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enyan Caroline Rotich doesn’t own the fastest personal best in the women’s elite field. You need to scroll past 10 other women to find her. But back as defending champion, her experience and success on the Boston course makes her an obvious favorite.

Last year, on a cold, rainy, and windy day, Rotich proved a smart tactician from Hopkinton to Boston. The result: She outkicked Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba down Boylston Street and claimed her first major marathon win.

“The thing I learned from last year is that it’s not over until it’s over,’’ said Rotich, who trains in Santa Fe, N.M. “So, no matter what happens in the race, you have to keep going.’’

From last year to this year, Rotich has kept her training essentially the same and focused on consistency. With her race plan, she will concentrate on what she needs to do rather than worry about competitors with faster personal bests.

“I don’t always look at individual people,’’ said Rotich, whose fastest finish was 2 hours, 23 minutes, 22 seconds at the 2012 Chicago Marathon. “I just go with the race because maybe you’re looking at one person and it was not her day. I go with the race and how it develops.’’

And as the race develops, it’s likely Rotich will see a lot of Ethiopians — Tiki Gelana (2:18:58 personal best), Tirfi Tsegaye (2:19:41), Buzunesh Deba (2:19:59), and 24-year-old Amane Beriso (2:20:48), who finished second behind Tsegaye in her marathon debut at the 2016 Dubai Marathon in January. And Kenyan Joyce Chepkirui (2:24:11) could provide a significant challenge.

Last month at the New York City Half Marathon, a popular fitness test for elite runners prior to Boston, Chepkirui lost at the line to Molly Huddle. But Chepkirui was very pleased with her time of 1:07:41. She had hoped to finish around 1:08.

“I feel good and my shape is better than Boston last year,’’ said Chepkirui, who took 10th place at the 2015 Boston Marathon in 2:29:07. “I learned the course last year and I changed my training. I trained more up and down after I trained mostly on flat ground last year.’’

With the US Olympic marathon team trials held in February, only two US women will appear in the elite field — Neely Spence Gracey in her marathon debut, and Sarah Crouch.

Since her body didn’t recover fast enough from a half marathon at the end of October, Gracey decided to skip the trials and focus on Boston. And she boasts a special tie to the race: Her father, Olympian Steve Spence, was running the Boston Marathon on April 16, 1990, the day Gracey was born. At the 1991 World Championships, her father won bronze in the marathon and he offered her advice for Boston.

“He’s had a lot of good insights for me, especially with making sure that I’m conservative early on and run my own race,’’ said Gracey. “Those are the two key things that he said that in the past he’s failed to do. When he does do those two things, the outcome is usually successful.’’

In her debut, Gracey would be thrilled with a time under 2:35. But she believes her workouts indicate she will head to the Hopkinton start capable of running 2:30, possibly under 2:30, in good weather. Forecasts currently predict a partly cloudy day with a high of 64 degrees.

Over the last 4-5 weeks of training, Gracey said she enjoyed a lot of “personal victories.’’ In one week, she completed her highest volume (103 miles) and longest run ever of 2½ hours (21.25 miles). That same week she also sped through a solid marathon-paced, 18-mile tempo run, where she hit every split as planned.

In January, she trained for two days on the Boston course, running the first 10 miles on a Saturday and the final 16.2 on a Sunday. It was pouring rain and 30 degrees with a 30-mile-per hour headwind. That experience actually built her confidence because Monday’s conditions will be dramatically better.

“I felt like I was rushing too much to be prepared [for the trials] in February and giving myself the extra two months has been the best decision I’ve ever made,’’ said Gracey. “I feel so confident in my preparation.’’