New records in the 2023 Boston Marathon

In Boston, the 127th edition of the Boston Marathon kicked off with Marcel Hugs and Susannah Sacroni winning the wheelchair division of the Men and Women's marathons respectively.

During the race Marcel Hugs broke his own previous record of 1:18:07, which was set back in 2017, and created a historic moment by finishing the race in 1:17:06. For Hugs it was a moment of redemption as the 37-year-old para-athlete was on record-breaking pace during the Boston Marathon in 2021 and but a wrong turn near the finish line cost him the record and the race.

The 17th of April marks the sixth Boston Marathon title for the Swiss para-athlete. Hug's performance was astonishing throughout the race, and he was able to dominate the last year's champion Daniel Romanchuk by a margin of ten minutes, and Romanchuk finished second with a time of 1:27:45, while the Dutch Paralympic Jetze Plat finished third, with the time of 1:28:35.

With this win, Marcel Hug fell four wins short of Ernst van Dyk's record of ten career wins, who finished his last career race and ended up in the 27th position on Monday.

In the women’s wheelchair division, Susannah Sacroni pulled off an amazing comeback as she won her first Boston Marathon. On Monday, the 31-year-old, three-time Paralympian got off to a good start, but things got shaky when one of the wheels of her wheelchair became loose. Although it was not enough to derail her morale and she pulled over at the 15k mark to fix it. Soon she regained her lead and won the race by a mile and with a time of 1:41:45.

Australia’s Madison de Rozario finished second in the wheelchair division. She became the first Australian to be victorious in a para-athletic marathon since Louise Savage won the Boston Crown in 2001. Her form has been consistent and has finished third in both the 2019 and 2022 editions of the Boston Marathon Race. Her second-place victory came following her wins in the New York and the London race.

It was the maiden Boston Marathon win for Susannah Sacroni after her ninth attempt following her marathon wins at New York City and Chicago races in 2022.

The Boston Marathon also featured other divisions for para-athletes competing in marathon races for the visually impaired and athletes with limb impairments. The event observed familiar faces and a few upsets.

In the visually impaired division, male runner El Amin Chentouf finished first in the T12 category with a time of 2:31:35 and Andrew Thorsen won in the T13 category with a time of 2:45:39, and finished second in the 2022 marathon. A similar result was observed in the female category, where last year's winner Jennifer Herring finished first with a time of 3:38:35 in the T13 category and Jessica Loomer finished first with a time of 4:21:04.

In the upper limb impairment division, Astbha Gebremeskel finished first, and in the lower limb impairment division, Rajesh Durbal finished first in the T45/46 category. In the Lower Limb T61/63 category among the male para-athletes Marko Chesto finished first and among the female para-athletes Liz Willis finished first.

The winners were awarded $1500 for first place, $750 for second place and $500 for third place. The event observed huge participation from athletes all around the world and it was the third time when a race has offered divisions to a wide range of para-athletics races.

With the success of the Boston Marathon, the para-athletes in the wheelchair division will be gearing up for the TCS London Marathon 2023, which is all set to be held on the 24th of March. The Marathon will feature two divisions - the assisted wheelchair race and the elite wheelchair race. The marathon will see both UK and international athletes as well as inviting independent athletes who are not part of any national federations.