Lehonkova was born in Kazakhstan, but in 1998 moved to Berezhany, Ukraine, the native city of her mother. She is a student of the spiritual master Sri Chinmoy since 1995. She adopted the name Samunnati from Sri Chinmoy (a Sanskrit word represents height, exseltation, dignity and prosperity). Lehonkova ran her first marathon aged 16 and won the 2013 Belfast Marathon, 2015 Dublin Marathon and 2016 Los Angeles Marathon. She finished 87th at the Olympics Women's marathon in Rio 2016.