Saturday, April 13 Racing Kicks off Patriots' Day Weekend Festivities
NOTE: Up to date Boston 5K Pro Fields can be found here.
Updated B.A.A. Invitational Mile Fields can be found here.
BOSTON – Fast fields featuring Olympians, Paralympians, rising stars, and recent B.A.A. event winners will take center stage at the Boston 5K presented by Point32Health and B.A.A. Invitational Mile on Saturday, April 13. The deepest professional field in race history will include more than 100 accomplished athletes from 19 nations, set to square off for prize money and awards in the open, wheelchair, and Para Athletics Divisions.
“More than 40,000 athletes will take part in B.A.A. races across Boston Marathon weekend,” said Jack Fleming, President and Chief Executive Officer of the B.A.A. “Saturday’s Boston 5K and B.A.A. Invitational Mile fields feature some of the fastest American and international stars, many who are aiming to compete at the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris.”
SPEED & EXCITEMENT EXPECTED FROM ACCOMPLISHED BOSTON 5K FIELD
A new champion will be crowned and the stage is set for another close race at the Boston 5K. Ben Flanagan (Canada), Edwin Kurgat (Kenya), and Alex Masai (Kenya) – all top-five finishers a year ago – will return. They were at the front of an exciting finish a year ago that saw the top 13 men come across the line within ten seconds of the winner.
Top Americans Cooper Teare, Zach Panning, and Drew Hunter look to be at the front of the field. Teare is the reigning U.S. club cross country national champion, while Panning led a majority of February’s USA Olympic Team Trials – Marathon and Hunter is a former national champion indoors at 2 miles. B.A.A. High Performance Team members Eric Hamer and Barry Keane will be racing their hometown event.
Also on the start line will be Ben Kigen, an Olympic steeplechase bronze medalist in 2021; Simon Koech, last year’s Diamond League winner in the steeplechase; and Merhawi Mebrahtu, the 5,000m World Junior Championships silver medalist. Ethiopians Getnet Wale and Addisu Yihune are the two fastest men in the field, having gone sub-13:00 on the track for 5,000 meters.
Leading the women’s field is USATF 5K National Champion and B.A.A. High Performance Team member Annie Rodenfels. Joining her are 2024 Team USA Olympic marathoner Dakotah Lindwurm, former American marathon record holder Keira D’Amato, perennial top-American Boston Marathoner Nell Rojas, as well as Team B.A.A. runners Abbey Wheeler, Bethany Hasz Jerde, and Megan Hasz Sailor.
Uganda’s Sarah Chelangat, the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile champion in 2023, and Mercy Chelangat, a former NCAA Cross Country and 10,000m winner, are both entered. Reigning B.A.A. Half Marathon champion Fotyen Tesfay of Ethiopia also comes back to Boston seeking another win.
In the wheelchair division, course record holder and six-time Boston Marathon champion Marcel Hug (Switzerland) will square off against Americans Daniel Romanchuk and Aaron Pike. Brazil’s Vanessa de Souza – the 2018 Boston 5K winner – is the women’s wheelchair division favorite. Perennial Para Athletics Division contenders El Amine Chentouf (T12, vision impairment), Brian Reynolds (T62, lower-limb impairment), and Marko Cheseto (T62, lower-limb impairment) will vie for prize money and podium placings. This will be the largest professional Para Athletics Division field in event history.
Nearly 10,000 participants will take part in the Boston 5K, serving as the first race of the 2024 B.A.A. Distance Medley series.
KRISSY GEAR LOOKS TO REPEAT IN B.A.A. INVITATIONAL MILE
Krissy Gear earned a hard-fought B.A.A. Invitational Mile win last year and now comes in with the target on her back as defending champion. Four of the top five finishers from 2024 return, including Susan Ejore (Kenya), Jazz Shukla (Canada) and Taryn Rawlings (USA). Micaela Degenero, the 2022 NCAA Indoor Mile champion, and 4:23.94 Helen Schlachtenhaufen are entered as well.
Massachusetts high school standout Ellie Shea will take on the professionals. The Belmont High School student-athlete finished 10th at last year’s B.A.A. Invitational Mile.
Massachusetts native and 3:52.94 miler Johnny Gregorek leads the men’s field of competitors. Melkeneh Azize of Ethiopia, the world junior champion at 3000m in 2022, and Harvard’s Vivien Henz, a national champion in Luxembourg, will each make their B.A.A. road racing debuts.
In addition to the professionals, student-athletes from each of the eight cities and towns that make up the Boston Marathon route will compete in a Scholastic Mile and Middle School 1K.
