How Sharon Lokedi Won Two Straight Boston Marathons

She grew up running miles to school through the hills of Burnt Forest, Kenya—and now she owns the streets of Boston.

Sharon Lokedi, two-time Boston Marathon champion and one of the most quietly dominant forces in the sport, joins the show for a wide-open conversation about what it actually takes to run 2:17 twice, back-to-back, on the most unforgiving major marathon course in the world.

Sharon doesn't carry herself like someone who knows she's going to win. She carries herself like someone who has decided, at the start line, to simply see what happens. That mindset (grounded, process-driven, almost stubbornly present) runs through everything she shared in this episode. She talks about how Heartbreak Hill still hurts every single year; why the pre-race pressure has only grown harder to manage with each title; and how she leans on meditation, music, and the psychology of staying present to quiet the voice in her head that tells her she isn't ready.

She opened up about the real weight of elite marathon training—the 120-to-130-mile peak weeks; the relentless repetition; the sacrifice of ordinary life—and what it feels like to pour three months of work into two hours on race day, not knowing if it will land. She reflects on Paris 2024, finishing fourth by four seconds, and what that near-miss lit inside her.

And she talks about where she's headed next: a different major marathon on the horizon, and an Olympic medal that remains the one thing still unchecked.

Tap into the Sharon Lokedi Special.

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