Two-Time Champion Lelisa Desisa Returns to Boston Four Years After His 2015 Win

By Adam Kopet

The 123rd Boston Marathon will be Lelisa Desisa's sixth. He is a two-time winner, breaking the finish tape in 2013 and 2015.

The 29-year-old Ethiopian is coming off a win at last year's New York City Marathon where he ran 2:05:59.

Desisa has seen success in Boston in the past after strong performances in his previous marathon. In 2013, he won in Boston after winning the Dubai Marathon in his marathon debut. He ran 2:04:45 in Dubai, which remains his best, followed by 2:10:22 in Boston.

In 2015, Desisa finished second in Dubai in 2:05:52 before he won Boston in 2:09:19.

Desisa also has finished second at the 2016 Boston Marathon in addition to dropping out twice. He did not finish in 2018 when many of the top runners struggled with the cold, wet and windy weather.

Since Desisa won the 2018 New York City Marathon, he competed in February's RAK Half Marathon. He finished 13th in 1:00:36. It is difficult to read too much into that race. He had a similar performance at the 2018 Copenhagen Half Marathon before his win in New York.

Desisa remains one of the best marathoners in the world and has routinely showed himself to be a strong performer in marathons without pacemakers, such as Boston and New York City.