The Favorite Delivers

The women’s race at the 2026 Boston Marathon began with a clear favorite, and Sharon Lokedi
(KEN) ran like one. Last year, Lokedi won Boston in 2:17:22 (course record, Boston 2025) after a long
duel with Hellen Obiri (KEN), a rivalry that had become one of the defining features of recent Boston
women’s racing. This year, Obiri skipped Boston and chose London for her spring marathon, leaving
Lokedi without the familiar competitor who, by Lokedi’s own admission before the race, “brings out the
best in me.”

Without Obiri, Lokedi did not force the pace early. Instead, she sat in a large pack, let others do the
early work, and waited for the race to come to her. It was a patient, controlled, and ultimately perfect
Boston Marathon. When she made her move in the later stages, there was no answer. She ran away
to her second straight Boston title in 2:18:51, the second-fastest winning time in race history and the
fourth-fastest time ever run in Boston.

Early Pace: Big Pack, Strong Americans, No Panic

The women did not begin at record pace. Through 10K in 33:31, the pack was still 19 women strong
and about 40 seconds slower than Lokedi’s pace from her record-setting run in 2025. Susanna
Sullivan (USA) and Kodi Kleven (USA) were among those helping shape the early pace, and the
American women were visible throughout the front group. Through halfway, a large lead pack still
remained, and the Americans were heavily represented within it.

That alone was a story. On many Boston days, the American women fight to hang on. This time, they
were active in the race. Jess McClain (USA), Annie Frisbie (USA), Emily Sisson (USA), Dakotah
Popehn (USA), Carrie Ellwood (USA), and others were still right there as the course approached the
hills. It was not reckless. It was simply a day worth using. As McClain would later say, “You don”t get
those conditions every year, so if you get them, you use them.”

Newton Decides It Again

At 25K, Frisbie moved to the front and began to set the pace as the Newton Hills approached. By
30K, the race had been reduced to nine women: Frisbie, McClain, Lokedi, Mercy Chelangat (KEN),
Mary Ngugi-Cooper (KEN), Irine Cheptai (KEN), Workenesh Edesa (ETH), Loice Chemnung (KEN),
and Bedatu Hirpa (ETH). Boston had again waited until the hills to reveal its real contenders.
Into mile 20, Frisbie briefly had to go wide for nutrition and lost a bit of ground before reconnecting,
but the group still held together. Then, by mile 21 and 35K, Lokedi had taken over. Only Chemnung
and Cheptai could stay with her, and even that did not last. By mile 23, Lokedi had opened an eight-
second lead on Chemnung, with Cheptai dropping farther back. From there the race was over.

Lokedi’s closing miles were among the fastest ever run late in a Boston Marathon. From mile 22
through mile 25, she split approximately 4:41, 4:48, 4:36, and 4:56, with that 4:36 at mile 24 standing
as the fastest mile of the women’s race. It was the kind of finish usually associated with a runner
attacking someone else. Here, Lokedi was already alone. She was simply extending the gap.

No Watch, No Problem

One of the more unusual details of the day came after the race, when Lokedi explained that, when on
the bus to the start, she realized she had forgotten her watch and had to borrow one which didn”t
provide her the information she was used to. She explained the trouble that ensued: “After I broke
away, I was like: I don”t know what I”m gonna do, but I”m just gonna follow the car.”“ Without a
familiar rival beside her and without her own watch, Lokedi was forced to race by feel, trust her
training, and run free.
She also said afterward that she “just went with it” when she made the move, and that she had not
planned the exact moment in advance. Asked about running alone late, she said she focused inward
and kept moving forward strongly. That, too, matched the race. She did not look panicked, hurried, or
uncertain. She looked like a champion who knew exactly when the race had become hers.

Chemnung and Ngugi-Cooper: Opposite Paths, Same Result

Behind Lokedi, the race for the next two podium spots became a contrast in backgrounds.
Loice Chemnung (KEN) was running her first Boston Marathon and, by her own admission, had not
previewed the course. “I didn”t preview the course, but I trusted my training,” she said afterward. That
faith proved justified. Chemnung held second place in 2:19:35, a remarkable run for a Boston
debutant and one that moved her to No. 5 on the all-time Boston women’s list.

Mary Ngugi-Cooper (KEN), by contrast, has years of Boston experience behind her. She has now
been runner-up here in 2021 (2:25:20), third in 2022 (2:21:32), sixth in 2024 (2:24:24), 11th in 2025
(2:24:39), and now third again in 2026 (2:20:07). After the race she said plainly, “Experience matters
on this course.” She was right. Chemnung trusted training. Ngugi-Cooper trusted memory, patience,
and familiarity. Both approaches worked, and their times moved them to No. 5 and No. 6 on the all-
time Boston list.

