Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia wins the New York City Marathon men's race in New York City, November 5, 2023. /CFP
Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia won the New York City Marathon, setting the new men's course record at 2:04:58 in New York City on Sunday.
The men's race was close in the first half, as Tola and his compatriot Jemal Yimer were running neck and neck. It took Tola about a mile to pull away from Yimer, but the competition was not decided until the final few miles. In the end, Tola broke Kenyian athlete Geoffrey Mutai's record of 2:05:06 set in 2011.
"The people of New York [are] amazing," Tola said. "I work hard training, so it is confidence for me." He had finished in fourth place twice in New York.
Albert Korir of Kenya finished second in 2:06:57. Tola's countryman Shura Kitata was third in 2:07:11.
Hellen Obiri of Kenya reacts after winning the New York City Marathon women's race in New York City, November 5, 2023. /CFP
Hellen Obiri of Kenya won the women's race in 2:27:23. It was a very close contest, as Obiri, Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia and reigning champion Sharon Lokedi of Kenya kept exchanging lead until the final stretch. Obiri made her move to take the lead in the final half-mile.
"My first debut here was terrible for me," Obiri said of finishing sixth in 2022. "Sometimes you learn from your mistakes. ... Finally, I made it."
She became the first woman to win both the Boston Marathon (in April) and the NYC Marathon in the same year since Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway in 1989.
Gidey placed second in 2:27:29, with Lokedi four seconds behind.
Marcel Hug (L) and Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland celebrate after winning the New York City Marathon men's and women's wheelchair races, respectively, in New York City, November 5, 2023. /CFP
Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland won the women's wheelchair marathon with the new course record of 1:39.32, beating the previous record held by American Susannah Scaroni by more than three minutes.
"It's difficult to describe in words. I said to my coach, if I win this race, it's the best performance I ever showed," Debrunner said. "[I] knew it's the toughest marathon of all. It was the first time. I knew it was going to be so tough."
The men's wheelchair title went to Marcel Hug, who is also from Switzerland. He was only three seconds away (1:25:29) from refreshing the course record he set last year.
"It's incredible. I think it takes some time to realize what happened," Hug said after winning the NYC Marathon three times in a row and six times overall. "I'm so happy as well."