This article is part of Outside Run’s complete 2023 Boston Marathon race coverage.
The 2023 Boston Marathon women’s professional field is stacked, to say the least. There are nine women who have run under 2:20. Leading the pack is Ethiopian Amane Beriso, who won the 2022 Valencia Marathon in 2:14:58. Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei, winner of 2019 NYC Marathon and 2021 London Marathon, as well as the seemingly ageless 2017 and 2021 Boston Marathon winner Edna Kiplagat, are among the other big-name frontrunners. Then you have the heavy pack of top Americans including Sara Hall (2:20:32), Desiree Linden (2:22:38), Emma Bates (2:23:18), Dakotah Lindwurm (2:25:01), Laura Thweatt (2:25:38), Nell Rojas (2:25:57), Sara Vaughn (2:26:23), and Aliphine Tuliamuk (2:26:50).
But Viola Cheptoo, 34, very much plans to be part of the conversation come Marathon Monday.
The Iten, Kenya, native, who went by “Violah Lagat” when she competed as a middle-distance runner for Florida State University from 2011-2012, is the youngest of 10 in a family full of talented runners—including five-time Olympian and two-time Olympic…
