SIMBASSA IS READY FOR WORLD MARATHON PARTICIPANTS IN NEW YORK
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used by permission.
NEW YORK (October 31) — Although he is the fastest American to run Sunday’s TCS New York City Marathon, Biya Simbasa is hardly a household name. A late bloomer, Simbassa didn’t start running seriously until his freshman year at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge in 2012, and after transferring to the University of Oklahoma in 2014, he never broke 14 minutes in the 5,000m or won an NCAA championship in track or cross country.
However, the 32-year-old ran a personal best of 2:06:53 at the Valencia Marathon last December and is the 5th fastest American of all time behind only Conner Mantz, Khalid Khanushi, Galen Rupp and Ryan Hall. He also holds the national road 10-K record with a personal best of 27:32 (set in May of this year) and has won five national road titles. He feels he is still young as a runner, still growing. Sunday will be his fourth marathon.
“In college I was like I was in high school, just starting out,” Simbasa told Race Results Weekly in an interview today. “So now it’s like I’m in college and my career is getting better. I’m doing a lot of things I’ve never done before, like running, longer workouts. So it looks like I’m new to the sport. I’m growing.”
In Sunday’s race, where he faces international stars such as Eliud Kipchoge and Benson Kipruto of Kenya, Abdi Nageye of the Netherlands (reigning champion) and Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, Simbasa will not be going fast. New York’s hilly and often windy course makes it difficult to run fast, and the race will have no pacemakers. Instead, Simbasa will be looking to achieve the highest possible finish, which would be a big step in his career, as Sunday’s race will be Simbasa’s first-ever Abbott World Marathon Majors event. He said he feels very comfortable racing here.
“New York because I’ve done a lot of New York racing,” Simbassa explained. “I’ve done the (NYC) half, I’ve done the (Abbott Dash) 5-K. I just wanted to do it in New York. I wanted New York to be my first major. That’s why I chose to do it in New York.”
Simbasa, who represents Asics, is particularly excited about the chance to run without pacemakers in championship conditions, which he believes suits his strengths. Under coach Ian Carter, Ariz. At his base in Flagstaff, Simbasa raised his mileage to increase his power.
“I can do a really good job in the championship race,” said Simbasa. He continued. “One thing I did differently (in training) is I increased my running. My mileage was higher, longer workouts and longer runs. I’ve been up to 125 (miles per week) for the last seven weeks, I’ve been doing 130 miles a week, then I’m down to 125. So I’ve never done this high mileage.
As for his race goals, Simbasa said he just wants to execute his race plan well, stay alert, maintain a reasonable pace and react to any important moves.
“My goal is to stay in it, you know, as long as I can and be patient,” Simbasa said. “You know, this course you never know what’s going to happen. I’m going to stay patient and stay with the group I’m supposed to be with, pick up my diet and all that. Like I said, I’m excited for the championship race. Valencia is just a tempo. He continued. “I think Sunday is going to be good.”
In the last ten editions of the TCS New York City Marathon, only one American has reached the podium, Abdi Abdirahman (third place, 2016). Last year, the top American finisher was Conner Mantz, who finished sixth. Mantz’s time of 2:09:00 was the fastest by an American in New York. Simbasa can challenge for the podium and certainly has a chance to break Mantz’s time, but he said he will not be focused on the clock.
“The pace can change at any time,” he said. “It’s all about how strong you are when you work to the finish line.”
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