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(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. (13-May) -- Just 17 days after becoming the first man to break two hours in a regulation marathon, Kenya's Sabastian Sawe has announced that he plans to defend his title at the BMW Berlin Marathon scheduled for Sunday, September 27.  Sawe, 31, who represents adidas, won last year's race in 2:02:16 in very warm conditions, well off the event record of 2:01:09 set by compatriot Eliud Kipchoge in 2022. Whether Sawe decides to attack Kipchoge's event record, or his incredible 1:59:30 world record from the TCS London Marathon last month, remains to be seen. "I am very much looking forward to returning to the BMW Berlin-Marathon this year to defend my title," Sawe said through a statement released by race organizers, SCC Events.  "Many people might be wondering what my goals are this time around.  After my victory in London and my sub-two-hour performance, all I can say is that, as always, I will prepare myself as thoroughly as possible.  I am coming to Berlin to honor this magnificent event and the organization that invited me, and I intend to run as well and as fast as I possibly can." Sawe, who is also the reigning world half-marathon champion, attacked Kelvin Kiptum's then world record of 2:00:35 at last year's race, splitting 10K in 28:26 and halfway in 1:00:16.  But the oppressive heat and humidity were too much for him to hold that pace.  As the temperature soared to 25C/77F, he had to slow down in the second half.  Nonetheless, he won the race by almost exactly four minutes over Japan's Akira Akasaki.  Organizers dubbed his performance the "warm weather world record." "I gave it my all and am absolutely delighted to have won the race," Sawe said after last year's contest.  "It was tough going in the heat." The men's world record has been set at the BMW Berlin Marathon nine times beginning in 1998 when Brazil's Ronaldo da Costa clocked 2:06:05.  Most recently, it was two-time Olympic Marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge's 2022 winning time of 2:01:09.  Surely, race director Mark Milde would like to see the world record come back to the streets of Berlin. "At SCC Events, we are absolutely delighted to welcome Sabastian Sawe back to the BMW Berlin Marathon," said Milde through a statement.  "With his impressive progress over the past few months and his historic world record, he has definitively written his name into the history books of marathon running. The fact that Sabastian consciously chose to return to Berlin is a tremendous tribute to the global standing of our event and the speed of our course." The BMW Berlin Marathon's technical sponsor is adidas which will make promoting Sawe's participation in the race much easier.  His image in adidas kit can appear on all of the event's promotional materials without the fear of a sponsor conflict, a problem that bedevils race organizers throughout the world. That business consideration won't matter much to the sport's hardcore fans, however.  They will tune in to see just how fast Sawe can run. "On race day, we shall see what happens," said Sawe.  "I look forward to once again experiencing the fantastic atmosphere and the spectators lining the course." ** The BMW Berlin Marathon is one of the original five events of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, the premiere league of professional marathon running.  In 2025 it was the fifth-largest marathon in the world with 48,038 finishers.  Organizers said today that they were anticipating "60,000 runners from approximately 160 countries" for the 2026 race. PHOTO: Sabastian Sawe winning the 2025 BMW Berlin Marathon (photo by Petko Beier for SCC Events; used with permission)

