Marcel Hug won his sixth Boston Marathon in a course record time to underline his dominant start to Wheelchair Series XV of the Abbott World Marathon Majors.
The Swiss Silver Bullet applied his customary tactics to separate himself as early as possible from his rivals, and was soon out of sight as he raced through Ashland and Framingham.
The wet conditions required extreme levels of concentration from the experienced Paralympian, but he piloted his chair expertly up and down Boston’s famed slopes to romp to victory in 1:17:06 – more than a minute inside his previous best on the course.
America’s Daniel Romanchuk finished second in 1:27:45 with Dutchman Jetze Plat third in 1:28:35.
“It was difficult in these conditions but I was prepared for rain and everything went perfect,” said Hug.
“I just tried to go as fast as I could and see what was possible. To do this fast time on this course in these conditions is incredible. You have to break softly in the wet, and crossing the tram lines was also difficult, and the up-hills were really tough but in downhills you have time to recover.”
Hug has not lost a race since he came second to Romanchuk in Chicago in 2021. This was his sixth Boston win, bringing him the $25,000 prize purse plus $50,000 for the course record.
He now heads for London to defend his crown there. He has already established a healthy lead in the series having won in Tokyo and collected the eight bonus points in both cities.
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