British distance runner tackles strong field led by Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir on April 18 while the men’s race features Kenenisa Bekele and Geoffrey Kamworor

When Charlotte Purdue enjoyed a 2:23:26 run at the London Marathon in October, the question was: which championship will she tackle in 2022? 

The 30-year-old Briton’s next marathon, though, will be in Boston on April 18 where she faces a stellar field led by Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya.

Purdue has been training in Australia recently and will be keen to improve her PB on the rolling roads of Boston as she currently sits No.3 on the UK all-time rankings just a few seconds behind Mara Yamauchi’s 2:23:12.

Molly Seidel, the Olympic bronze medallist from the United States, is also in the field in Boston in addition to Kenyans Joyciline Jepkosgei and Edna Kiplagat and Ethiopians Degitu Azmirew, Roza Dereje, Zeineba Yimer and Tigist Girma – all of whom have run inside 2:20 in the past.

Adding to the quality is former winner Des Linden and fellow American Sarah Hall, plus New York Marathon runner-up Viola Cheptoo and last year’s third-placer – the British-based Kenyan Mary Ngugi.

Benefiting from the London Marathon being in October again this year, Boston has assembled an amazingly strong men’s field too featuring seven of the last eight winners of the race.

There are 12 men who own a PB of under 2:06 with the field including the reigning champion Benson Kipruto, Kenenisa Bekele, Lelisa Desisa, Titus Ekiru, Lawrence Cherono, Geoffrey Kamworor and Evans Chebet.

Not surprisingly much attention has focused on Bekele and Kamworor. The former is regarded by some as the greatest distance runner in history whereas the latter has won multiple world half-marathon and world cross-country titles in addition to the New York City Marathon in 2017 and 2019.

It is hardly a two-horse race, though. Ekiru, for example, led the world rankings in 2021 with 2:02:57 whereas Chebet was top of the world lists in 2020 with 2:03:00.

Yuki Kawauchi, the 2018 Boston winner from Japan, together with Americans Jake Riley, Elkanah Kibet and Scott Fauble are also in the field.

The only disappointment is that Eliud Kipchoge is missing from the field despite training for a spring marathon.