Sharon Lokedi breaks Boston Marathon course record by 2.5 minutes

Irish Examiner

21-04-2025

Sharon Lokedi of Kenya broke the Boston Marathon course record by more than two-and-a-half minutes on Monday, outkicking two-time defending champion Hellen Obiri a year after losing to her in one of the closest finishes in race history.
Fellow Kenyan John Korir recovered from a starting line fall to join his brother as a race champion — the first relatives to win the world's oldest and most prestigious annual marathon in a history that dates to 1897.
On a day that also marked the 50th anniversary of Bob Hall's pioneering wheelchair race, Marcel Hug of Switzerland claimed his eighth victory and Susannah Scaroni of the US took the women's title.
'I always feel emotional when the national anthem is played,' said Scaroni, who won in 2023 but couldn't defend her title last year because of an injury. 'And to have ours played on this amazing, historic anniversary gives me goosebumps.'
Lokedi finished in 2 hours, 17 minutes, 22 seconds to claim the $150,000 (€130,000) first prize and another $50,000 bonus for breaking the course record of 2:19:59 set by Buzunesh Deba in 2014. A year after sprinting to an eight-second victory, Obiri was 19 seconds back in her attempt to become the first woman to win three straight since Fatuma Roba in 1999.
'Where she passed me last year, I passed her this year,' Lokedi said with a laugh. 'I didn't even believe. I kept looking back and thinking, 'Where is she?' I'm just so grateful to her for pushing me all the way through.'
Brotherly love
Six months after winning on Chicago's flatter course, Korir finished in 2:04:45 — the second-fastest winning time in Boston history as the runners took advantage of perfect marathon weather to conquer the 42.2km from Hopkinton to Boston's Copley Square.
And he did it despite getting tripped up from behind near the start and falling. He got up to rejoin the lead pack at the rear.
'What came to my mind was should I stay down, or should I (get) up and go?' he said. 'Something told me to (get) up and go, and that everything will be OK... And everything went away.'
Korir's race bib fell off and he tucked it into his running tights, pulling it out as he sprinted to the finish line. Waiting to congratulate him: 2012 Boston winner Wesley Korir, his older brother.
Although the race has been won by a pair of unrelated John Kelleys and two different Robert Cheruiyots, the Korirs are the first brothers to have won.
'He explained to be tough and believe in yourself,' said John Korir, who finished fourth and ninth in his two previous Boston attempts. 'So I believed in myself and I followed his advice.' Conner Mantz of Provo, Utah, finished fourth after losing a three-way sprint to the finish with Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania, who finished second, and Cybrian Kotut of Kenya, who was third.
'I looked up to them'
Yalemzerf Yehualaw of Ethiopia was third in the women's race. Jess McClain of Phoenix was the top American, in seventh place; 2018 winner Des Linden, who had announced she would retire from competitive running, won the masters division and was 17th overall.
When she crossed the finish line, the other American women bowed to her in tribute.
'I had those folks in front of me who paved the way, and I looked up to them. And they always made me feel like I belonged, made me feel like my dreams are valid, helped me along the way,' Linden said. 'So I've always tried to do that for the folks in this sport as well.'
Associated Press
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