The number of participants was limited to 30,000, with 22,019 runners chosen basen on their performances in qualifying events.[7] A record number of 33,000 runners applied to run the race, from 127 countries.[8]
In mid-March, organizers announced that former NFL player Rob Gronkowski was selected as the event's grand marshall.[9]
Winner of the men's elite division was Sisay Lemma, and the women's elite division was won by Hellen Obiri.[10] Two-time defending men's champion Evans Chebet, looking to become the fifth man to win the event three times in a row,[3] finished third.[11] In the wheelchair divisions, the men's winner was Marcel Hug and the women's winner was Eden Rainbow-Cooper.[12] This made Eden the first woman from Great Britain to win the women’s wheelchair division at the Boston Marathon.[13][14]