New champions were crowned in the Big Apple on Sunday as the titles went to Kenya and the Netherlands
Sheila Chepkirui pulled away from women’s champion Helen Obiri at Sunday’s TCS New York City Marathon as Abdi Nagei edged out Evans Chebet in the men’s race in 2:07:39.
With no pacesetters and a rolling, winding course, New York is not known for producing fast times. In the men’s and women’s races on Sunday, no one wanted to push the pace in the early stages either.
Things picked up in the second half of each race, but Chepkirui’s winning times of 2:24:35 and Nageye’s 2:07:39 still did not threaten the race records (Margaret Okayo’s 2:22:31 and Tamirat Tola’s 2:04. 58) not to mention the ever-improving world records.
Still, the championship-style race produced some interesting action.
The women crossed the halfway line at 73:59 with Chepkiru content to sit in the box conserving energy. All eyes were on defending champion Obiri, but he eventually had to concede defeat as he finished 14 seconds behind the winner.
“This means a lot to me because it shows that my training has gone well,” Chepkirui said. “The last mile was very difficult, but I pushed myself forward and I’m very happy. I plan to come back next year.”
Sheila Chepkiru (Getty)
The Kenyans rounded out the top three with 41-year-old Vivian Cheruiyot showing great form in the twilight of her career to finish third in 2:25:21 after trying to break away earlier.
Bahrain’s Younis Chumba was fourth in 2:25:58, while Switzerland’s Fabien Schlumpf was fifth in 2:26:31, with Sarah Vonn the first American in 2:26:56, followed by Ethiopia’s Senbere Teferi in 2:27. 14.
2022 winner and 2023 runner-up Sharon Lockedy was ninth as Lily Partridge led the British home in 2:30:55.
Tirunesh Dibaba, the multiple world running champion, dropped out of the season.
The men’s race unfolded in a similar fashion, with a sluggish 65:33 halfway through, with many runners still struggling.
Around 25km in, however, the pack split as Chebet took off, soon followed by Tola as the reigning champion and Olympic gold medalist went to the front.
The battle ended in Central Park between Nageeye and Chebet, but the 35-year-old Somali-Dutch runner edged out Chebet, with the Kenyan finishing six seconds back.
Abdi Nagey (Getty)
“I felt so good that I felt like I could go 50km. said Nagei. “I’ve had a tough year and the Olympics were disappointing for me, but this felt like a dream here.
“I won the Rotterdam Marathon in April, so I knew I could win here. I knew this was my race for the day. It might sound simple, but there was a lot of hard work behind it.”
Albert Korir of Kenya was third in 2:08:00, Tola of Ethiopia was fourth in 2:08:12 and Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya was fifth in 2:08:50.
Conner Mantz was the first American in 2:09:00, just 21 seconds ahead of his training partner Clayton Young.
Abel Kipchumba and Bashir Abdi followed in eighth and ninth.
The first Briton was Jonny Mellor, who clocked 2:11:22 after leading the pack earlier before it split after halfway.
British colleague Callum Hawkins was 23 years oldth at 2:15:12.
Daniel Romanchuk (Getty)
American Daniel Romanchuk beat Britain’s David Weir by five seconds to win the men’s wheelchair race in 96:31, with Japan’s Tomoki Suzuki third and favorite, Switzerland’s Marcel Hoog fourth.
Susanna Scaroni (Getty)
Susanna Scaroni was a clearer winner in the women’s wheelchair race as the American won in 1:48:05 to beat Tatiana McFadden of the USA and Manuela Schar of Switzerland by more than four minutes, with Great Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper fourth.
Full results here.
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