When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Kierznowski were invited to compete against some of the world’s top competitors in the Boston Marathon last week, they were in disbelief.

Kim said with a laugh, “We couldn’t believe it, ‘Wow, did they make a mistake, did they send the wrong email?’”

The 30-year-old sisters from Toronto ended up becoming the top two females in Canada in the race, which took place on April 15.

Michelle finished the race in two hours, 38 minutes, and 23 seconds, just minutes before her sister, who ran the race in two hours and 40 minutes and 50 seconds.

The two placed 23rd and 26th among the competitors in the race.

Michelle said, “We were running together for 17 miles, over half of the race, side by side.”

This was Kim's third marathon and Michelle's second.

Michelle said, “Just looking at that, it was really special, we were there, we were together, representing Canada.”

The twins were among about 60 women competing in the professional field, including winner Helen Obeiri, who won the women's competition in a time of two hours, 22 minutes, and 37 seconds. The sisters were also the first twins in marathon history to compete in the professional women's field.

Kim said that at one point before the race began, her sister turned to her and asked, “How did this hobby get out of control?”

Kim added, “Here we are sitting with women like Helen Obeiri and Eman Abus and all these women, this is their daily job, and we work 9 to 5.”

Kim continued, saying that they fell in love with running at a young age and continued through college.

After a four-year hiatus, both revisited the sport during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Michelle said, “We were looking for routine, like a lot of people during the pandemic, and we turned to running again.”

“Especially during the times there were long lockdowns, it kept some normalcy in our lives and we thrived on the routine.”

While working on what they call “marathon building,” the sisters typically squeeze in a race before work and one after, along with some strength training during lunch hour.

Kim said, “When we train together, we really lift each other up in terms of motivation and energy.”

The Boston Marathon is one of six major marathons in the world, and both women say they hope to check all of them off their list at some point in the future.

The sisters also mentioned that their sights are set on the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

Kim added, “It would be really special if we were there together.”