Boston Marathon Women’s Insider: Sharon Lokedi’s Biggest Threat, Sisson’s Debut Calm, and Sara Hall’s “Grind”

BOSTON – Boston Marathon weekend kicked into gear on Friday morning at the Fairmont Copley Plaza as the elite field for the 130th edition met the press. As usual, LRC had boots on the ground and made the rounds chatting to the top athletes, agents, and pros. Who does Sharon Lokedi’s coach view as her biggest rival? Why is American record holder Emily Sisson not feeling the nerves in her Boston debut? And how is Sara Hall managing her fifth marathon in six months?

We’ve got answers to all of the above below. We’ve also got a separate article on what we learned from the top men in Boston here: LRC Alex Maier aiming at marathon breakthrough & why Nicholas Kipkorir chose to debut in Boston

*All LRC Boston Marathon interviews *All LRC Boston Marathon coverage

We also recorded a live podcast from Boston on Friday taking an in-depth look at the elite races at the 2026 Boston Marathon. You can watch that below or get it on-demand as a podcast by joining the LetsRun Supporters Club.

Loice Chemnung may be the biggest threat to Sharon Lokedi’s repeat chances

With no Hellen Obiri in the field, the big question in the women’s race is whether anyone will step up to challenge defending champion Sharon Lokedi. The woman with the best chance may be someone we don’t know much about: fellow Kenyan Loice Chemnung. 

The 29-year-old Chemnung ran 2:18:24 for 4th in her debut last fall in Chicago – a solid effort – but the result that really stands out is her 64:01 win at the Barcelona Half Marathon, a time that ranks her #6 on the world all-time list. Lokedi’s coach, Stephen Haas, was in Barcelona and saw Chemnung’s run up close. He was so impressed by it that he came up to us to said he viewed her as Lokedi’s #1 threat on Monday and wondered why we initially left her out of our women’s race preview (it was a mistake which we corrected).

Chemnung trains in Iten under Thomas Potzinger, but we didn’t get a chance to talk to Chemnung or Potzinger on Friday so we didn’t hear an update on how things have gone since Barcelona. She is definitely someone to be taken seriously, though.

A 14:43 performer on the track, Chemnung has excelled at the 13.1 distance since debuting there in 2024, finishing 1st or 2nd in every half she’s ever run.

Emily Sisson is feeling “calm” as she prepares for her Boston debut after a “good” but not “flawless” build

The American record holder in the marathon Emily Sisson says she’s not feeling as many nerves as normal as her Boston debut feels like a hometown run — she went to college at nearby Providence College. Home or away, the main question we have about Sisson is simple — is she suited for the undulating course?

The perception throughout Sisson’s career is that she is best suited for fast, flat courses. Save for the hilly 2020 US Olympic Trials in Atlanta, where Sisson dropped out, Sisson’s first 5 career marathons were all on flat and fast courses. Her 6th career marathon resulted in a disappointing 22nd place showing on the hilly Paris Olympic course and her 7th marathon – at hilly NYC in the fall – was the first Abbott World Marathon Major in her career where Sisson didn’t finish as the top American as she was 8th in 2:25:05 (Fiona O’Keeffe ran an American course record of 2:22:49 while Annie Frisbie ran 2:24:12).

Sisson’s race choices show that she was initially most comfortable with flat, rabbitted races. But she said she’s done well at the NYC Half in the past and “at the end of the day, like I’m a very versatile runner.” Plus Boston is a net downhill course. 

She added this buildup has been different than her others and she has “no idea” what type of flat marathon shape she is in.

After a rough showing at the hilly 2024 Olympics (22nd place), Sisson had a down 2025 as she was only 8th in NYC and didn’t run faster than 69:19 in either of her two half marathons (her pb is 66:52).

Sara Hall is a busy woman; in addition to being a mom of four and racing five marathon in six months, her new book comes out Tuesday

We caught up with new author Sara Hall today in Boston. In case you missed it, Jonathan Gault recorded a podcast with her about her new book For the Love Of The Grind, where she opens up about the grind of being a pro runner, mother of four, and just life in general. 

Hall doesn’t hold back, even writing about trying magic mushrooms.

“I feel like it’s pretty vulnerable. I think Jonathan was surprised by some stuff in there. I really just wanted to share everything, the highs and the lows, what I learned along the way, what I feel like contributed to my longevity in the sport. Just to be able to like pass that on to people and hopefully they can learn from my mistakes and successes, you know,” said Hall.

LRC Pod Sara Hall on Her New Book, Racing Boston at 43, and Her Trip to the American Record

You can buy Hall’s new book For The Love Of The Grind here from Amazon or here from independent book sellers.

Interview with Fiona O’Keeffe 

Update: O’Keeffe has withdrawn from Boston.

Interview with Jessica McClain

Want more of the inside scoop from Boston? Here is our men’s article: Alex Maier aiming at marathon breakthrough & why Nicholas Kipkorir chose to debut in Boston Plus we get an update from Galen Rupp, who is running Boston for the first time since 2018.

Plus we recorded a live video show: