added a gold medal from the IAAF World Outdoor Championships marathon and Kiplagat added a silver medal to their Boston wins last year.

Leading the fields by personal bests are two Ethiopians, Tamirat Tola in the men's race and Aselefech Mergia in the women's race. Tola ran 2:04:11 to win the 2017 Dubai Marathon before he went on to finish second to Kirui at the World Championships. Mergia won the 2012 Dubai Marathon in 2:19:31, however, she has not run faster than 2:23:00 the past two years.

These four will be among a large group of international athletes who will challenge the top Americans in the longest continuously run marathon in the world.

Our Elite Athlete Team will join 30,000 strong on #Patriots Day for the 122nd running of the world's most historic marathon #BostonMarathon #TogetherForward pic.twitter.com/puLkK9sSTz

— Boston Marathon JH (@jhboston26) January 11, 2018

Galen Rupp stands as the top American contender in the men's race. He finished second at the 2017 Boston Marathon after pushing through plantar fasciitis during his build up. Also in the field is Abdi Abdirahman, Dathan Ritzenhein and Ryan Vail, in addition to USATF Marathon champion Timothy Ritchie.

The American women are represented by a strong contingent, including 2017 Boston Marathon third-place finisher Jordan Hasay and 2017 New York City Marathon champion Shalane Flanagan. They will be joined by 2016 Olympian Desi Linden, 2017 USATF Marathon champion Sara Hall and Molly Huddle, who finished third in her marathon debut at the 2016 New York City Marathon.