(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. (April 26, 2026) -- Nearly 72 years after Roger Bannister became the first man to break four minutes for the mile at the Iffley Road Track in Oxford, Kenya's Sabastian Sawe and Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha became the first men to run under two hours for a standard marathon held under World Athletics rules*.  Sawe, 31, and Kejelcha, 28, finished first and second at Sunday's TCS London Marathon in 1:59:30 and 1:59:41, respectively.  They smashed the late Kelvin Kiptum's 2023 world record of 2:00:35 set at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, and Kejelcha ran (by far) the fastest debut marathon in history.  Third place Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda also finished under Kiptum's record, clocking 2:00:28. Moreover, Sawe successfully defended his title. "I am so happy, it is a day to remember for me," Sawe told the race's media team.  "We started the race well and approaching the end of finishing the race I was feeling strong. Reaching the finish line I saw the time and I was so excited to run a world record today." Remarkably, the race's fastest running came in the second half.  The first three 5-kilometer segments were covered in 14:14, 14:21 and 14:35, respectively.  That's fast running for sure, but "only" projected a 2:01:26 finish, about a minute outside of Kiptum's record.  Sawe, Kejelcha, Kiplimo, Kenya's Amos Kipruto, and Ethiopia's Deresa Geleta and Tamirat Tola were all in the lead pack. "They clearly had their Weetabix this morning," said British Olympian Chris Thompson on the race's international broadcast. The first injection of pace came in the next 5-kilometer segment.  With pacemaker Oscar Chelimo of Uganda on the front, the top-6 athletes ran 14:11 from 15 to 20 kilometers, then went through halfway in 1:00:29.  Nobody dropped off of the pace, and the same six men remained in contention.  No doubt, the sunny and cool conditions were helping all of the athletes. About halfway between 25 and 30 kilometers Chelimo retired leaving the contenders to fight for the win.  A fracture developed in the lead group just before 30K (1:26:03). Sawe and Kejelcha led Kiplimo by two seconds and Kipruto, Geleta, and Tola drifted back. That segment wasn't particularly fast (14:22), but the next two were incredible.  Sawe and Kejelcha blasted through the 5 kilometers from 30 to 35K in 13:54, and then from 35 to 40K in eye-popping 13:42 (27:36 from 30 to 40K).  That put the leading pair on pace to go under two hours,  But who would win? At the Paris Marathon earlier this month Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa ran 6:01 from 40-K to the finish line, the fastest final marathon segment ever. Until today. Sawe ran 5:51 to Kejelcha's 6:02 and that was the difference.  The race did not come down to a sprint.  Instead, Sawe gently pulled away in the final kilometer to get a glorious win on The Mall some 90 kilometers southeast of where Bannister had made history in 1954.  He ran the second half in 59:01. "I think I was well prepared because coming to London for the second time was so important to me and that is why I prepared well for it," Sawe explained. Under the prize money and bonus system put in place by race organizers, Sawe earned $355,000 (US) including $150,000 for a new world record.  Kejelcha earned $180,000 and Kiplimo got $172,500.  All three men will earn much more than those "above the table" totals because the race paid them appearance fees (and likely private place bonuses), and their kit sponsors (adidas for Sawe and Kejelcha, and Nike for Kiplimo) typically pay bonuses for exceptional performances like these. Down the finish order, Kipruto ran 2:01:39 for fourth place, Tola 2:02:59 for fifth, and Geleta 2:03:23 for sixth.  Irishman Peter Lynch ran a national record 2:06:08 in ninth place, and the top British finisher --and the winner of the U.K. Athletics national title-- was Mahamed Mahamed in tenth place in 2:06:14. The women's race also saw a world record (for a women-only race) and a successful title defense by Ethiopia's Tigist Assefa.  Assefa, 29, the 2024 Olympic Marathon silver medalist, ran a brilliant tactical race against rivals Hellen Obiri and Joyciline Jepkosgei, both of Kenya.  Behind excellent pacemaking by Ethiopia's Tsige Gebreselama and Kenya's Miriam Chebet, the trio hit halfway in 1:06:12, well under world record pace and also on schedule to break Paula Radcliffe's 2:15:25 course record set in a mixed-gender format in 2003. Unlike in the men's race, the women slowed down in the second half.  The first four 5-kilometer segments went rapidly in 15:39, 15:24, 15:56, and 15:42, respectively, but after that they would not run sub-16:00 for any additional segments.  Instead, they took turns at the lead and traded small surges, trying to test each other.  None of those moves were hard enough to break up the race. Up to the 40-K mark, the three women recorded identical split times.  