BOSTON (AP) — Defending champion John Korir shattered the Boston Marathon course record on Monday, riding a tailwind to outrun the strongest field in race history and win in 2 hours, 1 minute, 52 seconds — the fifth-fastest marathon of all time.
Sharon Lokedi joined her fellow Kenyan as a back-to-back champion, winning the women's race in 2:18:51. Zouhair Talbi and Jess McClain ran the fastest times ever for Americans, in the men's and women's races, respectively.
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Sharon Lokedi of Kenya, celebrates after winning the women's division of the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Eden Rainbow-Cooper, of Portsmouth, England, breaks the finish line tape to win the women's wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
John Korir, of Kenya, breaks the tape to win the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Jetze Plat, of the Netherlands, right, passes police cyclists while approaching the finish line of the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Marcel Hug, of Switzerland, breaks the tape to win the men's wheelchair division at the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
FILE - Runners approach the finish line during the Boston Marathon, April 21, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
Workers scrub the finish line clean prior to the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
A year after joining his brother Wesley, the 2012 champion, as the only relatives to win the race, John Korir broke away from the pack as it headed into Heartbreak Hill in Newton and opened a 40-second lead.
He peeked behind him as he went through Kenmore Square with a mile to go, sticking out his tongue and spreading his arms as he ran down Boylston Street to beat the previous course record of 2:03:02 set by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011 by 70 seconds.
Kelvin Kiptum holds the marathon world record, with a 2:00:35 on the flatter Chicago course in 2023.
Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania, 55 seconds back, and 2021 champion Benson Kipruto, another 3 seconds behind him, also were fast enough to better the previous Boston record.
Talbi, who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics for Morocco and became an American citizen last year, was fifth in 2:03:45.
Lokedi, who broke the women's course record last year by more than 2 1/2 minutes, took the lead entering the Newton Hills and emerged from them with an expanding lead. On a day that started in the 30s but warmed to 45 degrees (7 degrees Celsius) by the start, Lokedi pulled off her gloves as she went through Coolidge Corner in Brookline and smiled her way down Boylston Street.
Loice Chemnung was second, 44 seconds back, followed by Mary Ngugi-Cooper in third. McClain was fifth.
Korir and Lokedi each won $150,000 and a gilded olive wreath sent from the plains of Marathon, Greece. Korir will receive another $50,000 for the course record.
Marcel Hug of Switzerland won his ninth wheelchair title in 1:16:06, a time second only to his 2024 course record. He is one shy of the all-category record of South African wheelchair athlete Ernst van Dyk's 10 Boston Marathon wins.
Two-time winner Daniel Romanchuk of Champaign, Illinois, was second behind Hug for the fourth straight time.
In the women's wheelchair race, Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Britain won her second Boston title, finishing in 1:30:51 to beat runner-up Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland by more than two minutes.
The athletes arrived in Hopkinton with frost on the ground and temperatures in the 30s. Although it warmed up through the day, it was the coldest starting temperature since 2018, when 38 degree temperatures combined with a headwind and driving rain that led to the slowest winning times in more than 40 years.
But the clear skies and slight tailwind on Monday had the fastest field in the 130-year history of the world’s oldest and most prestigious annual marathon expecting fast times for the second year in a row.
Lokedi shattered the women's course record last year, and Korir posted the third-fastest time in Boston history in that race.
Jack Fultz, who was serving as grand marshal on the 50th anniversary of his “Run for the Hoses,” said the weather was the “polar opposite” from the day of his 1976 win in temperatures approaching 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius).
“I am just trying to soak it all in, to remember it all," he said before in Hopkinton on Monday. “There are almost are no words to fully describe the kind of experience. You have a dream of a lifetime and all of a sudden it comes true.”
Runners may have noticed some changes this year, with the race turning to a crowd scientist for help in spreading things out a little so they don’t face bottlenecks on the narrow streets of the eight cities and towns along the course. At the start is a new statue of and by marathon pioneer Bobbi Gibb — the first statue on the course honoring a woman.
Race Director Dave McGillivray sent a group of about 50 members of the Massachusetts National Guard members off at 6 a.m. to get the day started. Staff Sgt. Mackenzie Smith and Spec. Benjamin De Boer stepped back and forth to try to stay warm before they set off on the course, but the cold didn't dampen their enthusiasm for participating in the Boston Marathon for the first time.
“It's an honor and a blessing to be standing at the Boston Marathon start,” Smith said. “The history that goes with the marathon resonates with me, growing up in Massachusetts.”
Associated Press Writer Jennifer McDermott in Hopkinton, Mass., contributed to this report.
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Sharon Lokedi of Kenya, celebrates after winning the women's division of the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Eden Rainbow-Cooper, of Portsmouth, England, breaks the finish line tape to win the women's wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
John Korir, of Kenya, breaks the tape to win the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Jetze Plat, of the Netherlands, right, passes police cyclists while approaching the finish line of the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Marcel Hug, of Switzerland, breaks the tape to win the men's wheelchair division at the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
FILE - Runners approach the finish line during the Boston Marathon, April 21, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
Workers scrub the finish line clean prior to the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged Monday that he made the wrong judgment when he picked Jeffrey Epstein ’s friend Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador to Washington, batting away a barrage of calls to resign over a scandal that has left his leadership teetering.
