by Race Results Weekly
AFTER ROLLER-COASTER YEAR, LOKEDI EXCITED TO TRY FOR SECOND TCS NYC MARATHON VICTORY
(c) 2024, all rights reserved, used with permission.
Little did she know that Kosgei would withdraw from the team in early July due to an injury, and Lokedi would be called up as a reserve. The 30-year-old former NCAA star at the University of Kansas had about six weeks to prepare for the most important marathon of her life.
“At the end of the day, I just kept training and hoping,” said Lokedi, who represents Under Armour. She continued: “Finally, like they said, this happened when Brigid dropped, and I got in at the last minute. I was like, what am I supposed to do? It was very short. I just had to switch it; it’s time to get it going. It was like a month and two weeks of trying to get everything together.”
November 6, 2022: The 2022 TCS New York City Marathon is held on November 6, 2022, in New York, NY. The course goes through all five boroughs of New York City, starting in Staten Island and ending in Central Park. The finish line in Central Park. (Photo by Da Ping Luo for NYRR)
Working with her coach, Stephen Haas, Lokedi did indeed get it together. Running in hot and sunny conditions and on one of the toughest-ever Olympic Marathon courses, Lokedi got into the critical break in the race just past 28 km and was one of the last five women in medal contention in the 39th kilometer. But Obiri, Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan, and Ethiopian Tigst Assefa were too strong, and Lokedi was dropped. She finished fourth, an excellent performance but just outside of the medals. Lokedi appreciated her accomplishment but was emotionally and physically spent.
“It took a couple of weeks to get back at it,” Lokedi admitted. “If anything, it was emotionally draining. It was just excitement; I was just very excited about everything. I went to Kenya, then I came back here. A little bit was going on for three weeks of that. I was like, I’ve got to get back to training.”
Back at home in Flagstaff, Lokedi began her build-up for Sunday’s TCS New York City Marathon, a race she won in her debut at the 42.195-kilometer distance in 2022. Under Coach Haas –who is also her agent– she stuck to the workout program that got her into such great shape before Boston.
“We tried to keep the pattern of the long runs very similar,” Haas told Race Results Weekly. He continued: “We kept the same pattern of our Boston and New York workouts. We just tried to keep the same schedule.”
Lokedi prepared for Boston in Kenya. Haas explained that she had to do her long runs on Thursdays because athletes don’t run on Sundays, reserved for attending church and spending time with family. Haas decided to follow the Kenyan schedule even though Lokedi was preparing for New York in Flagstaff: Tuesday workout, Thursday long run, and Saturday workout.
“For this build-up, we decided to stay on the same schedule as in Kenya,” Haas said. “It worked out pretty well with people to run with. It’s gone really well.”
Lokedi’s only partner was Haas on a bicycle for her long runs. He supplied her with fluids, nutrition, and encouragement.
“Early on, it was just conversational, but the goal of the 35-K run is to make it an arduous effort, to make it to a state of fatigue at the end, to practice fueling, have some gels, have the Maurten,” Haas said. “It got pretty hard. In the end, it got motivational.”
Lokedi said she arrived here confident and fully prepared. She was visibly excited as she spoke.
“You know when you are training and you’re like, I can’t wait to get there?” Lokedi said, breaking into a smile. “You start to get the race chills and like that. It’s exciting.”
It is noteworthy that Lokedi won New York in her marathon debut, given the difficulty of the course, the lack of pacemakers, and the all women’s competition format. While her experience on the course would seem to give her an advantage, Lokedi is still determining.
“I honestly block out during races,” Lokedi said, bursting into laughter. “Someone was like, you know the course now that you’ve done it, but not really.”
Like in Boston and Paris, Lokedi will race against Hellen Obiri, the defending champion and Olympic bronze medalist. Interestingly, Obiri is only the eighth-fastest woman in the field. Kenyans Sheila Chepkirui, Vivian Cheruiyot, and Edna Kiplagat, Ethiopians Tirunesh Dibaba, Senbere Teferi, and Dera Dida, and Bahraini Eunice Chumba have all run faster. Lokedi is only ranked tenth on time, but she is not intimidated.
“I love it,” she said. “You don’t know what to expect, but you’re ready to go at it. That’s what I usually do. I’m just going to go at it. It’s just another day, another race.”