Something had to give, and Assefa steadily ramped up her speed in the final kilometer to ease away from her challengers.  When she made the final right-hand turn onto The Mall both Obiri and Jepkosgei were too far back to catch up.  Squeezing out the last bit of pace she had left, she managed to trim her women-only world record from last year's race by nine seconds, clocking 2:15:41.  Radcliffe's absolute race record was not broken. "I screamed when I finished because I knew I was breaking the world record," Assefa told the race's media team.  "I felt much healthier today and have worked really hard on my speed and all my training has paid off.  Thank you to God for this fantastic competition, and I wanted to thank my opponents, many of whom are my friends. They've done great and well done!" Obiri, running her first marathon with pacemakers, ran a huge personal best of 2:15:53.  Jepkosgei, who won this race in 2021, finished third in 2:15:55.  It was her fifth time making the podium in London. Assefa earned $280,000 US in prize money and publicly-reported time bonuses.  Obiri earned $105,000 and Jepkosgei $97,500.  All three athletes also received appearance fees and likely personal bonuses. The top British athlete was Eilish McColgan in 2:24:51 in seventh place, slightly slower than her personal best 2:24:25 from this race last year.  Behind her was the 2025 World Athletics Championships bronze medalist Julia Paternain in a personal best 2:25:47.  Paternain, who represents Uruguay and was born in Mexico, was raised in Great Britain and her participation was heavily promoted by race organizers.  Her mark was a national record. In the professional wheelchair races, Switzerland's Marcel Hug rebounded from his Boston Marathon win last Monday and collected his eighth TCS London Marathon winner's trophy in 1:24:13.  His margin of victory was four minutes and 33 seconds. "This guy is just unbeatable," said commentator Hannah England on the race broadcast. Another Swiss athlete, Catherine Debrunner, won a tightly-contested women's contest in the professional wheelchair category against American Tatyana McFadden.  The pair pushed most of the race together, and it wasn't until the final set of turns before The Mall where Debrunner got away.  She was clocked in 1:38:29 to McFadden's 1:38:34.  Boston Marathon winner Eden Rainbow-Cooper, who is British, finished a distant 11th in 1:51:12. Both wheelchair winners earned $55,000 in prize money, the same as Sawe and Assefa. *Eliud Kipchoge ran 1:59:41 in an exhibition marathon in Vienna on October 12, 2019 which was not held under World Athletics rules PHOTO: Sabastian Sawe setting a world record of 1:59:30 at the 2026 TCS London Marathon (photo by Bob Martin for London Marathon Events)

(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. BOSTON (20-Apr) -- Like in 2011, a strong tailwind blew from Hopkinton to Boston propelling Kenyans John Korir (Asics) and Sharon Lokedi (Under Armour) to their second consecutive Boston Marathon titles.  Korir, 29, used the tailwind to full advantage, blasting through the second half in a hard-to-believe 1:00:02 and crossing the finish line in Boylston Street in 2:01:52, smashing Geoffrey Mutai's vaunted 2011 course record by more than a minute, the oldest course record in the Abbott World Marathon Majors.  Lokedi, 32, made a late-race surge instead, running a sizzling 14:48 between the 35 and 40K marks to put the race away.  She won in 2:18:51, the second-fastest winning time in this history of the race.  Both athletes won $150,000 in prize money, and Korir pocketed an additional $50,000 for setting a new course record. KORIR "NOT WORRIED TOO MUCH" Temperatures were only in the low 30's (about 2C) at the start, but the sun was out and most of the elite athletes were comfortable running in their regular racing singlets.  The first five kilometers of the race are downhill, and the 14:19 5K split was not overly fast.  Twenty-four men were within three seconds of the race's official leader, and the situation was similar at 10K (29:02).  Korir was happy to stay tucked in the pack and just go along for the ride.  Last year, he fell right after the start and had to scramble to quickly get back on his feet. "For me last year I fell at the start so I was not sure if I would run fast (this year)," he said at the post-race press conference.  