BOSTON – The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) today announced the women’s professional field for the 130th Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America, representing 18 countries. The women’s field is led by arguably the deepest American contingent in race history, featuring 13 U.S. athletes who have run under 2:26.
“The 130th edition of the Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America will feature unrivaled depth and head-to-head racing that’ll be exciting from start to finish,” said Mary Kate Shea, Chief Operating Officer at the B.A.A. “The strength of the American field, combined with the international field’s experience, is setting the stage for a clash that could result in records and sprint finishes on Boylston Street. The best of the best have circled the Boston Marathon on their calendar.”
The entire 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon team will be on the start line, including Emily Sisson, Fiona O’Keeffe, and Dakotah Popehn. Sisson is the national record holder in the marathon (2:18:29), and O’Keeffe is coming off a fourth place showing at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon in November. Popehn set a lifetime best of 2:24:21 in finishing seventh at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon last October.
Also in full-force will be the entire American squad from last year’s World Championships Marathon in Tokyo: Susanna Sullivan, Jess McClain, and Erika Kemp. Sullivan placed fourth at Worlds, while McClain was top American at Boston last year (seventh overall, 2:22:43) and Kemp has a lifetime best of 2:22:56 – the fastest time ever by a U.S.-born black woman. One spot behind McClain in Boston last April was Annie Frisbie (eighth, 2:23:21); she’s back and coming off a stellar fifth-place in New York in November.
“2025 was my strongest racing year on the world stage, between Boston and the World Championships Marathon in September,” said McClain. “I look forward to carrying that momentum and experience into April’s 130th Boston Marathon and will be working hard in the months ahead.”
Keira D’Amato, former American record holder at both the marathon and half-marathon distance with lifetime bests of 2:19:12 and 1:06:39 returns for her third Boston. Also racing is Sara Hall, a former national record holder in the half-marathon and runner-up at the Houston Marathon on January 11 (2:26:26).
Making their Boston debuts are Megan Sailor, Natosha Rogers, and Amanda Vestri. Sailor trains in Boston as a member of the B.A.A. High Performance Team, and placed third at the 2025 U.S. Marathon Championships in her first crack at 26.2 miles (2:25:17). Rogers was sixth in Chicago and seventh in Nagoya last year. Vestri made her marathon debut in New York City, finishing ninth (2:25:40).
No American woman has won the open division since Des Linden in 2018. Looking to continue the international trend of winners are Kenyans Sharon Lokedi, Irine Cheptai, and Vivian Cheruiyot, as well as Ethiopians Workenesh Edesa and Bedatu Hirpa.
Lokedi is coming off a course record 2:17:22 last year in Boston, while Cheptai placed fourth in 2:21:32. Cheruiyot finished fifth place in London last year, having transitioned to the marathon after winning four Olympic medals on the track. Edesa won the Sydney Marathon in 2024 and both Osaka and Hamburg in 2025, while Hirpa was the Paris and Dubai Marathon winner last year.
Experience is key in Boston, and that’s just what Great Britain’s Calli Hauger-Thackery and Kenya’s Mary Ngugi-Cooper have. Hauger-Thackery had a career year in 2025 that saw a sixth place, 2:22:38 finish in Boston and a win at the Honolulu Marathon in December, followed by victory in Houston this month. Ngugi-Cooper has placed in the top-ten five times in Boston, and last fall ran a personal best 2:19:25 in Chicago.
The women’s wheelchair division is led by defending champion Susannah Scaroni. The Illinois alum is carrying momentum into 2026 having won Boston, Chicago, New York, and Sydney Marathons over the course of 2025. She also finished first at Boston in 2023.
Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner and Manuela Schär were closest to Scaroni in second and third last Patriots’ Day. Debrunner is looking for her first Boston title while Schär owns the course record (1:28:17) and tallied four Boston wins between 2017 and 2022.
“Being a Boston Marathon champion and course record holder is among the highlights of my career,” said Schär. “Embracing the hard course and pushing your limits is part of what makes this race different from others on the world circuit.”
American Tatyana McFadden (five titles), Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper (2024 winner), and Japan’s Wakako Tsuchida (five wins in a row, 2007-2011) have all tasted victory here and seek a return to the top of the podium.
