Running News Daily

Grovdal, Kipchumba Take Victories At United Airlines NYC Half

Norway’s Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal and Kenya’s Abel Kipchumba won this morning’s hilly and chilly United Airlines NYC Half in 1:09:09 and 1:00:25, respectively.  Grøvdal, 33, a three-time European Athletics cross country champion, became the first European woman to win the race since Britain’s Mara Yamauchi in 2010. 

Kipchumba, 30, last November’s B.A.A. Half-Marathon champion in Boston, was the race’s ninth Kenyan male champion over its 17-year history.  Both athletes won $20,000 in prize money.

The two dozen women in the elite field were in no hurry to establish a fast pace when the race set off from Prospect Park in Brooklyn just after sunrise.  Calli Thackery of Great Britain, recently named to her country’s Olympic Marathon team, was the early leader and a pack of seven went through the 5-K checkpoint in a gentle 17:07.  Grøvdal was in that pack along with Kenya’s Gladys Chepkurui, Edna Kiplagat and Cynthia Limo; the Netherlands’ Diane Van Es; and Switzerland’s Fabienne Schlumpf.  The two top Americans, Des Linden and Jenny Simpson, were five seconds back.

The next five kilometers would be critical.  As the leaders ascended the Manhattan Bridge to cross the East River, the pace became too difficult for Thackery, Van Es and Schlumpf who all slid back.  At the 10-K mark on the Manhattan side (33:26) the race was down to four: Grøvdal, Chepkurui, Kiplagat, and Limo.

Limo, the reigning Honolulu Marathon champion, was next to lose contact after Chepkurui pushed the pace up the FDR Drive along the East River. By 15-K, Limo was nearly 20 seconds behind and would finish a distant fourth in 1:11:54.

Grøvdal Comes Back

But Grøvdal was also hurting.  In the tenth mile (17th kilometer) as the race went up Seventh Avenue past Times Square, Grøvdal began to lose contact with Chepkurui and Kiplagat.  It looked like she would finish third for the third year in a row.

“I was so tired then,” Grøvdal told reporters.  “Just thinking, it’s third this year also.  But then, I don’t know.  I just tried to don’t get the gap too big.  Suddenly, I was just behind them again.”

The final seven kilometers of this race are particularly tough.  The race climbs about 30 meters from 15-K to the finish, and the finish straight itself is uphill.  Grøvdal knew the course well and was ready.

“Then something in me just, OK, now it’s the finish,” Grøvdal explained.  “It’s 3-K left, so I was planning to have a strong finish the last 2-K and I did that.”  She added: “I just went for it.”

The men’s race began much more aggressively than the women’s.  By the 5-K mark (14:23) Kipchumba and Morocco’s Zouhair Talbi had already reduced the lead pack to four.  Along for the ride were two Olympic steeplechasers, American Hillary Bor and Eritrean Yemane Haileselassie.  The four stayed together through 10-K (28:38), but then Kipchumba and Talbi began to trade surges.  That kind of racing was too punishing for Haileselassie, who drifted off the pace.  Bor, running in just his first half-marathon, hung on.

“I wanted a fast race and I think the same for him,” said Talbi, who is observing Ramadan and had to fast in the days leading up to today’s race.  “He (Kipchumba) wanted to push… so both of us keep pushing from the start.  I pushed until the end, basically.”

By 15-K (42:54) Bor was 12 seconds back and Haileselassie was 32 seconds in arrears.  It would be either the Kenyan or the Moroccan who would take the victory today.  Kipchumba was determined and recognized Talbi as a formidable opponent.

“Today was not easy,” Kipchumba told Race Results Weekly.  “The guy was strong.”

Kipchumba finally shook off Talbi in the race’s final stages, leading by 10 seconds at 20-K (57:18) and, ultimately, 17 seconds at the finish.  His time of 1:00:25 was the fastest since 2017 when the race was held on a different –and much easier– course from Central Park to lower Manhattan.

“I tried my best; I won the race,” Kipchumba said.  “(With) three kilometers remaining I said it’s time to win.”

Talbi was second in 1:00:41, and Haileselassie passed Bor in the final kilometer to take third in 1:01:37 to Bor’s 1:01:47.  Another American, Reed Fischer, rounded out the top 5 in 1:03:06.

