2023 New York Marathon: Hellen Obiri Triumphs and Takes Home $100K
Kenya’s Hellen Obiri wins the NYC Marathon, her second in a year. She won the Boston Marathon in April. Photo Credit: Timothy A. ClaryKenya’s Hellen Obiri won the women’s race at the New York City marathon on Sunday, amidst fierce competition from fellow Kenyan Sharon Lokedi and Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia. The three athletes ran side by side during the last mile, frequently taking turns in the lead. However, it was Obiri who surged ahead in final half-mile as trio made their way back into Central Park for the finish line.
The race’s closing moments became a gripping duel between Obiri and Gidey, with Lokedi falling behind. Obiri rebuffed Gidey’s attempts to overtake her and crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 27 minutes, and 23 seconds, leaving her trailing by a mere 6 seconds. Despite this remarkable performance, Obiri’s time fell short of breaking the 2003 record of 2:22:31 set by Kenyan Margaret Okayo. Achieving this would have earned her an additional $ 50,000 bonus to her $100,000 prize money.
The 33-year-old Obiri attributed her victory to meticulous preparation, stating, “Sometimes when you come into a race, you say ‘anything can happen.’ But for me, I train so well, so when I came to this race, I said, ‘I’m strong, I believe in what I’ve done in my training.’
Lokedi, who was the defending champion, finished third, 10 seconds behind the winner. Thereafter, the finish line was momentarily an all-Kenyan affair. Brigid Kosgei secured fourth place, followed by Mary Ngugi in fifth, Viola Cheptoo in sixth, and Edna Kiplagat in seventh.
Kenya’s Hellen Obiri wins the NYC Marathon, her second in a year. She won the Boston Marathon in April.
Photo Credit: Timothy A. Clary
Kenya was not as fortunate in the men’s race. Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola ensured that unlike last year where Kenyan runners claimed victory in both the men’s and women’s races, this year they would have to share at least one of the marathon’s gold medals with a fellow East African country.
Tola not only won the men’s race but also established a new all-time record for the course. He completed the 26.2 mile race in 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 58 seconds, surpassing the twelve-year-old record of 2:05:06 set by Kenya’s Geoffrey Mutai in 2011. As a reward, Tola received an extra $ 50,000 bonus on top of his $100,000 prize money. Kenya’s Albert Korir, who won the marathon in 2021, came second, nearly 2 minutes behind Tola.
Sunday’s marathon drew 50,000 runners from 150 countries to the City that Never Sleeps. The 26.2 mile marathon commenced on Staten Island, took the runners through the five boroughs of New York, and concluded in Central Park in Manhattan. This event, acclaimed as the world’s biggest and boldest marathon, is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, a series encompassing the six largest and most prestigious road races globally —the Tokyo, Boston, London, Chicago, Berlin, and TCS New York City Marathons.
Obiri made her inaugural appearance in the New York Marathon last year, finishing in the sixth place behind the race winner, Lokedi, and fellow Kenyans Edna Kiplagat (fourth) and Viola Cheptoo (Fifth). Reflecting on her debut in 2022, Obiri remarked, “My first debut here was terrible for me, and I say like I don’t want to come back here next year. After that, I said, wow, I’m here again. So, you know sometimes you learn from your mistakes, so I did a lot of mistakes last year, so I said I want to try to do my best.”
Obiri, who clinched the Boston Marathon in April, became the first woman since Norwegian Ingrid Kristiansen in 1989 to win both races in the same year.
With two Abbotts under her, the silver medalist in the 5,000 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, expressed eagerness about the prospect of trying her hand at an Olympic marathon, saying “I’ve done 1500 in Olympics and 5000. So, I’m thinking maybe I can get the gold in the marathon Olympics.”
With this in mind, Obiri has approximately eight months to prepare before Paris welcomes the world to the City of Love for the 33rd edition of the Olympic Games from July 26 to Aug. 11, 2024.
By Musembi Ndaita/Diaspora Messenger Contributor
About Author
Musembi Ndaita is a writer and editor based in the City of Brotherly Love. He was longlisted for the 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. His non-fiction and fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Africology, In the Sands of Time, On the Other Side of Hope, Mere Orthodoxy, and Philadelphia Stories
2023 New York Marathon: Hellen Obiri Triumphs and Takes Home $100K.
