Fast Women: Sharon Lokedi destroys the Boston Marathon course record
The end of an era for Des Linden
Issue 347, sponsored by PUMA
This is a special Boston Marathon newsletter, so I can avoid covering the race a week after the fact. Fast Women will return to its regular once-a-week schedule on Monday.
Sharon Lokedi takes a page out of Hellen Obiri’s book
Just as it did last year, the 2025 Boston Marathon came down to a battle between Kenyans Hellen Obiri and Sharon Lokedi. Obiri was hoping to win her third-consecutive title, but when she went to make her customary move with a mile to go, Lokedi was ready with a counter-move.
“I’m always second to her and today, I was like there’s no way. I just have to put it out there, fight to the end, and see how it goes,” Lokedi told WCVB after the race.
It went just as Lokedi had hoped. With about three-quarters of a mile to go, she began to open up a gap, which stretched to 19 seconds by the finish line. Lokedi won in 2:17:22, taking a massive 2:37 off the course record, and Obiri finished second in 2:17:41, a personal best by nearly four minutes. Lokedi earned $150,000 for the win, plus a $50,000 course record bonus. Obiri earned $75,000.
Though it was a two-woman duel in the end, it was Ethiopians Amane Beriso and Yalemzerf Yehualaw who made the race what it was. Due to the weather conditions, respect for the course, the lack of pacers, and a variety of other factors, in recent years, the women’s pro race in Boston has tended to go out conservatively.
By Boston standards, this year’s weather was good, especially during the pro races. A massive pack hit the first mile in 5:46, and it briefly looked like this year’s race might go out slowly again. But in the second mile, the pack began to pick up the pace.
After hitting 5K in 16:49, with Beriso doing a lot of the leading, the pack dropped to 16:02 over the next 5K, splitting 32:51 for 10K. It was clear by that point that this race could be something special. And Buzunesh Deba’s 11-year-old course record of 2:19:59 was due for an upgrade. It had survived the super shoe era thus far mainly because of those conservative starts.
It was especially satisfying to see Lokedi beat the course record by a healthy margin, because when Deba set it in 2014, she was actually the second woman across the line. Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo, who was later banned for doping and stripped of her title, finished 62 seconds ahead of her, in 2:18:57. That mark was already erased from the record books, but now Lokedi is the fastest woman to run the course, period.
Despite the quick pace, there were still 14 women in the lead pack at 15K. But by about 10 miles, it was down to five. Beriso did most of the leading, with Obiri, Lokedi, Yehualaw, and Kenya’s Irine Cheptai staying right with her. They remained that way until the 17th mile when, with Yehualaw leading the way, she and Beriso gapped Cheptai, Lokedi, and Obiri. Cheptai fell off for good, but Obiri and Lokedi worked their way back to the front. (I learned more about this stretch of the race from looking at this set of Amy Roberts’ photos than I did watching the broadcast. I love that collection of photos because it includes a number of things I didn’t notice on TV, like Lokedi high fiving spectators, Lokedi getting annoyed, and the gap that opened up going by Newton-Wellesley Hospital.)
Beriso dropped off for good shortly before 35K, and Yehualaw was gone by 39K. Though Yehualaw couldn’t hang over the last couple miles, she ran an excellent race in her Boston debut and finished third in 2:18:06, also well under the previous course record. Cheptai caught Beriso and finished fourth in 2:21:32. And Beriso paid for her early aggressiveness, dropping to fifth in 2:21:58. It was still a fast time, but running 1:08:46/1:13:12 splits probably didn’t feel great. Great Britain’s Calli Hauger-Thackery was the best of the rest, finishing sixth in 2:22:38 in her Boston debut.
After the race, a WCVB reporter asked Lokedi if there was a point during the race where she was thinking she was going too fast. She responded, “Yes. All the time. The whole way.” But she proved she could handle it, took 5:23 off of her personal best, and negative split the second half 1:08:46/1:08:36.
