OBIRI AND WILDSCHUTT EARN HALF WINS AT NYC IN COLD CONDITIONS.
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
NEW YORK (March 15) — Successfully battling both world-class competition and near-freezing temperatures, Kenya’s Helen Obiri and South Africa’s Adrian Wildschut won the elite divisions of the 19th United New York City Half this morning. Obiri, 36, and Wildschut, 27, ran the 21.1-kilometer route from Prospect Park in Brooklyn to Central Park in Manhattan in 1:06:33 and 59:30, respectively. Obiri’s time was a new event record and it was the second time he had won the race. Wildshoot became the first South African winner of the event and he is now the third South African to cross the finish line first in Central Park, joining TCS New York Marathon winners Hendrik Ramaala (2004) and Willie Mtolo (1992).
ELITE WOMEN STRONGLY RUN TECH
Even with all the advances in training for female distance runners, a 4:47 first mile is shockingly fast for a half marathon. That was the split recorded by Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich, the reigning world champion in athletics, who was competing in the race for the first time. Only four other women – Obiri, his Kenyan compatriot Sharon Lokedi, Ethiopian Fentaye Belaine and Dutch Diane Van Ess – were brave enough to stay close to Ngetich. He split the 5-K in 15:15 and Van Ess had to drop back.
The leading four stayed together on the climb to the Brooklyn Bridge that spans the East River, but on the lower Manhattan slope (about 8-K) Ngetich picked up the pace. Obiri locked onto Ngetich, but Lokedi and Belayne deflected back. Lokedi, the reigning race champion, assessed the situation. He wanted to close the gap between the two leaders, but it was already too big.
“It started fast, very, very fast,” a trembling Lockedy told reporters after the race. He continued. “I tried a little, but it didn’t work. I felt like, at the moment, I’m just going at my own pace.”
Ngetich, with Obir almost on his heels, ran the 10-K in 30:50. That put the Kenyan pair on pace for the 65-minute finish. But as Lockedy pointed out, the pace was too fast. Running north on Manhattan’s FDR Drive along the East River, Ngetich suddenly slowed. On the local broadcast of the race, he appeared to have disappeared. In fact, he was very cold.
“Agnes was suffering from hypothermia,” her manager Davor Savija told Race Results Weekly in a text message. “I don’t know why he decided to run without bushings, hand warmers or gloves.”
By the 15-K point on East 42nd Street in Manhattan, Obiri was 30 seconds ahead of Ngetich, who now had to turn his attention to the three women who were close behind him; Lockedy, Belayne and Scotland’s Meghan Keith. That trio was just six seconds back. Keith, who was running his first half marathon, was feeling good. He ignored the blistering early pace and stuck to his race plan.
“Normally I take a lot of risks in my racing, but I’m only used to running a mile to a 10-K on the track or cross country,” Keith told Race Results Weekly. “So I’m new to the roads and then I’m very new to the half marathon. So my team and I decided I had to be smart.”
Meanwhile, Obiri continued to run away. The two-time winner of the TCS New York City Marathon ran solo through Times Square and up Seventh Avenue to Central Park. The three-time world champion had a 39-second lead at the 20-K mark and was just two seconds behind her rivals at the finish line. His time of 1:06:33 knocked 31 seconds off Lockedi’s record from last year. He will run the London Marathon on April 26.
“It was an incredible moment for me,” Obiri said when asked about the spot on the FDR Drive where he left Ngetich. “I told myself to be patient and run my own race because I know women are so strong.”
Obiri, who is a member of On Athletics Club in Boulder, Colo., now has four wins in New York. In addition to winning the TCS New York City Marathon in 2023 and 2025, he has now won the half marathon twice (2023 and 2026) and the Mastercard New York Mini 10-K (2025). He said he likes running here.
“New York, it’s my second home,” he said.
Lockedy, who is training to defend his Boston Marathon title, worked with Kate for the second half of the race. They caught the struggling Ngetic just after 15-K (47:27) and were still in the park together at 20-K (1:03:41). Lockedy was able to run away from his British rival in the park to finish second in 1:07:10 (still faster than his event record), with Keith just three seconds behind (1:07:13). van Ess went on to finish fourth (1:08:21) in the sprint against Belayne, a second behind him. Sixth place went to US marathon record holder Emily Sisson, who, like Lockedy, included this race in her Boston Marathon lineup.
“I just got off my high like three or four days ago,” said Sisson, who now lives in Ireland but still works on his high in Flagstaff, Arizona. “I honestly needed it. I felt really strong, but I think it’s really going to get me, which is good. I’m going to update the next four weeks at sea level.”
Ngetich finished 13th in 1:10:25 and required medical attention. “He was treated in the medical tent and returned about 30 minutes later,” his manager said. “Massive headache and chest tightness followed by some vomiting. He is physically fine now.”
