Sprint Finishes and New Records at the 2023 New York Marathon
Clear skies and mild temperatures greeted a field of more than 50,000 runners on Sunday morning as they gathered at the base of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on Staten Island for the start of the 2023 New York Marathon.
The race capped off a blockbuster year for the Abbott World Marathon Majors, in which both the men’s and women’s world records were broken. As expected, nobody approached those sorts of times in New York, but fans were still treated to an exciting race with a sprint finish on the women’s side and a new men’s course record.
Elite Women
Margaret Okayo’s 20-year-old course record survives yet another year. The women’s race at the 2023 New York Marathon was a tactical affair that saw 11 of the 14 elite runners still in contention at the 30km mark. With 10km remaining, Kenya’s Viola Cheptoo made a move from the front and finally enforced a separation between herself and the group. The four biggest talents we spoke about in the preview (Peres Jepchirchir withdrew before the start because of a calf problem) were quick to cover the move, and a small pack of five entered Central Park for the final kilometres.
With just three kilometres to go, defending champion Sharon Lokedi replaced Cheptoo at the front. While Letesenbet Gidey and Hellen Obiri tucked in behind her, former world record holder Brigid Kosgei somewhat unexpectedly faded back alongside Cheptoo. Kosgei continued to yo-yo off the back of the group, thrice clawing her way back to the leaders, but an injection of pace at the 40km mark was enough to finally relegate her to fourth.
That injection of pace was courtesy of Lokedi, who knew she did not have the track speed of Obiri and Gidey to use in a sprint finish. However, Lokedi’s long drive for home would prove ineffectual, with Obiri and Gidey moving past the defending champion as they rounded the final corner to meet the long finishing straight.
Winner Hellen Obiri (L) and runner-up Letesenbet Gidey (R) at the finish line of the 2023 New York Marathon
It was reminiscent of their track rivalry (which saw Gidey and Obiri race against each other 16 times). Obiri pushed hard up the home straight, constantly checking over her shoulder for her Ethiopian rival. Gidey slipped back ever so slightly as the pair crested the final rise, and Obiri forged on to win by six seconds, breaking the tape in 2:27:23 to claim her second Marathon Major title of the year. Lokedi successfully held off Kosgei to finish third, just four seconds shy of Gidey.
“It was exciting for me to see Gidey was there,” Obiri said after the race.
“This is like track again.”
The victory comes on the heels of what Obiri called a “terrible debut” when she finished sixth in last year’s New York Marathon.
Also in the post-race press conference was former winner, Lokedi, who commented on the final miles and how the slow early pace influenced her race.
“I think it was just more like – we felt so excited, we knew towards the end it was going to get fast. So, you just prepare your mind on how fast I would get towards the end. It's just like, once that move is made, just be ready to go with everyone.”
While she may not have been able to defend her title, Lokedi has now won two Marathon Major medals in as many starts and is certainly one to watch in the future.
Elite Men
Unlike in the women’s race, the men sorted out their winner long before reaching Central Park. Tamirat Tola - twice fourth in New York - pulled away from countryman Jemal Yimer with 10km to go as the pair crossed the Willis Avenue Bridge and descended into The Bronx. Yimer was the sole survivor of an earlier move from Tola, but this second acceleration proved too much for the inexperienced marathon runner. From there, Tola had only the ghost of Geoffery Mutai’s 12-year-old course record for company, which he eclipsed by eight seconds to become the first man to ever run under 2:05 in New York.
Tola made his intentions clear from the beginning. After a large group moved together through the 10km mark, Tola powered off the front and found only four athletes in tow: 2021 New York Marathon champion Albert Korir, 2021 Olympic silver medallist Abdi Nageeye, Morocco’s Zouhair Talbi, who finished 5th in his debut in Boston in April, and the aforementioned Yimer.
The quintet crossed the halfway mark in 1:02:45 but would separate soon thereafter. Tola continued to drive the pace and clocked 14:07 for the next five kilometres, which was enough to get rid of everyone except Yimer, who struggled on alongside his countryman. Ultimately, Yimer’s determination to stick with the leader proved his undoing, as he dropped back to ninth place by the finish, almost seven minutes adrift of Tola.
Korir finished second, some two minutes back from Tola, and Shura Kitata, who was in no man’s land for most of the race, steadily moved through the field over the final stages to finish third.
Meanwhile, pre-race hopefuls Edward Cheserek and Cameron Levins had disappointing performances, with Cheserek finishing eighth (more than six minutes behind the winner) and Levins dropping out just before halfway.
Tola was satisfied with his performance and hopes it will be enough to earn him a place on Ethiopia’s Olympic team for the Paris Games next year.
"This is my first Major win, [so] this is very, very important for me. After I [withdrew] from the world championships [earlier this year] because of my stomach, I [am] very happy for this. I am thankful for all the support as I ran."
Like Tola, many of these athletes now focus their attention on next year’s Olympic Games. In the meantime, the running world will turn to the Valencia Marathon, which will take place on the 3rd of December.
While it is not part of the Marathon Majors, Valencia boasts a famously fast course (it was the site of Kelvin Kiptum’s record 2:01:53 debut last year). This year, the headline will undoubtedly be about Joshua Cheptegei, the world record holder in the 5000m and 10,000m, who will be making his marathon debut. Also on the start line will be Kenenisa Bekele, almost universally considered the greatest distance runner of all time. At 41 years of age, Bekele is well past his peak, but it is still an exciting prospect to have Cheptegei line up against the man from whom he took those two world records in what is rumoured to be Bekele’s final professional race after more than two decades atop the running world.
You can access the full results from the 2023 New York City Marathon here.