Lokedi and Obiri have raced six marathons against each other. They both debuted at the 2022 New York City Marathon. And with far more eyes on Obiri, Lokedi was the surprise winner that day. But after that, Obiri won their next four matchups, usually in a kick. But the faster start took the sting out of both athletes’ closing speed on Monday. Lokedi’s final mile was a 5:04, while Obiri’s was a 5:23, slower than her average pace. (Results)
A breakthrough day for Jess McClain and Annie Frisbie
Jess McClain (seventh, 2:22:43) and Annie Frisbie (eighth, 2:23:21) led the American women with a pair of stellar performances. McClain took 3:03 off the personal best she set at last year’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and Frisbie improved by 2:57. McClain is now tied for fourth with Joan Benoit Samuelson on the list of all-time performances by American women in Boston, and Frisbie is eighth. McClain earned $10,500, while Frisbie earned $8,500.
Early on, Frisbie was the more aggressive of the two. She remained with the leaders through 15K but dropped back soon after. That left her in no-woman’s land for a while, but by 25K, she had linked back up with a pack again. McClain passed Frisbie in the 25th mile.
McClain’s performance at the Olympic Trials last year was a big step forward in her career, and this performance was another significant jump. McClain went out aggressively as well, hitting halfway in 1:10:08 and hanging on. After being self coached in recent years, McClain started working with coach David Roche during this build. She’s doing lower mileage training (Runner’s World) with more of a speed focus, and it appears to be paying off.
Though Roche is better known for the trail and ultra athletes he coaches, McClain learned about him while her husband was getting into ultrarunning. He listened to Roche’s podcast, and then she started listening as well and she liked what she heard.
In her pro marathon debut, Frisbie ran 2:26:18 at the 2021 New York City Marathon, and she finally surpassed that time on Monday. She has had some strong performances since then, but she has also dealt with injury setbacks. Her Minnesota Distance Elite teammate, Dakotah Popehn, has been hyping her up for a while now, saying Frisbie had big things coming. And after Monday’s race, Popehn wrote that she thinks Frisbie can go even faster.
Frisbie ran a bold race, going through halfway in 1:09:41. Based on the way she ran, I expected her to say afterward that her confidence was high because training had been going better than ever. But she actually said (LetsRun YouTube) that her buildup was rocky because she was coming off an upper hamstring tear at the start, but her fitness came around at the right time.
Behind them, Emma Bates (14th, 2:25:10), Dakotah Popehn (2:26:09), Des Linden (17th, 2:26:19), Sara Hall (18th, 2:26:32), Tristin Colley (19th, 2:26:39), and Sara Vaughn (20th, 2:31:07) also made the top 20.
The end of one chapter for Des Linden
My former college teammate still gets a paper copy of The Boston Globe, and she somehow found time to read some of it before going out to volunteer all day at the Boston Marathon. So it was from her that I learned that Monday’s race would be Des Linden’s final professional marathon. Linden made the announcement by taking out a full-page ad in the newspaper’s sports section, and she later posted the message online as well.
It was a classy and clever way to go out. Also, I’m curious how much such a thing costs, and I hope she did not have to pay for it. After the race, she shared this video, guaranteed to warm even a grinch’s heart. In both the video and the ad, Linden mentioned going out on top. And then she went out and did just that. In addition to finishing 17th among the women, she outran some stiff competition to win the masters division. Linden trailed Sara Hall for most of the race, but caught her with a little more than a mile to go and finished 13 seconds ahead.
Linden, 41, has run Boston 12 times and her 2:26:19 ranks as her fifth-fastest on the course. It was the fastest time she had run at the race—and in a marathon period—since 2017.
I appreciated that on the world feed, there was briefly a Des cam, and her Nobody Asked Us podcast co-host Kara Goucher got to talk about her accomplishments for a bit. And they also made sure to show Linden finishing. In the spot where I watch the race, I don’t get the sense that many of the people around me are big running fans, but they definitely knew who Linden was, and they showed their appreciation.
After the fact, I enjoyed seeing Amy Roberts’ photo of Linden and Dot McMahan running close together at the start of the race. The former teammates began their marathon careers around the same time and both ran Boston for the first time in 2007. It’s hard to believe it’s been 18 years, but McMahan, 48, won her age group as well, despite having to compete against Edna Kiplagat. Her time, 2:33:43, was only 1:55 off her PR, which is just incredible.
