BOSTON (AP) 鈥� Zouhair Talbi and Jess McClain ran the fastest times ever for Americans at the on Monday, both finishing fifth in their respective divisions.
Talbi finished in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 45 seconds in the men’s race. McClain finished in 2:20:49 in the women’s competition. There were seven American men and 12 American women in the top 20, including four women in the top 10.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e in an era in distance running, on the men and women鈥檚 sides, but especially the women鈥檚 side, where we鈥檙e all making each other so much better every time we line up with one another,鈥� McClain said. 鈥淎nd I think it鈥檚 just going to get stronger and stronger.鈥�
That’s what’s it’s going to take, Talbi said, to take American distance running to the next level.
鈥淲e need to push each other, everyone needs to be in the pack,鈥� said Talbi, who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics for Morocco and became an American citizen last year.
Both were pleasantly surprised by their fast times. Talbi said he was more focused on trying to catch the runner ahead of him, which pushed him to run faster. McClain said she tries to ignore her watch during a race.
Talbi won the Houston Marathon in January in 2:05:45, a course record. He said he felt confident heading into Boston since he had achieved his personal best times at races this year.
鈥淓verything was clicking, everything was good,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I was like, this is the day.鈥�
McClain finished seventh in her Boston debut last year and was the top American woman that time, too.
鈥淥bviously I wanted to come in and defend the first American title, and to do that on a day like today with amazing conditions and to run the time that I knew was in me, at some point in the wheelhouse of what I can do, is really awesome,鈥� she said.
Defending champion John Korir broke the Boston Marathon course record to win the men’s race in 2:01:52 鈥� the fifth-fastest marathon of all time. joined her fellow Kenyan as a back-to-back champion, winning the women鈥檚 race in 2:18:51.
Last month at the in Atlanta, McClain was ahead by a wide margin with about 1.5 miles to go when she and three other runners followed the guide vehicle on a wrong turn. Track and field鈥檚 international governing body 鈥� instead of the usual four 鈥� to compete at the world championships in Denmark.
McClain said she made a far smaller U-turn on Monday, too. She dropped her bottle and went back to pick it up, then had to catch up with the lead pack.
鈥淲e all know what happened in Atlanta, I鈥檝e been a half mile off course, so a few seconds is not going to throw me,鈥� she said.
The previous records for American runners in Boston were set by Ryan Hall in 2011 and Shalane Flanagan in 2014.
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This story corrects that four American women finished in the top 10, not five.
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