He said earlier: "I had no problems from the start to the finish." The next two five-kilometer segments went down in 14:43 and 14:55.  That put the leaders at 58:40 at 20K, five seconds faster than Mutai's split in 2011.  But Korir was still not thinking about the record. "I didn't know I would run that fast," Korir said.  "For me, it was just go out and defend my title." The first important move of the race would happen next.  Ethiopian veteran Lemi Berhanu, who won this race ten years ago, put in a surge.  He hit the halfway mark in 1:01:43 with Korir seven seconds back. Remarkably, 18 men ran under 62 minutes for halfway. Korir quickly pulled even with Berhanu, and then another Ethiopian, Milkesa Mengesha, decided to surge ahead.  Mengesha, who was a late entrant to the race after canceling his participation in the Tokyo Marathon last month, had to be taken seriously.  He came into the race with a 2:03:17 personal best, and quickly built up a 12-second lead.  Korir wasn't concerned. "For me I was not so much worried, because I knew I could close him," Korir said.  He added: "I was not worried too much." Korir closed the gap and took over the lead in the 20th mile.  Not leaving anything to chance, he ripped off a series of fast miles that left all of his rivals breathless: 4:35, 4:25, 4:33, and 4:25 through the 24th mile.  He was now running well below Mutai's record pace.  When Korir checked his split at 40 kilometers (1:55:48) he knew a 2:02 finish time was possible.  He continued to press. "I tried to maintain the pace to go under 2:02," he said. Korir zoomed down Boylston Street alone to the finish.  Before breaking the blue and gold finish tape, he raised his hands and touched his chest with pride.  When he was informed that he had gotten the record, he began to jump up and down. "Today I'm feeling good," he said.  "Now I'm the course record holder." About a minute behind, Tanzania's Alphonce Simbu and Kenya's Benson Kipruto were locked in a pitched battle for second.  Simbu, the reigning world champion, won the world title last September in Tokyo with a strong sprint finish.  He called on his closing speed again today, and dropped Kipruto in the final 20 meters.  The two men finished in 2:02:47 and 2:02:50, respectively, both under Mutai's 2:03:02 record. "For me I can say this is a good position," Simbu told reporters.  "Today I ran 2:02 for second.  It is a good result today." Fourth place went to Ethiopian Hailemaryam Kiros in 2:03:42, and fifth place to American Zouhair Talbi 2:03:45.  His was the fastest-ever time at the Boston Marathon by an American, bettering Ryan Hall's 2011 mark of 2:04:58.  A 2024 Olympian for Morocco, Talbi will be eligible to represent the United States in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.  He came into today's race in excellent shape after running personal bests for 10-K (27:38), half-marathon (59:41), and marathon (2:05:45) earlier this year. "I was training very well," Talbi told reporters.  "Since early (this) year I was doing personal best at every distance I was doing.  He added: "I was like, this is the day.  I have to follow the surges and see what happens." The wind helped dozens of men to run fast today, including German Richard Ringer (2:04:47) and Americans Charles Hicks (2:04:35), Clayton Young (2:05:41), Ryan Ford (2:05:46), and Joe Klecker (2:05:46).  All of those marks were personal best times. A top American hopeful, Alex Maier, dropped out.  He recorded his last split of 1:29:28 at 30K. LOKEDI STAYED PATIENT The women took a gentler approach to the race today.  American Susanna Sullivan led through both 5K (16:43) and 10K (33:31).  That tempo was honest --2:21:30 pace-- but it was slow enough to allow 19 women to be part of the lead pack.  Lokedi did her best just to stay relaxed. "I was just like be patient, be patient," she said. A surprising face at the front of the lead pack was American Kodi Kleven.  The two-time winner of the St. George Marathon in Utah came into this race with a 2:29:18 personal best and only ran last year's Boston in 2:37:25.  She, along with compatriots Dakotah Popehn and Carrie Ellwood, led at the halfway point in 1:11:02, a two-minute personal best for Kleven.  Sixteen women remained in the lead pack, including last year's top American Jessica McClain.   "I was just kind of game for it to go out in any which way," McClain said.   The real running didn't start until about 30-K (18.6 miles).  The uphill 20th and 21st miles, which included Heartbreak Hill, went in 5:25 and 5:22, respectively.  That's when Lokedi decided it was time to show her cards.  She ripped through the next three miles in 4:41, 4:48 and 4:35, respectively (14:48 for the 5 kilometers between 35 and 40K).  That was just way too fast for Kenya's Irine Cheptai and Loice Chemnung, who tried to stay close. Lokedi, who was running with a borrowed watch because she forgot her own when she left her hotel this morning, wasn't really aware of how fast she was going. "This morning I forgot my watch," she told reporters.  She continued: "I didn't know how fast I was going.  I just wanted to go as fast as I could.  I just wanted to get to the finish line as fast as possible." And that she did.  With many fans calling her name as she sprinted down Boylston Street, she clinched her second Boston Marathon title by a comfortable 44-second gap. "Everyone is cheering for me," she said.  "It felt so good." Chemnung held on for second in 2:19:35 and another Kenyan, Mary Ngugi-Cooper, took third in 2:20:07 in her seventh Boston Marathon.  Mercy Chelangat, the 2025 Ottawa Marathon champion, took fourth in 2:20:30 while McClain took fifth in 2:20:49, the fastest time ever by an American at the Boston Marathon.  She was also the top American last year. "I just love Boston," said McClain, 34, who lives in Phoenix, Ariz.  "I wanted to come in and defend the American title." American record holder Emily Sisson finished ninth in her Boston Marathon debut.  She clocked 2:22:39 off of a 1:11:03 halfway split. Back in 22nd place Australia's Lisa Weightman clocked 2:32:41.  The 47 year-old four-time Olympian became the first runner in history to complete all seven commercial races of the Abbott World Marathon Majors plus the Olympic Games, World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games.  She was given her official WMM Six-Star medal for completing the Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York, and Tokyo Marathons. HUG AND RAINBOW-COOPER DOMINATE WHEELCHAIR RACES Both of the professional wheelchair races were blowouts.  Switzerland's Marcel Hug jumped to the lead from the start and pushed to the second-fastest time in race history, 1:16:06.  He beat second place Daniel Romanchuk by six minutes and 38 seconds.  He was on course-record place, but ended up 33 seconds short. "I was trying," said Hug, who won the race for the ninth time.  "The conditions were very good today." Rainbow-Cooper, who was the surprise champion in 2024, also took the lead early and was never caught.  She clocked 1:30:51 to win by two minutes and eight seconds over Switzerland's Catherine Debrunner. "It's amazing to come back and do it again," said Rainbow-Cooper, who is only 24. Both Hug and Rainbow-Cooper won $50,000 in prize money. Today's race --the 130th edition counting the virtual race held during the COVID pandemic in 2020-- had 32,294 official entrants from 137 countries according to Boston Athletic Association officials. Official finisher totals will not be known until tonight. PHOTO: John Korir of Kenya winning the 2026 Boston Marathon (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. BOSTON (18-Apr) -- On a chilly and foggy morning here in Back Bay, Ethiopians Addisu Yihune and Gela Hambese won the 16th edition of the Boston 5K presented by Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute.  Yihune, 23, who represents adidas, used a powerful burst of speed in the final kilometer to win in a course and event record 13:14.  Hambese, who is also 23 and also represents adidas, repeated as race champion, albeit in a much slower time of 15:28 (she ran 14:53 last year).  Both athletes won $8000 in prize money, and Yihune earned an additional $5000 for setting a new event record. BIG MEN'S PACK EARLY ON After starting next to the Public Garden on Boylston Street, 17 men crossed the one mile mark on Commonwealth Avenue in a solid 4:28.  No doubt ignoring the beautiful pink magnolia blossoms and the multi-million dollar townhouses along the side of the road, Edwin Kurgat and Patrick Kiprop of Kenya, Yihune, and Cooper Teare of the United States were among the leaders.  