HOPKINTON, MASS. -- The fastest and most-decorated field in race history left Hopkinton on Monday for the start of the 127th Boston Marathon, with world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge leading a field of 30,000 on the 26.2-mile (42.2 kilometre) trek to Copley Square.
Forecasts of a headwind and a thick fog blanketing the hilly course, leaving the roads wet, dampened Kipchoge's chances of besting his world mark of 2 hours, 1 minute, 9 seconds in his Boston debut. Still, a win in the world's oldest and most prestigious long-distance race would give the 38-year-old Kenyan victories in an unprecedented five of the six major marathons.
Ethiopian Amane Beriso led a women's field that was also among the strongest in the division's half-century of history. For the first time, the race also includes a nonbinary division, with 27 athletes registered.
A dozen former champions and runners from 120 countries and all 50 states were in the field 10 years after the finish line bombing that killed three people and wounded hundreds more. The race also included 264 members of the One Fund community -- those injured by the attack, their friends and family and charities associated with them.
The city marked the anniversary in a ceremony on Saturday.
At the start line on Monday was a robotic dog named Stompy belonging to the Department of Homeland Security. It was trailed by photographers, capturing the peculiar sight.
At 6 a.m. in Hopkinton, race director Dave McGillivray sent out a group of about 20 from the Massachusetts National Guard, which walks the course annually, announcing the start of the marathon. He thanked them for their service and wished them well on the course.
The wheelchair divisions began shortly after 9 a.m., with the men's and women's elite fields following about 30 minutes later and three waves of recreational runners behind them.
Although Kipchoge's arrival in Boston gave the historic race more than the usual intrigue, the undulating course does not lend itself to fast times like the flatter ones in Berlin, London, Chicago and Tokyo where he established himself as the greatest marathoner in history. He also ran 26.2 miles in a Vienna park in 2019 in 1:59:40 -- the only person ever to break 2 hours in the distance.
But McGillivray, who himself runs the course each year after his workday is done, noted that Boston is more about strategy than fast times.
"How you run it is as important, if not more important, than how fast you run it," he said. "Of course you need a fast time in order to win, but at the same time, you don't necessarily want to take it out and try to run the whole race all by yourself. Some might. Who knows? We'll see today."
Some of the Guard members marching the course said they would be thinking about those who were killed, and their families. Staff Sgt. Brenda Santana, 30, of Saugus, Massachusetts, said she will likely cry at the finish.
"I think it's going to be emotional, remembering the tragedy, the lives that were lost," she said. "I will keep them in my mind as I'm crossing the finish line."
Capt. Kanwar Singh, 33, of Malden, Massachusetts, said it's a special day.
"Ten years ago, the city came to a halt. It's an incredibly strong comeback, as a group together," he said. "I tell people, never bet against Bostonians."
