Sharon Lokedi won the 130th Boston Marathon women’s race on Monday in 2:18:51, breaking away from a pack of ten in the final five miles to become the first woman to win back-to-back Boston titles in over a decade.
Her time was more than a minute off her own course record of 2:17:22 from last April, a reflection of the tactical race the field ran for the first 35 kilometers rather than any lack of fitness from the defending champion.
Loice Chemnung of Kenya took second in 2:19:35, 44 seconds back. Mary Ngugi-Cooper, the five-time Boston top-ten finisher, finally stepped on the podium, finishing third in 2:20:07.
Ten women, one second apart
The women’s race was the opposite of the men’s. Where the men’s front group finally cracked around mile 20, the women ran the first 25 kilometers as one moving pack. At 10K, the lead group passed in 33:31. Through 20K, it was 1:07:21. At 25K, ten women were separated by a single second in 1:24:19.
That pace projected a finishing time of 2:22:19, well off Lokedi’s course record of 2:17:22 set in 2025. The early miles were tactical. Lokedi, the defending champion, was sitting fifth at 20K and eighth at the half, conserving for the hills rather than pushing the record.
American Annie Frisbie, who was eighth at Boston last year in 2:23:21, led the pack through 25K in 1:24:19. Dakotah Popehn and Kodi Kleven were level with her on the same second. Mary Ngugi-Cooper sat fourth. Carrie Ellwood led at the half in 1:11:02.
The Newton Hills did not break the pack. At 35 kilometers, Lokedi had moved back to the front with Chemnung, the two tied for the lead at 1:57:20 with Irine Cheptai a single second back. Top six: Lokedi, Chemnung, Cheptai, Ngugi-Cooper, Mercy Chelangat, Workenesh Edesa, separated by 21 seconds. Jess McClain was seventh at 1:57:54. Annie Frisbie was ninth.
The decisive move came after the hills
What the hills did not do, the final five miles did. Between 35K and 40K, Lokedi applied the pressure that had been coming all morning. By 40K she had opened 30 seconds on Chemnung. Ngugi-Cooper had climbed into third, Cheptai had dropped to fourth, and Chelangat and Jess McClain had moved into the top six, separating themselves from the runners who had held on through the first 35K.
The final two kilometers were Lokedi’s alone. She extended her lead to 44 seconds on the run down Boylston, crossing in 2:18:51 for the second consecutive Boston title and her third Boston podium in three starts. Her two victories and a runner-up finish in 2023 make her the most decorated active woman on the course.
The American contingent delivered
The B.A.A. framed this as the deepest American women’s field in Boston history. Five Americans finished in the top 10, the strongest U.S. women’s Boston result in a generation.
Mercy Chelangat finished fourth in 2:20:30, the highest American placement in the race and the runner who improved most between 35K and the line. Her fourth-place finish is the best by an American at Boston since Des Linden’s 2018 win.
Jess McClain finished fifth in 2:20:49, a personal best by nearly two minutes on a course that rarely yields fast times. Last year she ran a three-minute PB here to finish seventh in 2:22:43. This year she moved up to fifth and shaved another 1:54 off that mark. Two consecutive Boston Marathons, two consecutive major PBs, the kind of course-specific progression that marks a runner who has figured out how to race the hills.
Annie Frisbie led the pack at 20K and 25K and held on for eighth in 2:22:00, an 81-second improvement on her eighth-place time from last year. Running at the front of a pack of ten for 25 kilometers on this course is not a safe tactic, but she held up and crossed with a meaningful PB.
Emily Sisson, the American record holder making her Boston debut at 34, finished ninth in 2:22:39. She climbed from outside the top 10 at 35K to ninth by 40K. Her 2025 NYC comeback result was 2:25:05. Her Boston debut improves on that by more than two minutes and confirms that her return to form is not a one-race trend.
Carrie Ellwood led the pack at the half in 1:11:02 and held on for tenth in 2:22:53, a respectable close after leading for much of the middle of the race.
Together, those five Americans finishing fourth, fifth, eighth, ninth, and tenth make this the deepest American women’s Boston performance since the race became a World Marathon Major.
Final top 10
- Sharon Lokedi, KEN — 2:18:51
- Loice Chemnung, KEN — 2:19:35
- Mary Ngugi-Cooper, KEN — 2:20:07
- Mercy Chelangat, USA — 2:20:30
- Jess McClain, USA — 2:20:49
- Irine Cheptai, KEN — 2:20:54
- Workenesh Edesa, ETH — 2:21:52
- Annie Frisbie, USA — 2:22:00
- Emily Sisson, USA — 2:22:39
- Carrie Ellwood, USA — 2:22:53
