Women's Race: Lokedi's Second-Half Strike Steals the Win in Boston Heat

• Sharon Lokedi wins in 31:39, surging from 4th to 1st between 5K and 8K with the fastest women's split on that stretch — edging Gladys Kwanboka by the finest of margins at the line.
• Emily Sisson completes the podium in 31:42, running the 3rd-fastest women's split on the 5K–8K segment to finish 3 seconds back — improving on her 4th-place finish here in 2023 (31:35, though today's conditions were a different beast at 93°F).
• Edna Kiplagat, age 45, crossed in 32:29 at 5:14/mi to finish 8th among 4,024 women — one of the more quietly remarkable performances in a scorching field.
• Jesca Chelangat faded from 2nd to 4th (32:00), while Maggie Montoya climbed from 6th to 5th (32:04), posting the 4th-fastest women's split on the closing 8K-to-finish stretch.

With temperatures at 93°F and a 15 mph wind rolling through Boston, the women's race at the B.A.A. 10K was a war of attrition from the gun. Gladys Kwanboka held the lead through 5K, and Jesca Chelangat sat in 2nd — but the race's decisive move came on the 5K-to-8K stretch, where Sharon Lokedi uncorked the fastest women's split of that segment, vaulting from 4th all the way to the front. Kwanboka answered with the 2nd-fastest split on the same stretch, and the two arrived at the finish in 31:39 apiece — Lokedi's superior position across the line giving her the win by a sliver the clock couldn't separate.

Emily Sisson was the other mover in that critical stretch, running the 3rd-fastest women's 5K–8K split to climb from 5th to 3rd and hold that position home in 31:42. It's a step up from the 4th place she claimed here in 2023, even if the clock reads a touch slower — a testament to what 93-degree heat does to a race. Montoya (32:04, 5th) and Chloé Herbiet (32:09, 6th) rounded out a competitive top six, all running at 5:10/mi or better in conditions that humbled many.

Deeper in the field, Erika Kemp (9th, 32:32) and Megan Hasz (10th, 32:40) gave local fans something to cheer, while Edna Kiplagat's 8th-place finish at age 45 — running 5:14/mi through the Boston heat — was the kind of performance that stops you mid-scroll. Across 4,024 finishers, the women's race delivered a genuine tactical battle at the front and a story worth telling all the way down the results sheet.