Also near the front was Morocco's Mohammed El Youssfi, last Sunday's Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile champion who was running on only five days of rest. The course makes a series of five sharp turns in the middle of the race, ultimately turning the athletes back towards the famous Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street.  There was some surging in that middle mile, first on Bay State Road and then on Silber Way where Kiprop and Yihune were at the front.  They cut down the pace to 4:11 in the second mile, and that slashed the pack to just five: Kiprop, Kurgat, Yihune, El Youssfi, and Ethiopia's Mezgebu Sime.  Teare was just three seconds back in seventh position. "They pushed hard and I think I just got caught a little bit off-guard," Teare told Race Results Weekly.  "So, I was in no-man's land longer than I wanted to be." Yihune, who has a 5000m personal best of 12:49.65, had plenty of energy left for the race's final 1.1 miles.  Making a right turn on Hereford Street before the final left turn on Boylston for the approximately 600-meter straightaway to the finish line, Yihune had about three steps on Sime.  Kurgat was in third position, and Kiprop in fourth.  Yihune hit the gas again, and appeared to already be in a full sprint. "I knew I needed to push at the end," Yihune told reporters through a translator.  "That's what I did (for) my strategy.  That's exactly what I did." Yihune ran 4:08 for the third mile to put the race away.  Two weeks ago he ran a sizzling 12:54 at a 5-K in Lille, France, where he finished second, but today he was the winner.  His time was six seconds faster than Ben True's 2017 event record of 13:20 (run on a slightly different course). "I'm thrilled that I won," said Yihune.  "I am so happy." Sime held on to second position all the way to the finish, crossing the line in 13:21.  Kurgat got third in 13:23, and Teare rolled-up Kiprop and El Youssfi to take fourth in a personal best 13:25.  He was pleased with his race. "It was really good practice to be able to push from the front," Teare said.  "I knew there was a strong group behind me, so to be able to work through the gears and not let anyone pass me and get a couple of the guys in the lead pack in the last mile was a really big confidence booster." El Youssfi, who had been with the leaders throughout the race, faded to seventh in 13:31.  Kiprop got fifth in 13:26 and American Anthony Camerieri came from behind to take sixth in 13:30. THE BIG BATTLE IN THE WOMEN'S RACE WAS FOR SECOND In the women's contest, the lead pack was a smaller 10 at the one-mile mark.  Hambese was tucked behind Americans Katie Izzo and Rachel Smith and Germany's Lea Meyer.  They split a sensible 5:05, but Hambese cut the pace down to 4:59 for the second mile.  Only Izzo --who made her 10-mile debut last Sunday at the Cherry Blossom race-- was confident enough to stay with the diminutive Ethiopian.  Mercy Jelimo of Kenya and Rachel Smith of the United States were in third and fourth, respectively, about five seconds back. With a big surge in the third mile, Hambese dropped Izzo with a 4:53 split.  That gave her a five-second margin at the finish. "I pushed and that made me to win," she said through a translator. Izzo seemed to have second place locked up, but Smith mounted a powerful charge in the final mile and caught up to Izzo right before the tape. "Rachel really came back," said Izzo, her eyes wide with amazement.  "Literally 10 steps before the line (she caught me).  I fought back and tried to out-lean her." The official timing report showed that Smith beat Izzo by one tenth of a second, but both athletes were given the same official time: 15:33.  Both women were in good spirits as they waited for the official results to be posted. "I passed her but she fought back," said Smith who, like Izzo, had raced the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile last Sunday.  She added: "She crushed me in the 10 (mile), I'll tell you.  This is a little bit more my speed." Meyer, who trains here in Boston, took fourth in 15:35, and American Katie Camarena was fifth in 15:37. MCFADDEN AND HUG TAKE WHEELCHAIR TITLES Tatyana McFadden of the United States and Marcel Hug of Switzerland took the professional wheelchair titles in 12:29 and 10:25, respectively.  It was Hug's fourth win in a row, and both athletes will contest the Boston Marathon on Monday.  