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 runs through eight Massachusetts cities and towns, will welcome several high-profile figures such as the bachelorMatt James and retired NASA astronaut Suni Williams, while marking the debuts of others, including former first daughter Chelsea Clinton.
One major star that viewers won't see is British pop superstar Harry Styles, who 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 appears 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 major world marathons, which include New York City, London, Tokyo, Berlin and Chicago. It is the only one that does not offer a general lottery, but instead requires participants to qualify using strict time standards based on age group. However, it offers a limited number of invitational and charity tickets.
Here are all the celebrities and notable figures running the 2026 Boston Marathon.
chelsea clinton
Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton, 46, is no stranger to marathons, having run in several races in New York City. 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 posting a qualifying time of 3:44:22 at the 2025 New York Marathon, 38 seconds below the qualifying standard for her age group.
Matt James
Matt James, the bachelorThe first black male lead, he continues his annual marathon streak. The 34-year-old, who hosted the 25th season of the hit dating show in 2021, ran his first marathon in New York City that same year. Since then, he has 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 the seventh season of Love Island United States last summer, is preparing to make his Boston Marathon debut this year. He ran his first marathon in Miami in February 2025, followed by the Jersey City and New York City marathons that same fall.
Zdeno Chára
Former NHL defenseman and Boston Bruins legend Zdeno Chára will make his third Boston Marathon appearance in three years. The Slovakian hockey player, 49, first raced in Boston in 2023 and 2024. He also signed up for the 2025 race but was forced to withdraw after suffering an undisclosed injury.
Suni Williams
Months after retiring as a NASA astronaut, Suni Williams will run her first Boston Marathon (on Earth). The former Navy captain, 60, 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 years old.
Jeff Da Rosa
Multi-instrumentalist Jeff DaRosa of the Boston-founded Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys will run his first Boston Marathon on Monday. The musician, 43, took up running after getting sober. He ran his first marathon in 2024 in Arizona. He will be running 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 return to the course alongside his wife, Heather. This time, the 50-year-old former NBA player and recovering addict will run on behalf of his nonprofit, Herren Project, which provides resources for addiction recovery.
Kristine Lilly
Retired soccer star Kristine Lilly will return to running the Boston Marathon on behalf of the Mia Hamm Foundation, a charity founded by one of her former teammates to help raise funds for families in need of bone marrow or cord blood transplants. The 54-year-old athlete, considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time, ran the marathon for the first time in 2012 for Boston Children's Hospital.