In total, five American women finished the top-10. Amanda Vestry was seventh in 1:09:22, Annie Frisby eighth in 1:09:25, Susanna Sullivan ninth in 1:09:38 and Emily Venters tenth in 1:09:46.
WILDSCHUTT IS WINNING
The men’s race turned out very differently. Like the women, they ran fast, early (13:57 at 5-K and 27:56 at 10-K), but the leading pack was still 14-strong at 15-K (42:24). There were a number of small raises from Ireland’s Peter Lynch, Kenya’s Patrick Kiprop and America’s Zuhair Talby, but nothing stuck.
That is until about the 10-mile mark (16-K) on East 42nd Street in front of Grand Central Terminal. Lynch went to the front again and the pack began to break. Grant Fisher, making his road race and half marathon debut, was off the pace (he would have finished 14th in 1:00:53). Wildshoot saw his chance.
“I talked to my coach Jack Mullaney yesterday and he said if you want to win the race … you have to have the best last 5-K,” Wildshut said. “I’ve been biding my time and waiting … to make a big move and just see what happens. So I was able to separate myself from the pack and just keep pushing the pace.”
Wildschutt’s move remained. He took a left turn into Central Park to take an 11-second lead over Talby, a lead that held until the end. His time was 13 seconds off his personal best, but given the difficulty of the New York course and the very cold weather, it was probably his best half marathon ever. He also liked to follow in the footsteps of Ramaala; now 54, he won the New York City Marathon in 2004.
“Running in New York for the first time and walking into Central Park, I was so happy, it was beautiful,” Wildshut told reporters. He continued. “I was happy that even after years (when Ramaala won), I was able to perform well.”
Talbi, who was active and near the front throughout the race, finished second in 59:41, her first sub-60:00 half marathon. Shockingly, India’s Gulveer Singh, who clocked 59:42 on his debut, finished third. The 27-year-old, who became the first Indian to break sixty minutes for the half marathon, said he will return to the track to focus on the Commonwealth Games this summer. Singh, who is coached by Scott Simmons of the American Distance Project in Colorado Springs, was scheduled to run both the 5,000m and 10,000m.
As for Fisher, the two-time Olympic bronze medalist is disappointed despite posting the third-fastest debut in race history behind only Olympic medalists Mo Farah (1:00:23, 2011) and Galen Rupp (1:00:30, 2011). Fisher said the fast descents early in the race took a toll on his legs, and when the race stopped with 10 miles to go, he just had nothing left.
“It was hard, really, really hard,” Fisher said. “I was hoping my legs would be a bit more durable there, but I think I wasn’t quite ready for the bumps in the hills. The guys really went up some of those hills and it hit my legs. By the time we got into Manhattan, my legs were really tired.” He added: “I think I ran decently, but those last few miles I was sore coming home.”
Alex Mayer (59:51), Peter Lynch (59:52) and Patrick Dever (59:56) finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. The three men are training partners at Puma Elite Running in North Carolina.
Defending champion Abel Kipchumba of Kenya failed to finish. His final split was 43:43 in the 15-K.
ROMANCHUK AND RAINBOW-COOPER ROLL FOR THE UNKNOWN SKYLINE TITLES
The wheelchair races were not close. On the men’s side, Daniel Romanchuk took a 47-second lead over his nearest competitor at the 10-K mark, closing the gap to two minutes and 12 seconds. Romanchuk, competing in his first race since a bad crash at the Sydney Marathon last August, clocked 48:10.
“Six months ago, I wasn’t really sure if I was ever going to get on the starting line again,” said Romanchuk, who dislocated and broke his right shoulder in the crash. He added: “Thank God for the opportunity to race again.”
Rainbow-Cooper, a Scot who finished second in the Tokyo Marathon earlier this month, beat US Paralympic legend Tatiana McFadden by six minutes. His time was 54:27.
“It’s amazing to me,” said Rainbow-Cooper, who will compete in the Boston and London marathons later this month. He continued. “Going into Boston and London, I just want to carry my momentum.”
AMERICA’S LARGEST HALF MARATHON!
Race founders and organizers the New York Road Runners expected about 30,000 finishers today (official finish numbers not yet available). Last year’s edition saw 28,677 runners cross the finish line, a record for the race. The race is now the largest half marathon in the US (for context, the largest half marathon in the world is the Hoka Semi-Marathon de Paris, which had 49,244 finishers on March 8 this year).
The next elite running event New York Road Runners will host will be the Mastercard New York Mini 10-K on Saturday, June 6th. The event is the world’s oldest women’s race, having been established in 1972.
RACE RESULTS WEEKLY is sponsored by RunCzech, organizers of the Prague Marathon and a number of iconic running events, including the Prague Half Marathon, part of the SuperHalfs and Italy’s fastest half marathon, the Napoli City Half Marathon. Learn more here runczech.com:.
FINISHING