Hug will be trying for his ninth Boston Marathon title. According to the Boston Athletic Association, 9280 athletes crossed the finish line this morning, up slightly from 9144 last year. PHOTO: Addisu Yihune of Ethiopia winning the 2026 Boston 5-K (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. BOSTON (18-Apr) -- Dorcas Ewoi, the Kenyan silver medalist in the 1500m at last summer's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, repeated as B.A.A. Invitational Mile champion here today setting a new course record of 4:29.8.  Ewoi, 29, who competes for the Puma Elite Running team in North Carolina, dominated the three-lap race, going to the front from the gun and stretching her lead with each successive lap.  She won $3000 in prize money. Ewoi decided to compete here today as a fitness test.  She said that it didn't matter so much whether or not she won, but she wanted the race to be a truly hard effort. "I came off of a good building block, almost two months," said Ewoi, whose training group has athletes who compete from the mile to the marathon.  She continued: "I was just going to run as fast as I could." Competing here last year gave Ewoi a big edge today.  The course is rectangular, and hitting the turns at the right angle and knowing when and where to surge is critical.  The quarter mile splits are at odd locations, and after the final corner the runners only have about half a city block to get up to full speed for their last push for the finish tape.  Ewoi felt well-oriented this year which gave her the confidence to lead. "Last year I didn't know what I was doing here, for real," Ewoi admitted.  "Like, too many corners.  I don't know where was where, and I did not even check the course.  So, this year I'm more familiar with this course, and I'm kind of familiar with everyone I raced with today." Remarkably, Ewoi's winning time was the first-ever sub-4:30 at this event.  The race was founded in 2009, and the previous record of 4:33.7 was set by Canadian Nicole Sifuentes in 2017. Second place went to 2024 USA road mile champion Rachel McArthur in 4:34.4.  McArthur, who represents Asics, ran in fourth position most of the race, but moved up to third at 1200m and passed Taryn Parks in the final sprint.  Parks, who represents adidas, took third in 4:35.1 and Olympian Heather MacLean --who grew up in nearby Peabody-- finished fourth in 4:35.2. The men's race was decided in a mass sprint.  Six men rounded the last corner together: Eric Holt, Luke Houser, Abe Alvarado, and Isaac Basten of the United States; Adam Fogg of Great Britain; and Foster Malleck of Canada.  Holt, a gritty racer with a 3:51.46 mile personal best on the track, led off of the final turn and managed to hold the lead to the tape. He was clocked in 4:06.7.  Malleck --who competed for Boston University during his collegiate career and only arrived here at 11:00 last night due to a delay in getting his visa-- looked like he was going to finish second.  But Basten sprinted past him to take the runner-up spot.  The two men were timed in 4:06.9 and 4:07.1, respectively. "I think honestly the biggest issue of my running career is that sometimes believing in myself," said Holt, who is unsponsored.  "I think a lot of running is believing in yourself, believing you can win." Basten, who is part of the Boston Athletic Association's High Performance Team, was very excited about his runner-up finish and felt like I had had the home field advantage. "I've gone head to head with Eric a million times," said Basten.  "If I had a dollar for every time I was second I'd be a rich man.  So, I knew it would be close.  All I could do was give it everything I had.  What a great experience doing it in front of the home crowd." In the accompanying scholastic miles for regional high school athletes, the winners were Sara Blanco of Boston in 5:17.9 and John Bianchi of Natick in 4:25.6.  Blanco, who attends the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, was nearly caught by Maggie Abely of Newton in the final sprint. "I have the worst kick, not to be unkind," Blanco told Race Results Weekly.  "So I was like, I can hear them coming so this might be it.  I heard the crowd and that really kept me going." PHOTO: Dorcus Ewoi winning the 2026 B.A.A. Invitational Mile in a course record 4:29.8 (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)