With a forecast of temperatures in the 40s with a decent tailwind, could Mutai\u2019s mark of 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 2 seconds finally fall? Could Lokedi lower her own record?<\/span><\/p>\n Korir, whose time of 2:04:45 was the third-fastest in race history, might have gone lower had he not been tripped at the start and run the last six miles unchallenged.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think if I had someone to push me last year, we would have been very close to the course record,\u201d reckoned Korir, who posted a scorching 2:02:24 in Valencia in December. \u201cIf everything goes good this year, it is in my mind to go for it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The reigning champ will have ample company, with seven of last year\u2019s top-10 finishers in the fold \u2014 most notably Tanzania\u2019s Alphonce Felix Simbu and Kenya\u2019s CyBrian Kotut, who placed second and third.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to run well, I hope that,\u201d said Simbu, who finished 19 seconds behind Korir, and went on to win the world crown in Tokyo by three hundredths of a second over Germany\u2019s Amanal Petros, the smallest margin in championships history.<\/span><\/p>\n The challenger to watch, though, is Kenya\u2019s Benson Kipruto, the 2021 victor<\/a> who since has won in Chicago and Tokyo, claimed the Olympic bronze medal in Paris, and captured New York last autumn. No other man ever has managed that.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been running well in the USA,\u201d said Kipruto, who\u2019s making his first appearance here in three years. \u201cIt is like a second home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Besides his gilded resume, Kipruto brings priceless knowledge of Boston\u2019s lumpy layout.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHaving won before and coming back, I would say it\u2019s quite an advantage to know the course,\u201d said Kipruto, who placed third here in 2022 and 2023. \u201cTo know where to attack, where to run smooth \u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Korir, who won Boston on his third try, received an invaluable how-to-win briefing from his brother, Wesley, the 2012 titlist. This time, he\u2019ll have a target on his back.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEveryone who comes here wants to win,\u201d said Korir, who\u2019s bidding to become only the second men\u2019s champion to repeat since 2008 (Kenya\u2019s Evans Chebet, 2022-23<\/a>). \u201cI know they are there and they will be looking for me, and that they will be trying to stop me from defending my title. But I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Lokedi wasn\u2019t the favorite last year when she clocked 2:17:22 to demolish Buzunesh Deba\u2019s course record by more than two and a half minutes. Countrywoman Hellen Obiri, who\u2019d won here the two previous years<\/a>, was the one to beat.<\/span><\/p>\n But Lokedi hung with her through the hills and outkicked her in the flats, winning by 19 seconds. Obiri will be running in London next Sunday, so Lokedi likely will dictate the pace \u2014 and her challengers will follow her lead, if they can.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou have to run the race that is put out in front of you,\u201d said Dakotah Popehn, the top US finisher at the Paris Games who\u2019s part of the deepest domestic field in history. \u201cI don\u2019t have the luxury of running my own race at Boston. I do whatever Sharon is deciding to do that day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The defender figured she won\u2019t depart much from her usual strategy. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI am someone who always does the same thing over and over,\u201d said Lokedi, who has five podium finishes in her seven career majors and won New York in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have not really changed much because I believe in consistency, and what works is what I\u2019ve always been doing. So I just maintain that and compete as I always do, and always be aware of what is happening.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Lokedi wasn\u2019t planning on barreling through Wellesley last year, but the leaders were, so she stuck with them. This time as last, she\u2019ll deal with the race as it unfolds.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt all depends on how it starts. But no matter how it goes, I\u2019m ready to go with the pace,\u201d Lokedi said. \u201cIf it\u2019s meant to be a course record like last year, then I\u2019ll go with it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Boston may be many things, but a drag race it\u2019s not. Tactics matter greatly. Eliud Kipchoge, the planet\u2019s greatest male marathoner, went out too fast into a headwind on a wet day three years ago and was out of contention before the hills.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf I went to London, I know that I\u2019m not going to run 2:16 and I\u2019m not going to win,\u201d said Popehn. \u201cThere\u2019s that excitement that it\u2019s anybody\u2019s day in Boston. You don\u2019t have to be the world\u2019s fastest to win that race.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n John Powers can be reached at john.powers@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/span>Jessica Rinaldi\/Globe Staff<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n![\"Benson](\"https:\/\/bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/WM65DBGWZAGIDLFDWPCTHBA4XI.JPG?auth=497a1e355e950ce157031df00e777a3f1bffe758089a26afe78c52d8aee4dbd1&width=1440\")
![\"Sharon](\"https:\/\/bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/TQSDSBOBJXRERC5D2MWVPYRHI4.JPG?auth=19c59ef999889c9252a19e67682f3cb11ab159e7a8f2ec13b944612af2128605&width=1440\")
![\"Boston](\"https:\/\/bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/OZGG67ARRNW25G6IMUEF7SFZSQ.jpg?auth=2be8696b4b69c85e57b335cef1923ae48a6d1575318ce57330163d1b8e796c64&width=1440\")
\n