Sharon Lokedi surged past Hellen Obiri in the final stretch of the Boston Marathon on Monday as John Korir made history to win the men’s race.
Lokedi need nearly all of the course to slip past Obiri and crossed the line in 2:17:22, setting a new course record and shaving over two and a half minutes from the previous mark.
In the process, she denied Obiri a third straight title in Boston and her new course record takes down the 11-year course record by Buzunesh Deba in the women’s division.
“In my head I was like, ‘just keep fighting,’, she said after the race. “You never know. Just do not give up. I went for it. I believe in myself and I believed in my training. I’ve done this before.”
As part of a deep field that broke off into a group of five by the halfway point in 1:08:46, Lokedi and Obiri were joined by Irine Cheptai, Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Amane Beriso with the chase pack nearly a minute behind.
The group held steady and would eventually see some separation. But by mile 25, Lokedi and Obiri were locked in a battle that would be decided at the finish line, with Yehualaw the final piece of the lead pack that they eventually dropped.
“In my head I didn’t know the outcome at the end,” Lokedi said. “I kept fighting to see how it would go. But we still broke the course record together.”
In the men’s race, Korir took a commanding lead with around 6 miles remaining to win in 2:04:45. He was among ten competitors locked in position through the 30k point at 1:28:39, with Conner Mantz, Patrick Tiernan, Daniel Mateiko, Evans Chebet and Muktar Edris in the mix.
But at the 20 mile mark, Korir opened a gap at 1:35:00 and began his climb on a hilly portion of the course.
Korir appeared to be in control by mile 21, pushing his lead to 18 seconds over the chase group in 1:39:40 as the much smaller group behind him — Mantz, Edris, Cybrian Kotut and Alphonce Felix Simbu tralied.
Still, by mile 21 it was clear that Korir was in command in 1:53:22 as the race broadcast showed a empty road behind him and and cheering fans behind the barriers.
In the final turn onto Boylston Street, and the finish in sight, Korir surged with one final kick with his race bib in his hand. The bib loosened early on and came at the heels of another scary moment for him as he fell in the opening stages but quickly recovered.
With the win, Korir, who finished fourth and ninth in two previous Boston attempts, joins his brother Wesley, who won the race in 2012. His time is the second fastest in Boston Marathon history.
The battle for second and third intensified with Mantz, Simbu and Kotut. But the sprint Simbu and Kotut was decided at the finish line as Simbu crossed the line in 2:05:04 and Kotut third in 2:05:04, just hundredths of a second behind.
Meanwhile Des Linden, the 2018 champion and the last American runner — male or female — to win Boston, announced shortly before the race that she would no longer compete professionally. Linden finished 17th in the women’s field in 2:26:19.