A pair of defending Para Athletics Division champions return in Kelly Bruno (T62/T64; T42/T44) and Meghan Bradshaw (T61/T63/T43). Bruno and Bradshaw set course records of 3:17:56 and 3:58:15, respectively, a year ago in the lower-limb impairment classifications.
Also back is Cristina Burbach (T35-T38 coordination impairment), a two-time reigning champion. She owns the division best 3:41:17 from two years ago.
Media credential applications for the 2025 Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America will open in February. Information will be posted to the B.A.A.’s Media Relations page in the new year.
A complete women’s professional field list can be found below and will be continuously updated on the B.A.A. website. The men’s professional field will be announced soon.
2026 BOSTON MARATHON PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S DIVISION
| WOMEN’S FIELD | COUNTRY | PERSONAL BEST |
| Sharon Lokedi | KEN | 2:17:22 (Boston, 2025) CR |
| Irine Cheptai | KEN | 2:17:51 (Chicago, 2024) |
| Workenesh Edesa | ETH | 2:17:55 (Hamburg, 2025) |
| Magdalena Shauri | TAN | 2:18:03 (Chicago, 2025) NR |
| Joan Melly | ROU | 2:18:04 (Seoul, 2022) |
| Loice Chemnung | KEN | 2:18:24 (Chicago, 2025) |
| Bedatu Hirpa | ETH | 2:18:27 (Dubai, 2025) |
| Emily Sisson | USA | 2:18:29 (Chicago, 2022) AR/NR |
| Vivian Cheruiyot* | KEN | 2:18:31 (London, 2018) |
| Keira D’Amato* | USA | 2:19:12 (Houston, 2022) |
| Mary Ngugi-Cooper | KEN | 2:19:26 (Chicago, 2025) |
| Sara Hall* | USA | 2:20:32 (Chandler, 2020) |
| Gadise Mulu | ETH | 2:20:59 (Ljubljana, 2024) |
| Calli Hauger-Thackery | GBR | 2:21:24 (Berlin, 2024) |
| Fikrte Wereta | ETH | 2:21:32 (Seoul, 2024) |
| Susanna Sullivan | USA | 2:21:56 (Chicago, 2024) |
| Fiona O’Keeffe | USA | 2:22:10 (Orlando, 2024) |
| Mao Uesugi | JPN | 2:22:11 (Nagoya, 2025) |
| Jess McClain | USA | 2:22:43 (Boston, 2025) |
| Erika Kemp | USA | 2:22:56 (Houston, 2025) |
| Isobel Batt-Doyle | AUS | 2:22:59 (Valencia, 2024) |
| Lisa Weightman* | AUS | 2:23:15 (Osaka, 2023) |
| Annie Frisbie | USA | 2:23:21 (Boston, 2025) |
| Natosha Rogers | USA | 2:23:28 (Chicago, 2025) |
| Mercy Chelangat | KEN | 2:23:33 (Ottawa, 2025) |
| Dakotah Popehn | USA | 2:24:20 (Chicago, 2025) |
| Gabi Rooker | USA | 2:24:29 (Chicago, 2024) |
| Leanne Pompeani | AUS | 2:24:47 (Sydney, 2025) |
| Megan Sailor | USA | 2:25:17 (Sacramento, 2025) |
| Amanda Vestri | USA | 2:25:40 (NYC, 2025) |
| Paige Wood | USA | 2:26:02 (Sacramento, 2022) |
| Stephanie Bruce | USA | 2:27:47 (Chicago, 2019) |
| Madey Dickson | USA | 2:28:57 (Sacramento, 2025) |
| Kodi Kleven | USA | 2:29:18 (Sacramento, 2025) |
| Zaida Ramos | PER | 2:29:49 (Seville, 2024) |
| Elena Hayday | USA | 2:30:51 (Duluth, 2023) |
| Carrie Ellwood | USA | 2:31:51 (Chicago, 2021) |
| Diana Bogantes | CRC | 2:32:08 (Valencia) NR |
| Katie Florio | USA | 2:32:44 (Philadelphia, 2024) |
| Katie Kellner | USA | 2:32:48 (Berlin, 2023) |
| Breanna Sieracki | USA | 2:32:53 (Sacramento, 2025) |
| Carolyn Buchanan | CAN | 2:32:54 (Sacramento, 2025) |
| Marybeth Chelanga | USA | 2:33:33 (Orlando, 2024) |
