Sharon Lokedi Reveals Surprising Reason She Was Afraid of Signing Up for the London Marathon

Sharon Lokedi Reveals Surprising Reason She Was Afraid of Signing Up for the London Marathon

Abigael Wafula 16:40 - 09.05.2025

Sharon Lokedi opted out of the London Marathon due to its exceptionally tough field, choosing Boston instead.

Sharon Lokedi has revealed why she overlooked the London Marathon and opted to open her full marathon journey in 2025 at the Boston Marathon.

The 2022 New York City Marathon champion went ahead to beat a strong field, including defending champion Hellen Obiri, to win the race in a course record time of 2:17:22.

Why did Sharon Lokedi snub the London Marathon?

Sharon Lokedi
Sharon Lokedi. Photo: Imago

Speaking in an interview with Chris Chavez of the Citius Magazine, Sharon Lokedi revealed that the London Marathon field was strong and she felt like she was not ready for such a challenge.

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Sharon Lokedi admitted that before the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 21, she was a bit nervous and thought about withdrawing from the race and signing up for the London Marathon instead.

However, the quality of the field in London was scary as it included Olympic gold and silver medallists Sifan Hassan and Tigst Assefa.

Defending champion Peres Jepchirchir and world marathon record holder Ruth Chepng’etich had earlier been confirmed for the race but withdrew from the race last minute.

“Before I even ran Boston, on Saturday or Sunday, I was so nervous, and I kept telling my mom maybe I should have just gone to London, you know it's one week later, and I would probably have more time to be calm and add a little bit of extra fitness,” Sharon Lokedi revealed.

“Just watching it, I was like, this is so cool, and even from the get-go, I was like, I don't want to be in that field, you know.

“You could see it, and you're like, this is just the best field that you could ever think of. It was just like either there was going to like be a world record at some point, whether it's like world record world record or like world record women, you know.”

Sharon Lokedi on gaining confidence to run against top competitors

Sharon Lokedi
Sharon Lokedi

The New York City Half Marathon champion disclosed that with time, she will get to compete against the top challengers.

Sharon Lokedi pointed out that she will not limit herself going forward and will see the times she can be able to drop.

“I was like ‘Yeah, I think I'm not quite ready for that yet.’ I might have been fit, but I don't think I was fit for that. And it's probably like maybe like soon I would probably put myself in it,” Sharon Lokedi said.

“But at this point, I'm like whatever, you know, I'm just going to throw myself in there and see how it goes. You never know, you never limit yourself.”

As she looks to throw herself in the deep end, Sharon Lokedi’s thoughtful approach to race selection highlights her growing maturity as a professional athlete.

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