Starmer said he would have withdrawn the appointment if he'd known Mandelson had failed security checks, as he tried to explain why Mandelson was given the U.K.'s most important diplomatic post. Starmer placed blame squarely on Foreign Office officials who he said failed to tell him about the security concerns and approved Mandelson's appointment despite them.
Starmer told lawmakers in the House of Commons that ”I would not have gone ahead with the appointment” had he known the truth. He called it “frankly staggering” that officials didn’t tell him about the failed vetting.
“At the heart of this, there is also a judgment I made that was wrong,” Starmer added. “I should not have appointed Peter Mandelson.
“I take responsibility for that decision, and I apologize again to the victims of the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who were clearly failed by my decision.”
Starmer fired Mandelson in September, nine months into the job, when new details emerged about his friendship with Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019.
His explanation was greeted with jeers from opposition lawmakers, incredulous that the nation's leader hadn't known about the failed security vetting.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said Starmer's lack of curiosity was hard to believe.
“It doesn’t appear that he asked any questions at all. Why? Because he didn’t want to know," she said.
Starmer was attempting to set the record straight after repeatedly telling lawmakers that “due process” was followed when Mandelson was appointed.
Though he apologized for his error of judgment, he denied misleading Parliament, which is usually considered a resigning offense.
Starmer fired the top Foreign Office civil servant, Olly Robbins, within hours of the revelation by The Guardian last week. But allies of Robbins say he never would have been able to share sensitive vetting information with the prime minister.
Robbins is expected to give his own version of events to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
Badenoch noted that Robbins is the latest high-profile government departure linked to Mandelson. She said that instead of taking responsibility for his mistakes, Starmer "has thrown his staff and his officials under the bus.”
Ed Davey, leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, said Starmer “gives every impression of a prime minister in office but not in power.” Davey said appointing Mandelson was "a catastrophic error of judgment. And now that it’s blown up in his face, the only decent thing to do is to take responsibility."
Senior government colleagues have defended the prime minister. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said that if Starmer had known about the failed security vetting, “he would never, ever have appointed him ambassador.”
But lawmakers in Starmer’s center-left Labour Party, already anxious about its dire poll ratings, are restive. Starmer already defused one potential crisis in February, when some Labour lawmakers urged him to resign over the Mandelson appointment.
He could face a new challenge if, as expected, Labour takes a hammering in local and regional elections on May 7, which give voters a chance to pass a midterm verdict on the government.
Critics say the Mandelson appointment is more evidence of bad judgment by a prime minister who has made repeated missteps since he led Labour to a landslide election victory in July 2024.
Starmer has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and has been forced into repeated policy U-turns.
He picked Mandelson as ambassador despite being warned by his staff that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein exposed the government to “reputational risk.”
Mandelson’s business links to Russia and China also set off alarm bells. But his expertise as a former European Union trade chief and contacts among global elites were considered assets in dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
A trove of Epstein-related documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice in January included emails suggesting Mandelson had passed on sensitive, and potentially market-moving, government information to Epstein in 2009, after the global financial crisis.
British police launched a criminal probe and arrested Mandelson in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Mandelson has previously denied wrongdoing and hasn’t been charged. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.
Starmer said he had ordered a review into any security concerns arising from Mandelson’s access to sensitive information while ambassador.
Many questions remain unanswered after Starmer's 2 1/2-hour question-and-answer session, including why Mandelson failed the vetting and whether officials felt political pressure to approve the appointment.
Several lawmakers asked why Starmer chose Mandelson for the job despite red flags.
“I’m interested in his judgment,” said Scottish National Party lawmaker Stephen Flynn. "Does he believe himself to be gullible, incompetent or both?”
Artist Kaya Mar has his last paintings referring to Keir Starmer and Peter Mandelson on display in London, Monday, April 20, 2026 as Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a showdown in Parliament over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Peter Mandelson is seen outside his home in London, Monday, April 20, 2026 as Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a showdown in Parliament over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street in London, Monday, April 20, 2026 to face a showdown in Parliament over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street in London, Monday, April 20, 2026 to face a showdown in Parliament over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street in London, Monday, April 20, 2026 to face a showdown in Parliament over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Peter Mandelson is seen with his dog outside his home in London, Monday, April 20, 2026 as Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a showdown in Parliament over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks as Starmer hosts social media industry leaders to discuss child safety online Thursday, April 16, 2026, in London. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer co-hosts a multinational virtual summit with French President Emmanuel Macron, not pictured, at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris, Friday April 17, 2026 (Tom Nicholson/Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - Peter Mandelson, the former U.K. ambassador to the United States, leaves his house in London, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
