Under Armour Runner Sharon Lokedi Wins NYC Marathon’s Women’s Division in Inspiring Debut
Sharon Lokedi has officially won the 2022 New York City Marathon in an incredible debut for the Under Armour runner.
Lokedi, a 28-year-old Kenyan, led the Women’s Professional Division of the TCS New York City Marathon this fall, an annual race that covers 26.2 miles across all five of the city’s boroughs.
Her ultimate finishing time was 2:23:23 — a triumph, as documented on UA’s Instagram. Following Lokedi in the race were athletes Caroline Rotich (Kenya), Lonah Chemtal Salpeter (Israel), Aliphine Tuliamuk (United States) and Edna Kiplagat (Kenya). Lokedi’s win marked her first marathon race, following years of professional track and field competitions. 33-year-old Kenyan runner Evans Chebet, who was sponsored by Adidas — and was also the winner of the 2022 Boston Marathon — won the men’s division of the Marathon with a time of 2:08:41.
Lokedi’s win was also a triumphant moment for Under Armour, which sponsored her during the race. The athletic brand includes Lokedi in its roster of Dark Sky Running athletes — a professional distance running group, composed of UA-sponsored runners. Currently, the team includes Lokedi, as well as Courtney Barnes, Patrick Casey, Edward Cheserek, Brandon Doughty, Blake Haney, Matt Llano, Weini Kelati, Kasey Knevelbaard, Taryn Rawlings and Stephen Scullion.
As previously reported, this fall has already been a blockbuster marathon season, with events in London, Berlin and Chicago. This was capped off by Saturday’s TCS New York City Marathon, which returned to its full capacity with 50,000 runners.
Riding the wave of the pandemic boom, the running industry has been capitalizing on the return of in-person events over the past year and sees more big opportunities in the coming seasons. Brooks CEO Jim Weber told FN that running is “trend-right for the challenging and dynamic world we all live in” and is confident participation can double in size by 2030.
With contributions by Peter Verry
PHOTOS: Discover athletic running shoe styles in the gallery.