When do the runners start the Boston Marathon?Athletes take off from the starting line in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, in waves:9:06 a.m. men’s wheelchair division9:09 a.m. women’s wheelchair division9:30 a.m. handcycles and duos9:37 a.m. professional men’s division9:47 a.m. professional women’s division9:50 a.m. para athletics division10:00 a.m. wave one10:25 a.m. wave two10:50 a.m. wave three11:15 a.m. wave fourThe professional men’s and professional women’s division frontrunners are expected to cross the finish line around 11:45 a.m. and 12 p.m., respectively.Who is running in the Boston Marathon?Athletes who complete other marathons can qualify for the Boston Marathon if they meet or beat set More than applied for the 2025 Boston Marathon, and more than 24,000 were accepted into the race. Athletes who did not have qualifying times can still participate in the Boston Marathon through the race’s What’s special about this year’s race?2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the Boston Marathon having a wheelchair division. A handful of prior winners in the wheelchair division will be taking on the race again this year.Past winners of the professional men’s and women’s divisions will also be returning, including 2024 title holders Sisay Lemma from Ethiopia and Hellen Obiri from Kenya. If Obiri claims another win, she’ll become the first woman since the 1990s to win three consecutive Boston Marathon titles.Many famous athletes are running in the 2025 Boston MarathonDefending champions are going to be big names this year. Obiri is back for the professional women’s division, as is Lemma in the professional men’s field, Marcel Hug of Switzerland for the men’s wheelchair division, and Eden Rainbow-Cooper of England in the women’s wheelchair division.Professional men’s division:Sisay Lemma won this division at last year’s Boston Marathon. His personal best marathon time is 2:01:48, recorded in Valencia in 2023.John Korir, from Kenya, who won the Chicago Marathon last year. His personal best, from Chicago in 2024, is 2:02:44.Evans Chebet, from Kenya, who won the Boston Marathon in 2022 and 2023. His personal best is 2:03:00, run in Valencia in 2020.Professional women’s division:Hellen Obiri has won the Boston Marathon the past two years. Her personal best is 2:21:38, run in Boston in 2023.Amane Beriso, from Ethiopia, finished second in Boston in 2023. She is the reigning world champion with a personal best marathon time of 2:14:58, recorded in Valencia in 2022.Yalemzerf Yehualaw, from Ethiopia, is making her Boston debut this year after claiming the title at last year’s Amsterdam Marathon, where she recorded her personal best marathon time, 2:16:52.Men’s wheelchair division:Marcel Hug won the Boston Marathon men’s wheelchair division seven times, including last year with a course record of 1:15:33.Josh Cassidy, from Canada, who won the division in 2012 and held the course record for several years with a time of 1:18:25.Aaron Pike, from the United States, who placed second in Boston in 2022. His personal best is 1:20:02, recorded at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota in 2022.Women’s wheelchair division:Eden Rainbow-Cooper won this division last year with a time of 1:35:11. She also competed in the Paralympic Games last year.Manuela Schär, from Switzerland, who has won the division four times and holds the course record of 1:28:17, recorded in 2017. Susannah Scaroni, from the United States, who won the division in 2023 even though she had to fix a loose wheel during the race. Her personal best is 1:27:31, from Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota in 2022. , Boston Marathon Monday, April 20, 2026. As the presenting sponsor, Bank of America continues to ensure the stability of the world's oldest annual marathon., The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world's best-known road racing events. It is one of seven World Marathon Majors. Its course runs from Hopkinton in southern Middlesex County to Copley Square in Boston..