Linden has been very clear that she’s not retiring from professional running, she’s just leaving serious marathoning behind. A Brooks spokesperson told Runner’s World that she’s planning to pace Joe McConaughy at the Western States 100 in June. And as people have pointed out, she’s entered in the USATF 50 Mile Championships, which takes place in November.
I loved this clip of the other pros bowing down to Linden post-race. And this was my favorite post-race interview Linden did. “I wasn’t supposed to be here,” she said. “I wasn’t the person people picked to be a pro, to win a major, make an Olympic team, any of these things. But I believed in myself.” And for more, Outside Run published a photo essay documenting Linden’s Boston Marathon weekend.
Susannah Scaroni regains the crown
Susannah Scaroni broke away on a downhill shortly before the Newton hills and won the Boston Marathon’s wheelchair division in 1:35:20. After winning the race in 2023, an injury prevented her from racing in Boston last year. But she made a triumphant return here, winning by 2:06 over Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner and earning $50,000.
Switzerland’s Manuela Schär (1:39:18), Great Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper (1:43:13), and Tatyana McFadden (1:48:52) rounded out the top five. As I watched the national anthem play on Boylston Street, on the 250th anniversary of Patriots’ Day, and the 50th anniversary of the Boston Marathon having a wheelchair division, I thought about country’s leaders trying to roll back protections for people with disabilities.
“I am only here today because so many incredible individuals fought,” Scaroni told Ali Feller at the finish line. “They had integrity, tenacity, they knew that they belong as athletes, and they allowed us to have what we have today, and so I am beyond grateful.”
Additional Winners
The following athletes won their respective categories in the Para Athletics division:
T11/T12 (vision impairment): Joyce Cron, 4:09:08
T13 (vision impairment): Lisa Thompson, 3:42:01
T20 (intellectual disability): Montana Whiteley, 3:51:43
T45–T47 (upper limb impairment): Lisa Maciel, 4:06:19
T61/T63/T43 (lower limb impairment): Meghan Bradshaw, 3:58:15
T62/T64 and T42/T44 (lower limb impairment): Kelly Bruno, 3:17:56
T35–T38 (coordination impairment): Cristina Burbach, 3:46:05
The following athletes won their age groups: Paula Radcliffe—perhaps you’ve heard of her—won the 50–54 age group in 2:53:44. Jennifer Dembeck (55–59, 2:56:57), Lisa Veneziano (60–64, 2:58:02), Nina Caron (65–69, 3:22:01), Andrea Simmons (70–74, 3:45:56), Jeannie Rice (75–79, 4:27:17), and Lynne Faught (80+, 5:31:15)
Other Boston Marathon Notes
I enjoyed watching Sharon Lokedi break the finish tape and run into her mother’s arms.
Sara Vaughn said that she dealt with lower leg cramping.
I appreciated Gabi Rooker being open about the fact that she had her first panic attack in years the morning of the race. She struggled in the race but still managed to finish 22nd in 2:32:13.
The fastest woman who participated in Puma’s Project3 was Canada’s Kylee Raftis, who got to run by her alma mater, Boston College. She took 4:04 off her PR and ran 2:34:41. Thirty athletes PRed, and 15 broke their PRs by 3:00 or more, which earned them $3,000 each.
The fastest woman from the mass start appears to have been Sophia Manners, who ran 2:37:15.
Whit Blair won the nonbinary division in 2:22:44.
In addition to winning her age group, Paula Radcliffe, 51, earned her World Marathon Majors six star medal. I enjoyed watching Joan Benoit Samuelson present Radcliffe with her medal. Radcliffe wrote on Instagram that her calf “went” nine miles into the race, and she had to back off after that. She was one of the few athletes I was tracking and she went out quickly, hitting 5K in 18:42. She slowed down significantly but still finished in an impressive 2:53:44.
The oldest woman to finish this year’s race was Carol Wright, 83, who ran 5:57:02. I had the pleasure of meeting her over the weekend. She didn’t take up running until she was 69, and she thinks that’s helping her body feel good now. If she can record an official finish next year, she will tie the record for oldest woman to officially complete the race. (Katherine Beiers currently holds the record. She also finished the 2018 Boston Marathon, which featured some of the worst weather in the race’s history, when she was 85, but her finish was too slow to be official.)
