HOPKINTON-TO-BOSTON, Massachusetts, April 21 — Last August in the Paris Olympic Marathon, Sharon Lokedi lost a sprint for the bronze medal to Kenyan compatriot Hellen Obiri. At Boston ’24, the finish order was Obiri-Lokedi 1-2.
Heading into the Boylston Street finishing stretch at Boston this time, Lokedi was determined to flip that script. She told herself, “I’m just not going to let her take it today.”
With a powerful surge over the final kilometer, Lokedi — the NCAA 10,000 champ for Kansas back in ’18 — was able to dispatch her rival and take the win in a course record 2:17:22.
“I’m so excited,” Lokedi exclaimed. “Winning today felt so good and it was amazing when I crossed and saw the time. I still can’t believe it!”
Running nearly 6:00 faster than her 2:23:14 PR run in Paris, Lokedi led Obiri (2nd in 2:17:41) and Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw (3rd in 2:18:06) under Buzunesh Deba’s 2:19:59 course record set in ’14.
Kenyan Irine Cheptai finished 4th in 2:21:32, with Budapest world champion Amane Beriso 5th in 2:21:58. Great Britain’s Calli Thackery crossed 6th in 2:22:38 just ahead of top Americans Jess McClain (7th, 2:22:43) and Anne Frisbie (8th, 2:23:21).
The 31-year-old Lokedi has grown accustomed to racing the 35-year-old Obiri as the two have squared off in all six marathons that each of them has run. Lokedi took their ’22 debut 26-miler with a stunning win in NYC, then Obiri swept the next four including wins in Boston ’23 and ’24, NYC ’23 and the bronze medal duel in Paris.
The two have developed a friendly rivalry. Lokedi said of this race, “it was a tough one out there and I’m just so glad that we had each other. She’s like a really good competitor. I’m always 2nd to her and I’m just so grateful that she got to push me all the way through.”
With near-perfect cool and calm weather, the race got off to an uncharacteristically quick start. “This year the pace was hot from the start,” Lokedi said. “That played out well because it was like go, go, go, and it helped all of us to run so fast.”
Perhaps Boston’s downhill start is less intimidating in the era of super shoes and the women got right after it with 14 running 49:10 for the opening 15K, a heady 2:18:18 pace. That was fast but not fast enough for Beriso and Yehualaw, who leaned into the tempo, cranking out a 15:54 5K split over level terrain, knocking the pace down to 2:17:16.
Only Lokedi, Obiri and Cheptai could match the surge as the quintet crossed halfway in 68:46 and stayed together through 27K.
Cheptai dropped off the pace on the first hill climb — soon to be followed by Lokedi, who fell 20m in arrears before rallying to catch the lead trio at the Firehouse Turn.
Lokedi admitted she was concerned about the sizzling pace. “I saw we ran 68 at halfway and I was like, ‘Oh Jesus, we’re running fast and I hope I still got it towards the end.’”
Beriso did much of the leading through the Newton Hills only to give out near the top of Heartbreak Hill at 34K. Once down on the flats, Lokedi moved to the front and began a long drive to the finish.
At 39K (just past 24 \M), the smooth-striding Yehualaw appeared to have an edge over the upright-running Lokedi and Obiri with her arm-flopping form. A kilometer later, Yehualaw was dropped, falling victim to Lokedi’s relentless push to escape Obiri’s sprint.
“I was worried,” Lokedi said. “I couldn’t wait until the last corner. I knew Hellen could kick past me, so I was telling myself, ‘And you have a kick too, just be strong, keep fighting and keep pushing.’”
Lokedi’s pushing finally paid off as she opened a 10m gap heading down the Massachusetts Ave. underpass. She broke free attacking the uphill side and cruised home to a 19-second win.
“I passed her today where she passed me last year,” Lokedi said. “I couldn’t believe it and I kept looking back.”
Obiri was ever gracious in defeat, saying, “It was a great race for me and we tried our best to run fast today. It was a great battle but Sharon seemed stronger towards the end.”
After finishing 4th in both the ’24 Olympic Trials marathon and 10,000, the 33-year-old Jessica McClain has moved on; here she passed Frisbie at 40K to run a 3:00 PR and lead the American women.
The Stanford grad prepped for Boston by taking a test run with Conner Mantz and Clayton Young in February and said, “I’ve been training consistently on hills, so I thought if I was a little patient early on, it would pay off. We had an awesome pack of Americans, we just worked together, tried to be patient and worked our way up. So, it was great.”
BOSTON MARATHON WOMEN’S RESULTS
(aided course)
1. Sharon Lokedi (Ken) 2:17:22 a-c PR, course record; 2. Hellen Obiri (Ken) 2:17:41 a-c PR; 3. Yalemzerf Yehualaw (Eth) 2:18:06; 4. Irene Cheptai (Ken) 2:21:32; 5. Amane Beriso (Eth) 2:21:58; 6. Calli Hauger-Thackery (GB) 2:22:38;
7. Jessica McClain (US) 2:22:43 a-c PR (a-c AL);
8. Anne Frisbie (US) 2:23:21 a-c PR; 9. Stacy Ndiwa (Ken) 2:23:29 a-c PR; 10. Abreha Tsige (Eth) 2:23:43; 11. Mary Ngugi (Ken) 2:24:39; 12. Cynthia Jerotich (Ken) 2:24:43 a-c PR; 13. Emma Bates (US) 2:25:10;
14. Violah Lagat (Ken) 2:25:23; 15. Buze Diriba (Eth) 2:25:59; 16. Dakotah Lindwurm (US) 2:26:09; 17. Desi Linden (US) 2:26:19; 18. Sara Hall (US) 2:26:32; 19. Tristin Van Ord (US) 2:26:39; 20. Sara Vaughn (US) 2:31:07.
