Can marathon debutant Edward Cheserek pull a surprise in New York?
The record 17-time NCCA champion will line up for his first marathon on 5 November after years of ruling the collegiate track and cross-country. The American based Kenyan will line up alongside his fiancé Sharon Lokedi, the women’s defending champion.
Athletics
Edward Cheserek was born to run, and it was evident from his early days.
Like most boys growing up in Kenya, he enjoyed playing football on the open fields.
He would inject pace, swiftly moving the ball forward across the makeshift pitch.
And it was right there on the football pitch where his father picked out his running talent. He encouraged his son to focus on athletics, also seemingly aware of the many Kenyans who have had a lot of success in long distance running.
“Running wasn’t my thing,” he admitted to NJ.com.
“One day, my father decided to take me to a training camp.”
It turns out he was built for it.
Cheserek’s natural talent fit in well with his lanky physique and smooth strides, and when the teenager moved to study in the U.S., he was the most highly recruited high school distance runner in the nation.
He continued running even faster at the University of Oregon, where he won 17 NCCA titles, the most by a male college athlete.
He’s now switching to the marathon and has high hopes for New York for his debut 42.2km race on 5 November.
The roads have recently been favourable to debutants, and it could be another turning point in Cheserek’s running career.
Ed Cheserek’s long-awaited move to the marathon
When Cheserek lines-up on 5 November at the Big Apple, he will be starting as one of the favourites, despite his lack of marathon experience.
The focus has always been on the world-class elites and the experienced road racers, but the past few seasons have proved to be very rewarding for debutants.
He knows this all too well.
Cheserek followed last year’s race in New York with great interest, he was a slightly nervous. His fiancé Sharon Lokedi was making her marathon debut.
The women’s result probably gave him the motivation he needed to step up fully to the road. Lokedi, who wasn’t even billed as a contender before the race, shocked a top-class field to win her first marathon.
This year the two American-based Kenyan runners will both be on the elite starting line in New York, with Lokedi seeking to make her mark again, and Cheserek keen to test himself at the top level.
The 29-year-old’s running has gone from strength to strength since he walked away from football in his home village of Kipkaren, deep in the Kenyan rift valley.
The collegiate phenom moved to Newark in 2010 as a student-athlete and immediately found his spot on the track team.
He hit it big on the collegiate circuit, where he was nicknamed ‘King Ches’ after his dominance on the track and cross-country.
Edward Cheserek is hoping to pull a surprise in his first marathon in New York City on 5 November.
Ed Cheserek: 'I can hang in'...the marathon
Cheserek’s running ambitions ran parallel to his dream of representing the U.S. some day. But he’s faced a long road navigating the immigration processes.
Dejected, he eventually decided to chase Olympic qualification in Nairobi in 2021.
But after failing to make Kenya’s team for the Tokyo Olympics over the 10,000m his rollercoaster journey led him to the longer races.
The king of college distance runners could have easily given up his running dream or pursued his professional career with his degree in Business Economics from Oregon, but his running roots run deep.
“I always tell people, keep running. It’s not about competition. If you run, you get your mind set for other things. Don’t stop running,” he said.
After three podium finishes - runners-up spots at the 2021 Great North Run and New York Half marathon and a win at the Copenhagen half last September, he feels ready to step up to the full marathon distance.
“I have been training mostly with the marathoners, and we compete against each other all the time, mostly in the work-outs, running . And I feel like I want to be with these guys and I do feel like I can hang with them for long,” he said to the C Tolle Run Podcast ahead of his anticipated move to the marathon.
“I keep telling myself I better do a couple of marathons before I retire…”
He has been training for the marathon mostly in Kenya, where he also gets to spend time on his vast farm, and at his long-term base in Flagstaff, Arizona. And given the unpredictable nature of the marathon, Cheserek could just 'hang in' there and spring a surprise on Sunday.