Marathon Has New Men's Mark

Hellen Obiri wins women's marathon, Tamirat Tola the men's
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 5, 2023 2:25 PM CST
Men's Record Falls in New York
Hellen Obiri, of Kenya, crosses the finish line in the professional women's division of the New York City Marathon, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023, in New York.   (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Tamirat Tola wasn't thinking about breaking the New York City Marathon course record as he was running by himself in Central Park for the last few miles of the race. He was focused on trying to win. The Ethiopian runner broke the 12-year mark, finishing the 26.2-mile race in 2 hours, 4 minutes and 58 seconds on Sunday—eight seconds faster than Geoffrey Mutai in 2011. "I think to win, and the course record just happened," Tola said. Tola, who finished fourth in the race in 2018 and 2019, pulled away from countrymate Jemal Yimer when the pair were heading toward the Bronx at mile 20. By the time Tola, 32, headed back into Manhattan a mile later he was up by 19 seconds and left only chasing Mutai's mark, the AP reports.

Albert Korir of Kenya, who won the 2021 NYC Marathon, finished second nearly two minutes behind Tola. While there wasn't much drama in the men's race after Tola pulled away, the women's competition came down to the final stretch. Hellen Obiri of Kenya pulled away in the final 400 meters to take the title. Obiri, 33, ran New York for the first time last year and finished sixth. "My first debut here was terrible for me," she said. "I don't want to come back here next year. Sometimes you learn from your mistakes." Obiri, Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia, and defending champion Sharon Lokedi were all running together, exchanging the lead. Obiri made a move as the trio headed back into Central Park for the final half-mile, pulling away. She finished in 2:27:23.

Gidey finished second, six seconds back. Lokedi was 10 seconds behind Obiri, who won the Boston Marathon in April. She's the first woman to win those two marathons in the same year since Norwegian Ingrid Kristiansen did it in 1989. This was a stellar women's field potentially able to take down the course record of 2:22:31 set by Margaret Okayo in 2003. Sunday's race was much cooler than last year's, with temperatures in the 50s—ideal for record-breaking times and for the 50,000 runners. Instead, the women had a tactical race with 11 runners, including Americans Kellyn Taylor and Molly Huddle in the lead pack for the first 20 miles. Taylor and Huddle both led the group at points before falling back and finishing in eighth and ninth, per the AP.

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"It was super weird, one of the weirdest races I ever ran with the caliber of talent in the field," Taylor said, adding, "We're running six-minute pace for no good reasons." About an hour earlier, Marcel Hug won the men's wheelchair race, finishing a few seconds short of his own course record by finishing in 1:25:29. It was the Swiss star's record-extending sixth NYC Marathon victory. Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland won her New York debut, shattering the course record in the women's wheelchair race. She finished in 1:39:32, besting the previous mark by over 3 minutes. Daniel Romanchuk and Aaron Pike qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics by finishing as the top Americans in the men's wheelchair race; Scaroni and McFadden qualified on the women's side.

(More New York City Marathon stories.)

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