There will be no shortage of elite athletes to keep tabs on during the 129th Boston Marathon. The storied race will again feature a stacked field of elite competitors, with Kenya’s Hellen Obiri looking to win the competition for the third year in a row. Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma will look to defend his 2024 title, but will face plenty of competition from other elite runners like Kenya’s Evans Chebet, who won the race in both 2022 and 2023 (while finishing third in 2024). But even though both Obiri and Lemma are considered two of the favorites in the upcoming competition, there are several other elite athletes in the field who have the means to cross the finish line first on Boylston Street. Unlike last year’s Boston Marathon — where several top American runners opted not to take part in the race just a few months after the U.S. Olympic marathon trials were held in Florida — there should be an influx of top U.S. competitors on April 21 who will look to make a push for first place on Patriots Day. Here’s a look at some of the top American athletes to follow during Monday’s race: Conner Mantz After missing the 2024 Boston Marathon following the Olympic marathon trials, Mantz is expected to make some noise on April 21 as the top U.S. men’s distance runner. The winner of the 2024 Olympic marathon trials, Mantz has routinely etched his name in the record books over the last few years. At the 2023 Chicago Marathon, he finished sixth overall with a final time of 2:07:47, while his time of 59:17 at the 2025 Houston Half Marathon broke the record for the best time for an American in the event — surpassing the 59:43 set by Ryan Hall in 2007. Mantz — who finished 11th overall in the field during the 2023 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:10:25 — was the top American finisher at the 2024 Men’s Marathon event at the 2024 Summer Olympics with an eighth-place time of 2:08:12. Clayton Young A longtime training partner of Mantz, Young is expected to make his Boston debut on April 21. Young and Mantz have routinely finished as the top two Americans in several marathons across the world in recent years, usually finishing just one place apart. Young finished second behind Mantz in the 2024 U.S. Olympic marathon trials (2:09:06) before placing behind Mantz again as the second U.S. finisher in the 2024 Olympic Games with a ninth-place time of 2:08:44. At the 2024 New York City Marathon, Young finished in seventh place (2:09:21), just behind Mantz in sixth place at 2:09:00. While both Mantz and Young are usually joined at the hip during these competitions, the 2025 Boston Marathon could offer the opportunity for Young to push past Mantz in one of the more storied competitions in distance running. Keira D’Amato The 40-year-old D’Amato is expected to lead a stacked field of elite U.S. women in the 2025 Boston Marathon. D’Amato once held the American record in the marathon with a time of 2:19:12 at the 2022 Houston Marathon, before it was eventually surpassed by Emily Sisson (2:18:29) at the 2022 Chicago Marathon. In July 2023, she also set a new American record for the women’s half marathon — finishing the Gold Coast Half Marathon in Australia with a time of 1:06:39. That record is now held by Weini Kelati, who set a new record of 1:06:09 in January 2025. “Boston is what brought me into the marathon,” D’Amato told Amin Touri of The Boston Globe of returning to Boston. “If not for the Boston Marathon and the stories of the Boston Marathon, I may have never even attempted to run a marathon. “So it’s so special to me to be coming back now, and not as someone who, before, I registered myself, paid for my own flight. That’s normal, and everyone does that, but now it feels like such a privilege and a gift that they’ve invited me to come, they’ve helped me with travel arrangements. It’s surreal that I’ve gotten to experience both sides.” One thing worth keeping tabs on D’Amato is her health, as she was forced to drop out of the 2024 Chicago Marathon in October due to a foot injury. CJ Albertson The top U.S. finisher in the 2024 Boston Marathon (2:09:53), Albertson is looking to improve upon his seventh-place finish in Boston. Albertson — who finished fifth in the U.S. Olympic trials with a time of 2:10:07 — posted a personal record of 2:08:17 at the 2024 Chicago Marathon in October. The 31-year-old Albertson has been an effective performer during Boston’s unpredictable and daunting conditions over the years. During the 2021 Boston Marathon, Albertson paced the entire field by more than two minutes at the halfway mark of the race before ultimately finishing in 10th place with a final time of 2:11:44. Bates proved plenty of doubters wrong during the 2024 Boston Marathon. Despite suffering a torn plantar fascia in October 2023 that forced her to miss the Olympic trials, Bates returned to competition at the 2024 Boston Marathon and finished as the top U.S. runner with a 12th-place time of 2:27:14. Bates has been one of the most consistent competitors in Boston over the last few years — finishing in fifth place at the 2023 race with a time of 2:22:10. That showing in 2023 fell just short of the fastest time by an American woman in Boston, narrowly missing Shalane Flanagan’s record of 2:22:02 from 2014. Linden is no stranger to the Boston Marathon, as the 41-year-old distance runner is expected to take part in her 12th race in Boston on April 21. In 2018, Linden became the first American woman to break the tape in Boston since Lisa Rainsberger in 1985 — posting a time of 2:39:55 on a rain-soaked course. The two-time Olympian finished third overall among American runners during the 2024 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:28:27. Another accomplished athlete in Boston, Hall finished 15th overall (and second among U.S. women) during the 2024 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:27:58. Hall — who finished 17th overall at the 2023 Boston Marathon (2:25:48) — also finished in fifth place at the 2024 U.S. Olympic marathon trials, finishing with a time of 2:26:06. Jessica McClain McClain served as an alternate for the U.S. Olympic marathon team at the 2024 Summer Games. She earned a spot on the squad after placing fourth in the Olympic marathon trials with a time of 2:25:46, setting a personal best by close to four minutes. McClain’s first world major was the 2024 New York City Marathon, where she finished eighth overall with a time of 2:27:19. Dakotah Popehn Another regular participant in Boston, Popehn is coming off of a successful 2024 where she earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic marathon team. Popehn punched her ticket to Paris by finishing third in the Olympic marathon trials with a time of 2:25:31, eventually finishing in 12th place at the Summer Games with a time of 2:26:44. During Popehn’s last Boston Marathon in 2023, she finished in 27th place with a time of 2:33:53. Zach Panning Panning turned heads during the 2024 Olympic marathon trials, leading for a majority of the race before eventually finishing in sixth place with a time of 2:10:50. The 30-year-old distance runner finished 10th in the 2024 Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:09:16. Daniel Romanchuk A lauded para-athlete who took home a gold medal in the 400 meters (T54) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics before winning gold in the 5000 meters (T54) at the 2024 Summer Paralympics, Romanchuk also has two Boston Marathon wins on his resume — winning the 2019 race with a time of 1:21:36 and the 2022 race in 1:26:58. Romanchuk, who became the first American to win Boston since 1993 during that 2019 victory, finished in second place during both the 2023 and 2024 races, coming up behind Switzerland’s Marcel Hug in both events. Susannah Scaroni Another standout participant in Boston, Scaroni finished fourth overall in the women’s wheelchair division in 2016, third in 2014, 2015, and 2017, and second in 2018 before winning the race in 2023 with a final time of 1:41:45. Scaroni — who won a gold medal in the 5000 meters (T54) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics — will look to claim another title in Boston after having to withdraw just ahead of the 2024 race due to a shoulder injury.