The Boston Marathon returns Monday for its 130th edition, welcoming more than 30,000 participants, including a handful of celebrities and notable figures.
The annual 26.2-mile race, which winds through eight Massachusetts cities and towns, will welcome back several high-profile figures such as The Bachelor’s Matt James and retired NASA astronaut Suni Williams, while also marking the debut of others, including former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton.
One major star that spectators will not spot is British pop superstar Harry Styles, who famously ran two marathons last year under the alias Sted Sarandos. Despite finishing the 2025 Berlin Marathon with an impressive qualifying time of 2:59:13, it seems the former One Direction singer, 32, is giving his body a break.
First held in 1897, the Boston Marathon is the oldest of the six World Marathon Majors, which include New York City, London, Tokyo, Berlin and Chicago. It is the only one that does not offer a general lottery, instead requiring participants to qualify through strict time standards based on age group. It does, however, offer a limited number of invitational and charity entries.
Here are all the celebrities and notable figures set to run the 2026 Boston Marathon.
Chelsea Clinton
Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton, 46, is no stranger to marathons, having run multiple New York City races. On Monday, Clinton, the only child of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will run her first Boston Marathon after earning a qualifying time of 3:44:22 at the 2025 NYC Marathon — 38 seconds under the qualifying standard for her age group.
Matt James
Matt James, The Bachelor’s first Black male lead, is continuing his yearly marathon streak. The 34-year-old, who led season 25 of the hit dating show in 2021, ran his first New York City marathon later that year. He has since run the challenging course three more times and added the Boston Marathon to his list of running accomplishments in 2022 and 2025.
Bryan Arenales
Fellow reality star Bryan Arenales, who won season seven of Love Island USA last summer, is preparing to make his Boston Marathon debut this year. He ran his first marathon in Miami in February 2025, followed by both the Jersey City and New York City marathons later that fall.
Zdeno Chára
Former NHL defenceman and Boston Bruins legend Zdeno Chára will make his third Boston Marathon appearance in three years. The Slovakian hockey player, 49, first ran Boston in 2023 and 2024. He was signed up for the 2025 race as well, but was forced to withdraw after sustaining an undisclosed injury.
Suni Williams
Months after retiring as a NASA astronaut, Suni Williams will run her first Boston Marathon (on Earth). The 60-year-old former Navy captain previously participated in the 2007 event on a treadmill in space. She also ran a portion of the course barefoot as an unofficial participant in the 1980s when she was just 17.
Jeff DaRosa
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Multi-instrumentalist Jeff DaRosa of the Boston-founded Celtic punk band the Dropkick Murphys will run his first Boston Marathon on Monday. The musician, 43, turned to running after getting sober. He ran his first marathon in 2024 in Arizona. He will run his second marathon in support of his bandmate Ken Casey’s charity, the Claddagh Fund.
Chris Herren
More than 10 years after his Boston Marathon debut in 2014, former Boston Celtics player Chris Herren will make his return to the course, alongside his wife, Heather. This time around, the former NBA player and recovering addict, 50, will be running on behalf of his non-profit, the Herren Project, which provides recovery addiction resources.
Kristine Lilly
Retired soccer star Kristine Lilly will once again run the Boston Marathon on behalf of Mia Hamm Foundation, a charity founded by one of her former teammates to help raise funds for families in need of marrow or cord blood transplants. The 54-year-old athlete, widely considered to be one of the greatest women’s soccer players of all time, first ran the marathon in 2012 for the Children’s Hospital Boston.
