John Korir Hopes To Build On Chicago Win And Join His Brother As A Boston Marathon Champion

John Korir has the resume that proves he is fast enough to win the Boston Marathon and the family connections that might just help him do it.

The reigning Chicago Marathon champion has been getting tips on the course from his brother, Wesley, who won here in 2012. John Korir has finished fourth and ninth in two previous Boston attempts, and he thinks having a champion spilling his secrets could be the difference this time.

"He knows the course well. He knows where to make a move and also to relax the legs," said the younger Korir, whose time of 2 hours, 2 minutes, 44 seconds in Chicago is the second-fastest in Monday's Boston field. "So that's been a good help to me in training. I think it's good."

John Korir, who is 28 and 14 years younger than Wesley, was still in school when his brother won one of the hottest Boston Marathons ever, fighting temperatures that hit 85 degrees at the finish. This year's forecasts call for more comfortable marathon weather in the high 30s and low 40s at the start in Hopkinton, rising to the mid-50s as the runners make their way toward Copley Square. Winds are expected to be light.

Wesley Korir waited out an early move from the pack at Heartbreak Hill, then passed the leaders when they tired. That kind of experience could be helpful in Boston, which favors strategy over speed: Eliud Kipchoge, the world record holder at the time and considered the greatest marathoner ever, flopped in his only Boston attempt Wesley Korir's time of 2:12:40 in 2012 was more than nine minutes slower than Geoffrey Mutai's course record the year before, and six minutes off Korir's personal best.