Boston 5K presented by Point32Health Professional Fields
|
Men’s Professional Field |
Country |
5,000m Track Personal Best |
|
Getnet Wale |
ETH |
12:53.28 (Hengelo, 2021) |
|
Addisu Yihune |
ETH |
12:58.99 (Hengelo, 2021) |
|
Merhawi Mebrahtu |
ERI |
13:04:49 (Hueleva) NU20NR |
|
Cooper Teare |
USA |
13:06.73 (Palo Alto, 2022) |
|
Edwin Kurgat |
KEN |
13:08.46 (Los Angeles, 2023) |
|
Athanas Kioko |
KEN |
13:09.37i (Boston, 2023) |
|
Drew Hunter |
USA |
13:17.55 (San Juan Capistrano, 2020) |
|
Eduardo Herrera |
MEX |
13:20.30 (Azusa, 2022) |
|
Ben Flanagan |
CAN |
13:20.67 (Attleboro, 2021) |
|
Barry Keane |
IRL |
13:21.57i (Boston, 2022) |
|
Alex Masai |
KEN |
13:24.68 (Eugene, 2021) |
|
Sam Gilman |
USA |
13:25.17 (Boston, 2021) |
|
Matt Wilkinson |
USA |
13:31.25 (Boston, 2023) |
|
Eric Hamer |
USA |
13:31.27 (Eugene, 2021) |
|
Alec Basten |
USA |
13:32.98i (Fayetteville, 2021) |
|
Zach Panning |
USA |
13:36.87i (Chicago, 2022) |
|
Connor Black |
CAN |
13:38,09 (Langley, 2022) |
|
Derek Johnson |
USA |
13:39.88 (Boston, 2023) |
|
Titus Winders |
USA |
13:43.00 (Azusa, 2023) |
|
Reed Fischer |
USA |
13:43.46 (Azusa, 2019) |
|
Tim McGowan |
USA |
13:46.49 (Seattle, 2019) |
|
Joey Berriatua |
USA |
13:49.16 (San Juan, Capistrano, 2020) |
|
Paul Arredondo |
USA |
13:50.84 (Charlotte, 2022) |
|
Benjamin Kigen |
KEN |
14:02.78A (Nairobi, 2022) |
|
Eli Moskowitz |
USA |
14:02.96 (Charlottesville, 2018) |
|
Tebello Ramakongoana |
LSO |
14:14.17 (Gaborone, 2022) |
|
Dominic Bruce |
USA |
14:16.74 (Champaign, 2023) |
|
Josh Kalapos |
USA |
14:33.88 (Lewisburg, 2019) |
|
Simon Koech |
KEN |
N/A |
|
Eric Linden |
USA |
N/A |
|
Women’s Professional Field |
Country |
5,000m Track Personal Best |
|
Sarah Chelangat |
UGA |
14:40.88 (Stockholm, 2023) NR |
|
Vanessa Fraser |
USA |
15:05.04 (Portland, 2022) |
|
Kim Conley |
USA |
15:05.20 (Hengelo, 2019) |
|
Cintia Chepngeno |
KEN |
15:07.75 (Nairobi, 2023) |
|
Annie Rodenfels |
USA |
15:08i (Boston, 2022) |
|
Erika Kemp |
USA |
15:10.10 (Boston, 2021) |
|
Fotyen Tesfay |
ETH |
15:12.06 (Heusden-Zolder, 2017) |
|
Katrina Coogan |
USA |
15:14.13 (Concord, 2019) |
|
Mercy Chelangat |
KEN |
15:17.28 (Walnut, 2022) |
|
Dani Polerecky |
USA |
15:17.62 (San Juan Capistrano, 2020) |
|
Sammy McClintock |
USA |
15:19.66 (Irvine, 2021) |
|
Emmaculate Anyango Acholi |
KEN |
15:22.80 (Nerja, 2023) |
|
Emily Durgin |
USA |
15:24.19 (Irvine, 2021) |
|
Madie Boreman |
USA |
15:24.89 (Stanford, 2023) |
|
Lauren Gregory |
USA |
15:25.17 (Walnut, 2022) |
|
Bethany Hasz Jerde |
USA |
15:30.57 (Eugene, 2021) |
|
Abbey Wheeler |
USA |
15:32.81 (Randall’s Island, 2022) |
|
Esther Gitahi |
KEN |
15:35.49i (Boston, 2022) |
|
Nell Rojas |
USA |
15:37.05 (Portland,2021) |
|
Megan Hasz Sailor |
USA |
15:39:03i (Boston, 2019) |
|
Cleo Boyd |
CAN |
15:57.37 (Toronto, 2021) |
|
Katrina Spratford |
USA |
16:02.34 (Philadelphia, 2019) |
|
Keira D'Amato |
USA |
16:09.86 (Sacramento, 2006) |
|
Caroline Pomerleau |
CAN |
16:42.89 (Trois-Rivieres, 2023) |
|
Dakotah Lindwurm |
USA |
16:43.86 (Des Moines, 2017) |
|
Allie Hackett |
USA |
16:49.73 (Boston, 2022) |
|
Jessica West |
USA |
N/A |
|
Men’s Wheelchair Field |
Country |
Classification |
|
Marcel Hug |
SUI |
T54 |
|
Daniel Romanchuk |
USA |
T54 |
