How Hellen Obiri plans to conquer Sunday's New York City Marathon

Hellen Obiri will be banking on the lessons learned from her past two marathons to make a statement in the streets of New York City.

Reigning Boston Marathon champion Hellen Obiri made her long-awaited marathon debut in the streets of New York City last year and there are a lot of lessons she learned from that race.

Obiri plans to use the lessons to her advantage as she takes on a very strong field that has been assembled for this year’s edition of the race.

She finished sixth in her debut, clocking a Personal Best time of 2:25:49 which she improved when running at the Boston Marathon. 

“Last year was my debut and, in that case, I was prepared for anything to happen. I learned to be patient and wait for the right time to kick," she said. 

"I also realized that taking a lot of drinks helps a lot during the race. Last year, I thought running a marathon was the same as running on the track but now I have a lot of experience from Boston too. This gives me a lot of motivation to do well."

The two-time World 5000m champion also expressed her happiness to be back in the streets of New York to accomplish her mission.

She explained that she missed out on what she was supposed to do last year and she has returned to show the world that anything is capable. 

“I’m so happy to be back because last year I missed out on what I was supposed to do. I am back to show that I can also do these things,” Obiri said.

She will be battling for top honors against defending champion Sharon Lokedi who is the form of her life. Former world marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei will also be in the mix with the hope of bouncing back.

Olympic champion, Peres Jepchirchir suffered a calf injury during her last session of training and she is yet to confirm whether she will be running.

Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey will also be in the mix after a challenging time at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary where she failed to defend her 10,000m world title.

posted Saturday November 4th
by Abigael Wuafula