Battle of the bananas: At last year’s Boston Marathon, wearing a banana costume, Matt Seidel broke Jordan Maddocks’ Guinness world record for fastest marathon run in a fruit costume. This year, also dressed as a banana, Maddocks reclaimed the record, running 2:33:19. “If you ever want to feel like a celebrity, dress as a banana and run Boston,” he told The Boston Globe. According to Marathon Handbook, he raced in brand new Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3s that he hadn’t broken in. It’s always impossible to say how much is the athlete and how much is the shoes, but those shoes are already breaking records.
I thought the coverage on the world feed, with commentary from Paul Swangard and Kara Goucher, was really good. The broadcast did a good job of capturing the crowd noise, too. Watching the lead women go through the scream tunnel made me teary. I didn’t mind missing portions of the race as much because I already knew the outcome by the time I watched. But I’d love to see more major races do what New York does and give fans access to the uninterrupted media feed.
I enjoyed watching the pro women run in front of the senior center in Wellesley, where the crowd got really quiet. The Flutie Foundation partnered with the B.A.A. to create the first-ever sensory friendly viewing zone along the course. (Many races achieve that naturally by not having many spectators, in Boston, it takes a little more effort.)
I am grateful that the B.A.A. allowed Amy Roberts, who was shooting for Fast Women, to ride on the women’s lead vehicle this year. She made the most of the opportunity and got some incredible shots. Thanks to Amy for putting in a lot of hard work and sharing her photos with all of us. You can see many of them in the seven most recent posts here.
The view from halfway
I watched this year’s race a little before halfway, in Wellesley. I made a post of some of my favorite things I saw along the course here, but I haven’t had time to really look through most of my 16,000 photos yet, so there might be more favorite things to come. Thanks to my sister Jennifer for being my photo assistant again this year. It’s helpful to have someone help me with tracking updates, bring me water, keep me company, hold my spot when I need a bathroom break, and help me attach my monopod to my camera when my arms have become too wobbly to do it myself.
It’s always a little tough to tell who is excited to see me because they think they might recognize me versus who is just excited because they see I have a camera. It’s funny to watch some runners who look slightly miserable suddenly transition to looking like they’re having the time of their lives because of the camera. Instagram vs. reality, I guess.
This year, I decided to stay out on the course as long as I could. The crowds are part of what makes the race what it is. So it was sad to see people running and walking up empty streets as the street sweepers came through, and people began to take down the barricades. The chip mats and clocks were gone. One of the last runners I took a photo of was 80-year-old Bonnie Bence. She didn’t run fast enough to meet the cutoff for an official finish, but she did cross the finish line in 7:08:19.
One of the bravest things I saw was Kylie Bemis running with a trans flag on her singlet, with the words, “We are here.” There was a lot of anti-trans hysteria, focused on a different trans woman, leading up to this year’s race. (Frankie de la Cretaz published a good piece yesterday about the fact that much of the outrage could be traced back to one person.)
Bemis wrote a powerful piece about the meaning behind her run, and I highly recommend reading it.
I also loved seeing Sophie Long, Emily Tully, Sarah Tully, and a new addition to their pack this year. Together they have raised incredible amounts of money for the American Liver Foundation. This year alone, they’ve passed $85,000. Long is a liver donor and the Tully sisters run in honor of their father, Keith Tully. But the best part is that this year, Keith was able to join them. After a six-year hiatus that included a liver transplant, he completed his 12th Boston Marathon.
The three women were all qualified to race in wave one, but they waited for wave four, so they could all run together. This TikTok, with a brief shot of the four of them, plus one more teammate, crossing the finish line holding hands, made me tear up. (They’re the ones in the matching green singlets.)
I think it’s going to take more than a marathon to restore my faith in human nature, but it was an uplifting day.
Thanks so much to PUMA for sponsoring Fast Women this month. And thanks to everyone who helps keep this newsletter going with your support on Venmo and Patreon.
Alison
What a marathon effort you put in with the two newsletters and photos! Thank you for all you do!
Thank you for your support and everything you do! 🙏🏽❤️💕