Q&A with Boston Marathon winner John Korir: ‘I will be back’

John Korir of Kenya won the 129^th edition of the Boston Marathon on Easter Monday, well ahead of his trailing competition in perfect Spring weather. He finished the marathon with a time of 2:04:45, about eight minutes faster than the time his brother, Wesley Korir, ran when he won in 2012. It was the second-fastest time in Boston Marathon history for the 26.2-mile course.

John and Wesley are the first brothers to win the Boston Marathon in its history. John will take home $150,000 as prize money. He shares his review and future plans with NMG’s US Correspondent David Monda.

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You finished fourth in the 2024 edition. A year later, you won it all. How do you feel about your achievement? Will you be back for the 130^th edition?

Winning Boston is every athlete’s dream, and I’m very happy to have won the 129^th edition. Considering how things unfolded after my fall at the start of the race, I am really proud of myself. I would love to come back and defend my title in the 130th edition, but it’s too early to tell. That will be up to my agent. 

Will you do the New York Marathon later in November this year?

It’s too early to tell. I would love to run a marathon in the Big Apple one day, but I don’t know when. If my schedule and everything looks right, then I will, for sure, run it. 

Kenyan diasporans and millions around the world are curious to know when you will make an assault on the world marathon record.

I’m at the prime of my running career and would love to try an assault on the world record. However, it has to be at the right time. First, I have to train because every training cycle is different. If the fitness is there, then I will go for it. Of course, I have to discuss this with my coaches. This is principally Coach Ron. You know it takes a village to achieve great things. For now, I’m going to recover and enjoy this victory with my family and those that have been behind me. 

What are your feelings about the marathon overall and how diaspora support motivated you? 

I appreciate the diaspora because they have always shown a lot of love. This goes back all the way to my summer training base in Colorado Springs Colorado and the state of Kentucky, where my coach lives. The diaspora has supported me in numerous summer road races. This culminated with the Chicago marathon and of course, Boston. I don’t take that support for granted. I say thanks so much and you will see me more in the US. 

What are your next plans? 

You will know my next plans soon. That is mostly the work of my agent. I will let him see what is right and fits my plans. But, for sure, I’ll be in a few road races in summer before we make that decision on whether our next marathon is in the USA. But it probably will be in the US. 

What are you going do with the prize money? Also, will you train in Boulder, Colorado, like Helen Obiri and Edna Kiplangat?

As I said earlier in my press conference, and post-race interview, I will donate most of the money to Transcend Academy in Cherangany. Transcend Academy is a  non-profit school under the Kenya Kids Foundation that offers scholarships to kids with talent from needy backgrounds. 

You asked if I will train in Boulder like Edna and Obiri. My training base during summer is in the state of Colorado. However, it’s in a different city south of Boulder called Colorado Springs. A great running city. My assistant coach, Haron Lagat, has a group of athletes there. We train together during summer and mostly in between my summer road races as we build for the fall marathon season.