Kenyan runners Geoffrey Mutai and Caroline Kilel will defend their 2011 Boston Marathon titles in the 116th edition of the famed footrace next April 16, organizers said on Thursday.

Kenyan runners Geoffrey Mutai and Caroline Kilel will defend their 2011 Boston Marathon titles in the 116th edition of the famed footrace next April 16, organizers said on Thursday.

Last year's Boston Marathon champions will defend their titles in 2012. Race officials announced Thursday that men's champion Geoffrey Mutai and women's winner Caroline Kilel, both of Kenya, have committed to run the 116th Boston Marathon on April 16. Mutai's time of 2 hours, 3 minutes, 2 seconds was the fastest marathon time on record, but is not considered a world record.

What were Boston's biggest sports stories in 2011? The epic collapse of the Red Sox season, and the chaos that followed, are two we talked about for months. Ray Allen set the NBA's three-point record, and the Patriots' Super Bowl dreams were dashed by Rex Ryan's Jets in the playoffs. There was a Boston Marathon record, and a celebratory Bruins bar tab that may have set a record of its own. Click ...

Communities along the Boston Marathon route are getting more serious about how they distribute the invitational numbers they get from the Boston Athletic Association as partial repayment for helping to put on the world-famous race.