Everything you need to know to watch the 2025 Boston Marathon

The 2025 Boston Marathon runs on Monday, April 21. We break down all the details

It’s time once again for the Boston Marathon! The 2025 edition of the race is set to run on Monday, April 21 with Kenyan runner Hellen Obiri aiming for her third straight victory in the iconic race. The athletes will start the course in Hopkinton, Massachusetts at 9:06 a.m. ET when the men’s wheelchair division gets going and the event will air nationally on ESPN2.

Start and finish times

Obiri and the rest of the professional women will get started at 9:47 a.m. ET. They will be the fifth group to cross the starting line. After the men’s wheelchair division starts the race at 9:06, the women’s wheelchair division follows at 9:09 a.m. ET. The full list of starting times is as follows:

• Men’s Wheelchair: 9:06 a.m.
• Women’s Wheelchair: 9:09 a.m.
• Handcycles & Duos: 9:30 a.m.
• Professional Men: 9:37 a.m.
• Professional Women: 9:47 a.m.
• Para Athletics Division: 9:50 a.m.
• Wave 1: 10:00 a.m.
• Wave 2: 10:25 a.m.
• Wave 3: 10:50 a.m.
• Wave 4: 11:15 a.m.

We don’t know exactly when the first runners will cross the finish line, but we can provide some estimates based on recent finishing times. Last year, wheelchair racer Marcel Hug set a course record with a time of 1:15:35, besting his previous course record in 2023 of 1:17:06. He has won the race seven times, and four of his five most recent victories all came in under 80 minutes. He is back and aiming for his eighth victory. If he races in anything close to the same time, he’ll be the first to cross the finish line on Boylston Street near Copley Square at somewhere around 9:26 a.m.

Last year, Sisay Lemma stunned the field of professional men with a time of 2:06:17. He had DNF’d the race in 2017 and this was his first time back since. The past three races has seen the winner finish in less than 2:07, with Benson Kipruto running it in 2:09:51 in 2021. That would suggest the first professional will cross the finish line just before 11:45 a.m. On the women’s side, the last four winners have all finished at or under 2:25. A similar finish time would see the first professional woman cross the finish line a little after noon.

How to watch (TV and live stream)

Most marathons are only shown on local television. The major marathons get a bigger treatment. The 2025 Boston Marathon will air nationwide on ESPN2 and will be simulcast on ESPN+. The local Boston affiliate airing the race is WCVB. They’ll have coverage started at 4 a.m., with ESPN+ simulcasting that until 8:30 a.m. ESPN2 coverage starts at 8:30 a.m. and runs until 12:30 p.m., after which ESPN+ will return to simulcasting WCVB’s coverage until 4 p.m. ESPN Deportes will air the race in Spanish from 9:30 a.m. until noon.

In the greater New England region, WCVB’s coverage will be simulcast on WMUR in New Hampshire, WMTW in Maine, and WPTZ in Vermont and New York. Live streams will be available on the WCVB app and each station’s website, as well as the Very Local platform.

Course map

The full course map is shown below, and you can also view it at the Boston Marathon website. The starting line is on Main Street in Hopkinton. The runners follow Route 135 for 13 miles into Wellesley where it joins Route 16. They will follow that into Newton Lower Falls before turning onto Commonwealth Avenue just after the 17th mile. Just after finishing the 20th mile, Heartbreak Hill arrives to provide the last major test of the race. The runners then turn on to Beacon Street in the 23rd mile, taking that through Brookline into Boston. The close of the race comes with a turn onto Hereford Street and then a left onto Boylston Street with the finish line near the Boston Public Library in Copley Square.

Weather

Conditions have gotten rough over the years, but this year should be nearly ideal running conditions. The start of the race in Hopkinton will be in the high 40s when the first athletes get started. It will likely be around 50 when the professionals get started, and in the mid-to-high 50s by the time the last of the waves get started.

When the first runners are reaching the finish line near Copley Square, the temperatures should be in the low 50s. It will get into the high 50s and maybe 60 for later runners, but not much more than that, which makes for an excellent day of running.

Prize money

The Boston Marathon distributes prize money equally between the men’s and women’s divisions. The open division winners will each receive $150,000. The Wheelchair Division T53/54/34 winners will each receive $50,000. The Wheelchair Division T51-52 winners will each receive $1,500. The Masters Division winners will each receive $5,000.

The full list of prize money is available at the Boston Marathon website.

Who are the favorites to win the 2025 Boston Marathon?

Hellen Obiri looks to become the first woman since the 1990s to claim three straight Boston Marathon titles. She came off an injury to win the Olympic bronze medal last summer and finished second in the New York City Marathon last fall. Sharon Lokedi finished second last year in her first run in Boston, and won the 2022 New York City Marathon. She is coming off a win at the New York Half Marathon in March. Emma Bates was the top American woman last year, and should see some competition from 2018 winner Desiree Linden.

On the men’s side, Evans Chebet is looking to rebound after missing out on a threepeat last year. He finished third and then was left off Kenya’s Olympic team. Sisay Lemma is the defending champ in only his second Boston appearance, but given his upset, it might take another surprise to take home first place. Conner Mantz is the top American to follow on Monday.

Who won the last race? What are the course records?

In 2024, Sisay Lemma won the Professional Men’s division with a time of 2:06:17 and Hellen Obiri won the Professional Women’s division with a time of 2:22:37. Obiri won the 2023 race as well with a time of 2:21:38. Geoffrey Mutai set the men’s course record in 2011 with a time of 2:03:02. Buzunesh Deba set the women’s course record in 2014 with a time of 2:19:59.

In the wheelchair division, Marcel Hug won the men’s division with a course record time of 1:15:35 and Eden Rainbow-Cooper won the women’s division with a time of 1:35:11. Manuela Schär set the women’s wheelchair course record in 2017 with a time of 1:28:17.

In the handcycle division, Zachary Stinson won the men’s division with a time of 1:04:46 and Alicia Dana won the women’s division with a course record of 1:15:20. Tom Davis set the men’s course record in 2017 with a time of 0:58:36.