|
Aaron Pike |
USA |
T54 |
|
Jetze Plat |
NED |
T54 |
|
Hermin Garic |
USA |
T53 |
|
Sho Watanabe |
JPN |
T54 |
|
Brian Siemann |
USA |
T53 |
|
Johnboy Smith |
GBR |
T54 |
|
Fidel Aguilar |
MEX |
T54 |
|
Santiago Sanz |
ESP |
T52 |
|
|
|
|
|
Men’s Para Athletics Division |
Country |
Classification |
|
El Amine Chentouf |
MOR |
T12 |
|
Andrew Thorsen |
USA |
T13 |
|
Brian Reynolds |
USA |
T62 |
|
Marko Cheseto |
USA |
T62 |
|
Adam Popp |
USA |
T63 |
|
|
|
|
|
Women’s Wheelchair Field |
Country |
Classification |
|
Vanessa Cristina de Souza |
BRA |
T54 |
|
Patricia Eachus |
SUI |
T54 |
|
Christie Dawes |
AUS |
T54 |
|
Carmen Gimenez Abad |
ESP |
T54 |
|
Hannah Babalola |
NGR |
T54 |
|
Veronica Gonzalez |
MEX |
T54 |
|
Eden Rainbow-Cooper |
GBR |
T54 |
|
|
|
|
|
Women’s Para Athletics Division |
Country |
Classification |
|
Livea Flor Pereira Rodrigues |
BRA |
T12 |
B.A.A. Invitational Mile Professional Fields
|
Men’s Professional Field |
Country |
Mile Track Personal Best |
|
Melkeneh Azize |
ETH |
3:33.74 1500m (Hengelo, 2021) |
|
Johnny Gregorek |
USA |
3:52.94 (Oslo, 2019) |
|
Aidan Ryan |
USA |
3:53.65 (Boston, 2023) |
|
Rob Heppenstall |
CAN |
3:55.15 (Raleigh, 2022) |
|
Abe Alvarado |
USA |
3:55.70 (Falmouth, 2023) |
|
Kasey Knevelbaard |
USA |
3:55.92i (Boston, 2023) |
|
Ben Veatch |
USA |
3:56.46i (NYC, 2024) |
|
Henry McLuckie |
GBR |
3:56.56 (Seattle, 2024) |
|
Aaron Ahl |
CAN |
3:57.21 (Eagle Rock, 2022) |
|
Corey Bellemore |
CAN |
3:57.42 (Cork, 2018) |
|
Vivien Henz |
LUX |
3:57.47i (Boston, 2023) |
|
Casey Comber |
USA |
3:58.44 (Wilmington, 2022) |
|
AJ Ernst |
USA |
4:00.36 (Providence, 2022) |
|
Miles Smith |
USA |
4:01.08 (Raleigh, 2023) |
|
Women’s Professional Field |
Country |
Mile Track Personal Best |
|
Yolanda Ngarambe |
SWE |
4:23.68 (NYC, 2024) |
|
Helen Schlachtenhaufen |
USA |
4:23.94 (NYC, 2023) |
|
Taryn Rawlings |
USA |
4:24.09 (Zagreb, 2022) |
|
Krissy Gear |
USA |
4:26.52 (Boston, 2023 |
|
Susan Ejore |
KEN |
4:32.33 (St. Louis, 2022) |
|
Erin Teschuk |
CAN |
4:32.35i (Fayetteville, 2015) |
|
Tori Gerlach |
USA |
4:32.51 (West Chester, 2018) |
|
Micaela Degenero |
USA |
4:33.92 (Birmingham, 2022) |
|
Abbe Goldstein |
USA |
4:34.15i (Seattle, 2023) |
|
Ellie Leather |
GBR |
4:35.62 (Birmingham, 2022) |
|
Sadi Henderson |
USA |
4:40.24 (Falmouth, 2022) |
|
Ellie Shea |
USA |
4:40.58 (Falmouth, 2022) |
|
Alma Cortes |
MEX |
4:41.10 (Tijuana, 2021) |
|
Jazz Shukla |
CAN |
4:10.32 1500m (Vancouver, 2023) |
|
Lizzie Bird |
GBR |
4:14.6 1500m (Stretford, 2020) |
ABOUT THE BOSTON ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (B.A.A.)
Established in 1887, the Boston Athletic Association is a non-profit organization with a mission of promoting a healthy lifestyle through sports, especially running. The B.A.A. manages the Boston Marathon, and supports comprehensive charity, youth, and year-round programming. The 128th Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America is scheduled to take place on Monday, April 15, 2024. The Boston Marathon is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, along with international marathons in Tokyo, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York City. For more information on the B.A.A., please visit www.baa.org.