Which runner set the Boston Marathon men’s course record in 2011?

Geoffrey Mutai set the Boston Marathon men’s course record in 2011.

Mutai won the 2011 Boston Marathon in 2:03:02, the fastest time ever recorded on the Boston course at that point and still recognized as the course record. His performance was extraordinarily quick, but it was not ratified as a world record because Boston’s course does not meet the governing rules for a record-eligible marathon course.

The course is point-to-point and has a net downhill, while the separation between start and finish is also greater than permitted for record purposes. Strong tailwinds that day further contributed to the exceptional time.

This is why Mutai’s 2:03:02 can be both the Boston course record and not the official world record. A frequent mix-up is confusing Geoffrey Mutai with Dennis Kimetto, who later set the official world record in Berlin in 2014.