| Elizabeth Chikotas | USA | 2:33:57 (Sacramento, 2025) |
| Ava Crean | IRL | 2:34:12 (Dublin, 2025) |
| Abbie McNulty Bennie | USA | 2:34:53 (Boston, 2025) |
| Marte Maehlum-Johansen | NOR | 2:34:54 (Hamburg, 2025) |
| Megan O’Neil | USA | 2:34:55 (Duluth, 2024) |
| Maria Lindberg* | USA | 2:34:59 (Chicago, 2025) |
| Felicia Pasadyn | USA | 2:35:17 (NYC, 2025) |
| Madeline Block | USA | 2:36:28 (Sacramento, 2025) |
| Caitlin McGinley | USA | 2:37:12 (Lowell, 2025) |
| Katie McMenamin | USA | 2:37:20 (Jersey City, 2025) |
| Erin Del Giudice | USA | 2:37:36 (Duluth, 2025) |
| Teagan Robertson | CAN | 2:37:51 (Sacramento, 2024) |
| Emilee Risteen | USA | 2:38:46 (Duluth, 2023) |
| Elizabeth Reichert | USA | 2:38:49 (Sacramento, 2024) |
| Marissa Lenger | USA | 2:38:51 (Valley Cottage, 2023) |
| Molly D Colwell | USA | 2:39:27 (Sacramento, 2024) |
| Cassandra de Winter | CAN | 2:39:52 (Victoria, 2025) |
| Hannah Olde Loohuis | NED | 2:40:39 (Amsterdam, 2025) |
| Leanne Klassen | CAN | 2:40:56 (Houston, 2025) |
| Karen Bertasso* | USA | 2:41:15 (Sacramento, 2025 |
| Polly Cunes* | CAN | 2:41:27 (Chicago, 2025) |
| Marije Geurtsen* | NED | 2:42:45 (Berlin, 2019) |
2026 BOSTON MARATHON PROFESSIONAL WHEELCHAIR DIVISION
| WOMEN’S FIELD | COUNTRY | PERSONAL BEST |
| Susannah Scaroni | USA | 1:27:31 (Grandma’s, 2022) |
| Manuela Schar | SUI | 1:28:17 (Boston, 2017) |
| Tatyana McFadden | USA | 1:31:30 (Grandma’s, 2019) |
| Catherine Debrunner | SUI | 1:34:16 (Berlin, 2023) |
| Eden Rainbow-Cooper | GBR | 1:34:17 (Berlin, 2023) |
| Noemi Alphonse | USA | 1:35:14 (Grandma’s, 2022) |
| Christie Dawes | AUS | 1:37:12 (Boston, 2017) |
| Madison De Rozario | AUS | 1:38:11 (Tokyo, 2021) |
| Wakako Tsuchida | JPN | 1:38:32 (Oita, 2001) |
| Vanessa Cristina de Souza | BRA | 1:43:22 (Boston, 2024) |
| Michelle Wheeler | USA | 1:45:45 (Oita, 2019) |
| Hoda Elshorbagy | EGY | 1:47:32 (Boston, 2024) |
| Emelia Perry | USA | 1:50:04 (Oita, 2025) |
| Patricia Eachus | SUI | 1:40:22 (Boston, 2024) |
| Chelsea Stein | USA | 2:19:33 (Honolulu, 2023) |
| Rachel Cleaver | USA | 2:23:38 (Chicago, 2025) |
2026 BOSTON MARATHON PARA ATHLETICS DIVISION
| WOMEN’S FIELD | COUNTRY | CLASSIFICATION |
| Cristina Burbach | USA | T36 (Coordination Impairment) |
| Kelly Bruno | USA | T64 (Lower-limb Impairment) |
| Meghan Bradshaw | USA | T43 (Lower-limb Impairment) |
ABOUT THE BOSTON ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (B.A.A.)
Established in 1887, the Boston Athletic Association is a non-profit organization with a mission of promoting a healthy lifestyle through sports, especially running. The B.A.A. manages the Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America, and supports comprehensive charity, youth, and year-round programming. The 130th Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America is scheduled to take place on Monday, April 20, 2026.
The Boston Marathon is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, along with international marathons in Tokyo, London, Sydney, Berlin, Chicago, and New York City. For more information on the B.A.A., please visit www.baa.org.