Former Kansas Jayhawks runner Sharon Lokedi wins Sunday’s 2022 New York City Marathon
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Former Kansas Jayhawks distance runner Sharon Lokedi and Kenyan countryman Evans Chebet won the New York City Marathon on Sunday.
It was Lokedi’s first-ever marathon and she finished in 2 hours, 23 minutes and 23 seconds — just ahead of Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel.
“I’m just so happy that I just won, you know?!” said Lokedi, laughing. “I’m really excited, just so happy that I did it here. The people out there, the course was amazing, the cheers, everything. I’m just thankful.”
The 28-year-old Lokedi has been churning out highlights for a while now — four years ago, she upset Missouri’s Karissa Schweizer for gold in the women’s 10,000 meters at the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. It was her first national championship, and she beat Schweizer by a healthy 5.74 seconds, finishing in a meet-record 32:09.20.
On Sunday in New York City, Lokedi was in a tight race before she pulled ahead of Chemtai Salpeter in the final two miles to win by seven seconds, about 50 seconds off the course record.
“I didn’t expect to win — I expected to run well,” Lokedi said. “It was a good outcome and I’m really excited.”
Lokedi crossed the finish line and quickly prepared for the post-race excitement that inevitably followed: podium photos, acceptance of the spoils of victory and celebratory hugs with supporters, including her coach, Stephen Haas.
It was an unseasonably warm day, with temperatures in the 70s making it one of the hottest in race history since the marathon was moved to November in 1986.
At Kansas, Lokedi was a three-time indoor Big 12 5,000-meter champion, two-time indoor Big 12 3,000-meter champion, three-time outdoor Big 12 10,000-meter champion and won the outdoor Big 12 5,000-meter title. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, Lokedi was awarded the Big 12 Indoor Performer of the Year award.
Lokedi holds the indoor Kansas record for the 5,000-meter, distance medley relay and 3,000-meter. For outdoor, Lokedi has the school record time in the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter.
In 2018, Lokedi ran a time of 32:09.20 in the 10,000-meter, an NCAA Outdoor Championships meet record time.
Chebet, who was also making his NYC Marathon debut, won the men’s race in 2:08.41, thirteen seconds ahead of second-place finisher Shura Kitata of Ethiopia.
There was a scary moment in the men’s race when Daniel Do Nascimento, who had been leading the entire way, collapsed 21 miles in. Race officials said later that he was OK.
The Brazilian ran the first half of the race in a blistering 1:01.22, which put him 2 minutes ahead of the course record pace. He had been leading by nearly 2 minutes for the first 15 miles before he started to slow down a bit.
Do Nascimento went down right before heading back into Manhattan and was quickly attended to by medical professionals. A few miles earlier, he had taken a quick 20-second bathroom break and also had stopped to walk briefly a few minutes before he collapsed.
Meanwhile, the men’s and women’s wheelchair races ended with course records being broken.
Marcel Hug of Switzerland was victorious in the men’s wheelchair race for the fifth time, tying Kurt Fearnley for most-ever victories in that event. Hug finished the 26.2-mile course that goes through all five boroughs of New York in 1:25.26 to break the previous mark of 1:29.22 set by Fearnley of Australia in 2006.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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This story was originally published November 6, 2022 at 1:57 PM.
