How much prize money do first-place finishers get for winning the 2023 Boston Marathon?
With more than $1 million in prize money, this year’s Boston Marathon is set to offer up a lucrative payday for those who can finish fastest on the street.
It’s been 10 years since the tragic events of 2013′s Boston Marathon and with that, this year offered up an event to remember. From the massive field to the sizeable purse, it was a showcase of some of the best that the sport has to offer and then some. Yet, who won and how much did they take home?
Evans Chebet defeats a stacked field
In a historic moment, Kenya’s Evans Chebet crossed the line first in the men’s elite division of the 127th Boston Marathon on Monday. Chebet becomes the first man to defend the title since 2008 with a winning time of 2:05:54, which is the third fastest winning time in the event’s history. Behind him came Gabriel Geay of Tanzania, who was followed by the 2021 Boston Marathon champion, Benson Kipruto in third. The one glaring absence from the top three, was of course world record holder and Kenyan legend, Eliud Kipchoge, who was actually making his Boston Marathon debut. Indeed, though he led early on, he was unable to keep the pace and eventually finished in sixth. It’s worth noting, that his record time of 2:01:09 set in Berlin back in 2019 stands at almost 2 minutes quicker than both Chebet and Geay, but it was not to be his day.
Hellen Obiri shows her mettle
Over in the women’s division it was also a Kenya affair, as Hellen Obiri won with an unofficial time of 2:21:38. She becomes the only woman in history to win world titles in indoor, outdoor and cross country, however, it’s interesting to note that this was just the second marathon of her career. Her time was the fourth-fastest winning time in history. Obiri was followed by Amane Beriso of Ethiopia, who in turn was pursued by her compatriot Anabel Yeshaneh and also Emma Bates of the U.S.A. who finished fifth on 2:22:10 - the second-fastest time ever for an American woman at the Boston Marathon.
The wheelchair division was heated
On wheels, we saw blistering place from five-time Boston Marathon champion, Marcel Hug, of Switzerland who took the title for a sixth time. Indeed, his unofficial time of 1:17:06 was good enough to beat his former record at the event by roughly a minute. There was also the American, Daniel Romanchuk who came in second with 1:27:45 and the Netherlands’ Jetze Plat with a time of 1:28:35 in third. On the women’s side we saw Susannah Scaroni winning with an unofficial time of 1:41:45 in her first ever Boston Marathon win, having finished as runner up in 2018 and 2022. Madison de Rozario of Australia followed her in second, as well as Wakako Tsuchida of Japan with 1:47:04 in third.
What were the payouts for the Boston Marathon winners?
As mentioned above, the purse for the event this year was in excess of $1 million meaning there was quite a hefty paycheck available for each of the winners in their respective divisions. There were also bonuses available to those who set course records in both the open and wheelchair divisions. So, what’s the breakdown look like?
Both first place- place finishers in the open division (men & women) earn $150,000 which means that’s exactly what Chebet and Obiri took home respectively. Where the wheelchair division is concerned, Hug and Scaroni would have pocketed a cool $25,000 each for their efforts. The Masters division would have seen winners take $5,000 a piece, while each of the five para designations would have received $1,500. Interestingly, Marcel Hug would have received an additional $50,000 for breaking his own course record by nearly a minute.