(03/19/2024) Views: 514 ⚡AMP
by David Monti

Edna Kiplagat to fight for top honors at NYC Half Marathon

Double world marathon champion, Edna Kiplagat will lead a stellar team of deep elite women at the 18th edition of the New York City Half Marathon scheduled for Sunday (17) in New York City.

The 44 year-old who is the oldest athlete to grace this event, comes to this race with the second fastest time on paper of 1:07.52 that she got last year at the Houston Half Marathon.

Kiplagat who is also a four time world major marathon winner will have to get past the two-time U.S. Olympian and Boston Marathon winner Des Linden and Rio Olympics 1500m bronze medallist, Jenny Simpson.

Other title contenders include former European 10,000m bronze medallist, Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal, who is also the fastest athlete on paper with a time of 1:07.34, world marathon bronze medallist, Fatima Gardadi, and Canadian marathon record holder Malindi Elmore.

The race organisers have assembled this strong team to target the race course record of 1:07.35 set eight years ago by Molly Huddle of United States.

LEADING TIME

21KM WOMEN

Karoline Grøvdal (NOR) 1:07.34

Edna Kiplagat      (KEN) 1:07.52

Malindi Elmore    (CAN) 1:10.11

Des Linden           (USA) 1:10.34

Jenny Simpson     (USA) 1:10.35

Fatima Gardadi    (MOR)1:10.28

(03/15/2024) Views: 369 ⚡AMP
by James Koech

Jenny Simpson Targets NYC Half

For the first time in her running career, Jenny Simpson faced a decision that she’d never considered in a race. At mile 18 of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, her debut at the distance, the most decorated U.S. 1500-meter runner in history made the difficult choice to drop out of the competition on February 3.

The marathon leaves runners vulnerable to a number of challenges—nutrition issues, tough terrain, the rigors of high mileage—which can derail even the most experienced runners on a bad day. When Simpson, 37, started cramping with 16 miles left in the race, the setback shocked her. After spending months transforming her body from an explosive middle-distance runner to a long-distance athlete on the roads, Simpson felt ready to take on 26.2, which made the race in Orlando, Florida, all the more confusing.

“One of the beautiful things about running is that so often what you put in is what you get out, but the [Olympic Marathon Trials] wasn’t that way at all,” Simpson told Runner's World.

After the race, Simpson took time to reflect. For two days, the three-time Olympian relaxed with her family in Oviedo, Florida, her hometown located just outside Orlando. In between playing with her nieces and enjoying home-cooked meals, she expected to feel sad following the race. But to her surprise, that feeling never came. Instead, Simpson felt motivated to find another opportunity to show her fitness.

While riding in an Uber on the way home from the Denver airport to her house in Marshall, Colorado, Simpson sent a text message to a contact at the New York Road Runners (NYRR), asking if there were any spots available to race the NYC Half. The event in New York City on March 17, one of 60 adult and youth races organized by NYRR throughout the year, will include Simpson in her third half marathon.

Coming out of a tough few years of personal and professional hardships, Simpson has a new perspective on disappointment. For her, the Olympic Trials is just another exercise in the importance of having faith in the process and her ability to bounce back.

“The race didn’t turn out the way I wanted, but I still believe in myself,” Simpson said. “I’m up at the plate, gripping the bat and I swung once, totally missed, but I’m gonna swing again because I believe I’m ready for it.”

Marathon metamorphosis

After spending well over a decade dominating American middle-distance running and collecting medals on the global stage—including world championship gold (2011), two silver medals (2013 and 2017), and Olympic bronze at the 2016 Rio Games—Simpson’s streak of making U.S. teams ended during the pandemic. In 2021, she made the finals of the 1500 meters at the Olympic Trials, but she finished 10th.

That fall, she started to transition to the roads with her first 10-mile race. But at the end of 2021, her life was upended by injury, the conclusion of a longtime sponsorship with New Balance, and a devastating wildfire that she and her husband, Jason, narrowly escaped on December 30, 2021. While their home was spared, most of their neighbors’ houses were destroyed. For three months, the couple was displaced while damage was repaired.

By the spring of 2022, things started to turn around for Simpson. Her sports hernia was healing, she and her husband returned to their home, and she was in conversations with shoe companies. That fall, she signed with Puma and shared her intent to focus on the roads.