Cheptai, meanwhile, also ran well and was still in the mix late, but she could not quite hold onto the
podium and eventually slipped to sixth in 2:20:54.

McClain, Frisbie, and a Big Day for the Americans

If the women’s winner was clear, the American story was broader and nearly as interesting.
Frisbie played a major role in the race, moving to the front at 25K and helping press the pace into
Newton. McClain also spent much of the day right where the race was happening. Both paid for that
effort some, but both still ran extremely well. McClain finished fifth in 2:20:49 as top American, and
Frisbie was eighth in 2:22:00. Both ran faster than the previous fastest Boston time by an American
woman, Shalane Flanagan’s 2:22:02 (Boston 2014).

McClain also had to recover from an aid-station issue mid-race. She said after the race that things got
messy when she went for a bottle, she slightly dropped it, but knew she needed the fluids and fuel
and worked back to the pack. Asked about the weather and the solid tailwind, she had one of the
better lines of the day: “You don”t get those conditions every year, so if you get them, Carpe Diem,
this is the year to do it – and if I blow up, so be it…. And if there’s a tailwind, I”ll take it.” That was
exactly the way she raced.

And it was not just McClain and Frisbie. Sisson finished ninth in 2:22:39 and Ellwood 10th in 2:22:53,
giving the United States four women in the top 10 – the most in the top 10 since 2007 – and a strong reminder that the American women’s marathon depth remains one of the sport’s real strengths.
McClain said after the race that when women race each other often and push one another, everyone
improves. Monday gave that idea a convincing piece of evidence.

Sara Hall Still Grinding

One more American story deserves mention. Sara Hall (USA), now 43, finished 21st overall in 2:31:55
and was the top masters woman in the race. Before the race, Hall said this would be her fifth
marathon in six months and spoke openly about one of her regrets: not getting to race Boston more
often. She also said she would love to crack the top 10 at 43, which she knew would be difficult in
such a deep field. Though that did not happen, she still came away as the top masters finisher on
another strong Boston day.

Hall also used marathon weekend to discuss her new book, For the Love of the Grind, which she
described as an honest account of her career, its highs and lows, and the lessons behind her
longevity in the sport. She said she wanted to share what had helped her mentally, physically, and
spiritually, as well as the experience of becoming a mother through adoption. It was a fitting theme for
a veteran still turning up in major marathons and still competing seriously. And, we recommend that
anyone reading this article – buy the book…

A Favorite, a Fast Day, and a Race Well Run

Some Boston Marathons are about survival. Some are about tactics. Some are about the Americans.
The 2026 women’s race was mostly about Lokedi. She came in as the favorite, lost the rival who had
helped define the previous year’s race, forgot her watch on the bus, and still ran exactly the race she
needed. She let others set the tone, waited until the course demanded a real answer, and then
supplied it herself.
She did not break her own course record this time. But she defended her title, ran the second-fastest
winning time in race history, and confirmed that Boston now belongs, at least for the moment, to
Sharon Lokedi.

Top Finishers

1. Sharon Lokedi (32-KEN): 2:18:51 – $150,000
2. Loice Chemnung (29-KEN): 2:19:35 – $75,000
3. Mary Ngugi-Cooper (37-KEN): 2:20:07 – $40,000
4. Mercy Chelangat (28-KEN): 2:20:30 – $25,000
5. Jess McClain (34-USA): 2:20:49 – $18,000
6. Irine Cheptai (34-KEN): 2:20:54 – $13,500
7. Workenesh Edesa (33-ETH): 2:21:52 – $10,500
8. Annie Frisbie (29-USA): 2:22:00 – $8,500
9. Emily Sisson (34-USA): 2:22:39 – $7,000
10. Carrie Ellwood (32-USA): 2:22:53 – $5,500
11. Bedatu Hirpa (26-ETH): 2:23:58
12. Dakotah Popehn (30-USA): 2:24:04
13. Elena Hayday (26-USA): 2:24:45
14. Kodi Kleven (33-USA): 2:24:48
15. Amanda Vestri (26-USA): 2:24:49
16. Isobel Batt-Doyle (30-AUS): 2:25:06
17. Paige Wood (30-USA): 2:26:34
18. Madey Dickson (29-USA): 2:28:12
19. Susanna Sullivan (35-USA): 2:28:35
20. Megan O”Neil (29-USA): 2:31:31
21. Sara Hall (43-USA): 2:31:55 – $5,000 masters
22. Lisa Weightman (47-AUS): 2:32:41 – $2,500 masters
23. Diana Bogantes Gonzalez (37-CRI): 2:33:17
24. Erin Del Giudice (32-USA): 2:33:54
25. Elizabeth Chikotas (30-USA): 2:34:29