Obiri targets third straight win at Monday's Boston Marathon

"I'm ready for the challenge. I hope to win three in a row," a confident Hellen Obiri said of her quest to win a third consecutive Boston Marathon.

The world's oldest annual marathon will see the sport's elite athletes trying to carve out a legacy for themselves on Monday, as Boston's defending champion Hellen Obiri hopes to become the first woman to "three-peat" in 26 years.

As part of Boston's annual Patriots' Day holiday, this year's race coincides with the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, which kicked off the American Revolutionary War after Paul Revere's famous midnight ride.

Obiri will hope to become the first Kenyan woman to win three Boston Marathons in a row after picking up bronze at the Paris Games and finishing second in New York last year.

The 35-year-old was met with pure scepticism when she made the switch from the 5,000 metres, once her signature event with two world golds, to the endurance distance in 2022 but she has quieted the doubters and won New York two years ago.

"When I started, people asked if I could make it because of the difference in distance between the two races," Obiri said after being named in the elite field.

"Defending a win is never easy, and to win the Boston Marathon twice in a row was hard, but I am happy to have done it."

Obiri's desire to win again will be put to the test by Ethiopian Amane Beriso, the 2023 world champion and fastest in the field with a best time of 2:14:58 run in Valencia three years ago, while Desiree Linden, the last American to win the race in 2018, is among home hopes.

Ethiopian reigning champion Sisay Lemma headlines a stacked men's field that includes Kenyan two-time winner Evans Chebet and his compatriot John Korir, who broke the tape in Chicago last year.

Overall, there are 22 sub-2:09 men in the field who will be going all out for glory in Boston's streets.