Kenyans sweep podiums at New York City Marathon as Obiri sets women’s course record

Hellen Obiri set a women’s course record to win the New York City Marathon on Sunday while her fellow Kenyan, Benson Kipruto, won the men’s race by edging Alexander Mutiso by less than a second.

Obiri, who also won the race in 2023, finished in 2 hours, 19 minutes and 51 seconds. Obiri was running with 2022 winner Sharon Lokedi until she pulled away from her countrymate in the final mile, surging ahead and winning easily, besting the previous course record of 2:22.31 set by Margaret Okayo in 2003. Defending champion Sheila Chepkirui finished third. All three beat the previous course best.

Kipruto and Mutiso separated themselves from the chase pack in the men’s race heading into mile 24. Kipruto seemed to have put the race away, pulling away from Mutiso in the last 200 meters. But Mutiso, who also is from Kenya, wasn’t done, surging in the last 50 meters before just falling short. Kipruto finished in 2:08.09.

Hellen Obiri crosses the line to win the women's elite race. Photograph: Eduardo Muñoz/Reuters

On the women’s side, the trio of former champions separated themselves heading into the Bronx at mile 20. American Fiona O’Keeffe and Dutch runner Sifan Hassan had made it a pack of five once the group entered Manhattan a few miles earlier but couldn’t hang on for the final stretch.

This was the first time that the previous three women’s winners had been in the same race since 2018. The trio didn’t disappoint, putting forth stellar efforts. It was the second straight year that Kenyans took the top three spots.

O’Keeffe finished fourth, with fellow American Annie Frisbie finishing fifth. Hassan, who won the Sydney Marathon two months ago, was next. Four of the top nine finishers were Americans.

The 26.2-mile course took runners through all five boroughs of New York, starting in Staten Island and ending in Manhattan’s Central Park. This is the 49th year the race has been in all five boroughs. Before that, the route was completely in Central Park. The first race had only 55 finishers while a record 55,642 people finished last year, the largest in the history of the sport until the London Marathon broke it earlier this year.