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John Hancock Financial Announces 2015 Boston
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BOSTON, MA, January 20, 2015ÛÓIn its 30th year as
principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon, John Hancock Financial today
announced the elite field for the 119th running of the Boston
Marathon on April 20. A complete field list follows.
Five
past champions will return to compete in the world’s most historic marathon,
but they will be strongly challenged by a talented men’s and women’s
international field possessing both speed and depth. Boston champions Meb Keflezighi, Lelisa Desisa, Wesley
Korir, Sharon Cherop and Caroline
Kilel will join Olympic and IAAF World Championships medalists; Abbott World
Marathon Majors champions of Berlin, New York City and Tokyo; and the combined
winners of 85 global marathons who will seek to win the coveted Boston Marathon
title.
The
chase for the 2015 men’s title will be aggressive, with seven men in the field holding
personal-best marathon times under 2:05:30 and ten men with times under 2:06:30. Former world marathon record-holder and
two-time BMW Berlin-Marathon champion Patrick
Makau leads the group. Makau recently won the challenging 2014 Fukuoka
Marathon and is also a past winner of marathons in Frankfurt and Rotterdam.
Lelisa Desisa, the 2013 Boston Marathon champion and 2013 World
Championships Marathon silver medalist will challenge for the win as will Abel Kirui, the two-time World
Championships Marathon gold medalist. Tadese
Tola, the 2013 World Championships Marathon bronze medalist, is also in the
field, as is accomplished marathoner Yemane
Tsegay, who has won eight global marathons. Making his Boston debut is Zersenay Tadese, the world
record-holder in the half marathon and 20K and an Olympic and World
Championships medalist in track, roads and cross-country.
This
group will face competition from the 2014 Boston Marathon podium winners all of
whom return: Meb Keflezighi, Wilson
Chebet and Frankline Chepkwony. Keflezighi
brings experience and a strategic approach to the course. Along with his 2014
Boston Marathon victory, he is an Olympic Marathon silver medalist and TCS New
York City champion. Chebet, the 2014 Boston Marathon runner-up is a three-time winner
in Amsterdam and a Rotterdam champion, and Chepkwony, who was third in Boston
last year, is a past Seoul and Zurich champion.
Also
racing with valuable course experience are Wesley
Korir, Gebregziabher Gebremariam
and Bernard Kipyego. Korir won the Boston Marathon in 2012 in extreme
heat and also won twice in Los Angeles. Gebremariam, a two-time Olympian, won
in New York City in 2010 and finished third in 2014. In Boston, Gebremariam
finished third in 2012 and 2013. Kipyego won the 2014 TCS Amsterdam Marathon
and has made the podium in Boston, Chicago and Tokyo.
Rounding
out the international men’s field are the second-fastest Canadian marathoner of
all time, Dylan Wykes; two-time
Moroccan Olympian Abderrahime
Bouramdane; two-time Hannover winner Lusapho
April of South Africa; and
Ukrainian Olympian Vitaliy Shafar, who
finished fourth last year in Boston.
Top
Americans, announced last week, include three-time Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein, Jeffrey Eggleston,
Nicholas Arciniaga and Fernando
Cabada. For John Hancock U.S. Elite Team Press Release and Video: http://www.johnhancock.com/about/news_details.php?fn=jan0715-text&yr=2015.
On
the women’s side, John Hancock has assembled the fastest field in the history
of the event with ten women holding personal best times under 2:23. The
dynamics of the field should prove for an interesting race, as there is a blend
of world-class experience and talent across several road and track disciplines.
Leading
the way with experience are past Boston Marathon champions Sharon Cherop and Caroline
Kilel. Cherop won Boston in 2012 and placed third in 2011 and 2013. She earned
a bronze medal at the 2011 World Marathon Championships and has won marathons in
Toronto, Hamburg, Singapore and Turin. Kilel won Boston in 2011 and earned a
silver medal at last year’s Commonwealth Games Marathon. She has won seven
additional marathons around the world.
Chasing
the Kenyan duo is a team of Ethiopia’s most accomplished runners: Aberu Kebede, Mare Dibaba, Buzunesh Deba, Mamitu
Daska and Ejegayehu Dibaba.
Kebede
is a Tokyo Marathon and two-time BMW Berlin-Marathon champion. Deba is champion
of eight U.S. marathons and was Boston runner-up last year. Mare Dibaba was second
in Chicago this year and is a two-time winner in Xiamen. Daska won both the
B.A.A. 10K and B.A.A. Half Marathon last year and has won marathons in Dubai, Houston
and Frankfurt. Ejegayehu Dibaba is an Olympic silver medalist and two-time
World Championships bronze medalist in the 10,000m. In her 2011 marathon debut
in Chicago, she finished second.
Also
focused on the podium are American elites Shalane
Flanagan, Desiree Davila Linden and Amy
Hastings. The trio was announced last week and expects to contend for the
win. Flanagan holds the fourth fastest time in the competitive field, Linden
was runner-up in Boston in 2011, and Hastings is coming off a fifth place in
Chicago last year.
Ready
to run for the coveted olive wreath are Los Angeles winner and Belarus
national-record-holder Aleksandra Duliba,
Prague and Los Angeles champion Caroline
Rotich, two-time Olympian Marisa
Barros of Portugal, Linz and
Zurich champion Lisa Stublic Nemec, African
Championships 10,000m gold medalist Joyce
Chepkirui and, making her marathon debut, half marathon specialist Cynthia Limo.
“For 30 years, John Hancock as principal
sponsor of the Boston Marathon has been recruiting many of the world’s best
marathoners to run here,” says Tom Grilk, B.A.A. Executive Director. “During the last three decades, unpredictable
and compelling races have played out on the streets from Hopkinton to Boston,
as our American and international athletes push themselves to win here, more
than any other race they will contest.
We look forward to the spring and watching new stories unfold in these
athletes’ quest to capture the olive wreath at the finish on Boylston Street.”
Rob Friedman, head of sponsorship and
event marketing at John Hancock, adds, “To run the historic Boston Marathon
makes you part of a legacy that is more than a century old. And to win the
Boston Marathon makes you a running legend for all time. As we welcome five
former champions back to Boston to compete against an exceptional international
field, we recognize the commitment and hard work it takes to compete at the
highest level of the sport. We look forward to another exciting race in Boston
on April 20.”
For additional information about John Hancock’s Elite Athlete Team
and sponsorship, please visit www.johnhancock.com/bostonmarathon/sportspartnerships.html or follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/jhboston26 or @jhboston26.
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