BOSTON โ John Korir arrived in the town of Hopkinton with aspirations of joining his brother, Wesley, in the ranks of Boston Marathon champions. Departing Boylston Street, he carried forward a new mission: to nurture future marathon winners. Korir plans to donate his prize money from this significant victory to the Transcend Talent Academy, a Kenyan institution that supports young runners who cannot afford formal education. Both John and Wesley have collaborated with this academy to offer opportunities, with Wesley using his earnings from the 2012 Boston Marathon win to construct a hospital in their hometown.
The day after his triumphant race, John Korir shared, โIt was part of our dream to come here and make history as two brothers winning Boston.โ This achievement marked them as the first siblings to clinch wins in the esteemed marathonโs long history. With an eye on the future, Korir expressed his hope โto mentor a champion from Transcend Academy who will someday conquer Boston.โ
Entering the race as the reigning Chicago Marathon champion and having secured top 10 positions in his previous Boston attempts, Korir surged ahead solo at Heartbreak Hill on Monday, leading the last six miles alone. He finished in 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 45 seconds, the second-fastest time recorded in the marathonโs history. Sharon Lokedi, another Kenyan, also capitalized on the favorable weather conditions, winning with a time of 2:17:22, setting a new course record by more than 2.5 minutes. Korir mentioned that a pacer could have possibly pushed him towards challenging the course record himself.
Starting the race, Korir experienced an early mishap resulting in a fall on East Main Street, Hopkinton. He managed to continue with scraped knees and hands. The impact of the fall also tore his racing bib. Reacting swiftly, Korir noticed that three corners of his bib were detached; he removed the last corner, folded the bib, and tucked it into his shorts before rejoining the race pack near the back.
While the absence of his bib, which typically bears the runnerโs name for professionals, might seem trivial to spectators, it could have caused complications for race officials. The bib contains a timing device that verifies the runnerโs progress at checkpoints. Without proper timing verification, a runnerโs completion of the race could be questioned, an issue highlighted by Rosie Ruizโs infamous shortcut in 1980.
Unlike Ruizโs case, Korir was visible to cameras as he kept pace at the front of the race pack. His identification and timing were verified despite the bib mishap, Boston Athletic Association President Jack Fleming clarified. Holding up the crumpled bib, Fleming noted, โHe was clearly identified; we didnโt actually need this to know he was John Korir, and luckily the timing tag stayed intact.โ
Organizers were alerted to Korirโs missing bib early on and corroborated his progress using checkpoint data and video footage. Korir revealed the bib from his shorts only as he neared the finish line on Boylston Street. Fleming commended Korirโs presence of mind during the adrenaline rush as he smartly handled the situation to keep the timing device intact.
The technology behind marathon timing has advanced significantly; from early iterations of plastic chips tied to shoelaces to todayโs thin metallic stickers on bibs, designed to withstand the rigors of the marathon. Even though the bib is durable, the risk of damage remains present, as illustrated by Korirโs experience. The back of every bib highlights instructions not to fold or bend it, Fleming pointed out, yet this incident showed that the system remains resilient.