In January 2023, she made her debut in the half marathon with a 1:10:35 in Houston. That summer, she announced her plans to race the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, her first 26.2.

In collaboration with her longtime coaches, Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs, Simpson threw herself into the event. She built up to 100-mile weeks during the training cycle, worked with a nutritionist on mid-race fueling, and spent three weeks in Orlando acclimating to the heat in preparation for the championship.

Lessons learned

On race day, Simpson started out at a pace that felt manageable (she ran between 5:23 and 5:38 per mile through the first 10), resisting the urge to go with the blazing pace set by the leaders. Just past halfway, Simpson got a side stitch, and then she started cramping, first in her toes and then in her calf and hips. “Over the course of a few miles, I went from being able to race, to feeling like I was in trouble being able to move through my normal range of motion,” she said.

Simpson tried to double down on hydration at the aid stations, but the muscle cramps got worse as the race progressed. While battling through the setback, Simpson ultimately decided to accept the loss. For an athlete who is used to being on the podium, dropping out was an agonizing choice, but the crowd’s support on the course helped her cope.

“It’s one thing for people to say, ‘We’re proud of you no matter what,’ and I’ve heard that my whole life. I’ve been the woman who can make the team,” Simpson said. “To actually be in the position where I’m not doing well and I’m not making the team and everyone is good on that promise to be proud of me no matter what, I’m just so grateful.”

Now almost three weeks out from the race, Simpson and her team are determining takeaways from the competition. After spending many years following a set schedule of Diamond League competitions and international championships on the track circuit, Simpson wants to choose races that excite her. Right now, that means conquering a half marathon through Times Square and Central Park.

“2024 for me is gonna be about embracing the freedom to dial in on the experiences that I want to have before this is all over,” Simpson said. “It’s not going to last forever, and that doesn’t mean I’m retiring tomorrow or anytime soon, but we’ve been through some tough years, and I still think life is beautiful.”

(02/29/2024) Views: 516 ⚡AMP
by Tailor Dutch

Kenenisa Bekele, Connor Mantz & Clayton Young To Headline 2024 United Airlines NYC Half

The New York Road Runners (NYRR) has announced that the 2024 United Airlines NYC Half, taking place Sunday, March 17, will feature 11 Olympians, seven Paralympians, and several more professional athletes who have their eyes on the Paris 2024 Games this summer.

Conner Mantz and Clayton Young, fresh off finishing first and second, respectively, at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, will headline the men’s open division at the United Airlines NYC Half, while two-time U.S. Olympian Hillary Bor will race 13.1 miles for the first time in his career and the world’s most-decorated distance runner, Kenenisa Bekele, will return to New York for his second NYRR event. The women’s open division will be chock-full of established contenders, including Olympians Des Linden, Jenny Simpson, Edna Kiplagat, Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal, and Malindi Elmore, in addition to World Championships marathon bronze medalist Fatima Gardadi.

These athletes will lead more than 25,000 runners during the United Airlines NYC Half, the world’s premier half marathon, organized by NYRR, which runs from Brooklyn to Manhattan, passing historic landmarks, diverse neighborhoods, and sweeping views of the city along the way before finishing in Central Park.

Men’s Open Division

Mantz and Young, training partners from Provo, Utah, will line up together at the start in New York less than two months after finishing one-two at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando and qualifying for the Paris 2024 Games. Mantz was fifth in his first United Airlines NYC Half in 2022, and last year became the seventh-fastest American marathoner in history when running 2:07:47 to finish sixth at the Chicago Marathon. Young finished right behind him in seventh in 2:08:00 and will be making his United Airlines NYC Half debut.

“I think I have a lot of room to improve in the halfs,” Mantz said on the latest episode of NYRR Set the Pace, Feb. 22, 2024. “I want to get these halfs in so I can have more confidence heading into Paris. I ran [the United Airlines NYC Half] in 2022…which was probably one of the most special experiences and it was a huge learning [experience]. It was probably my first race where I was competing against a big international field…so it was a really good experience for me, and I think it’s one I want to repeat and take what I’ve learned in the last two years and use it.”

Ethiopia’s Bekele, a four-time Olympic medalist, 16-time world champion, and the third-fastest marathoner in history, will challenge the American duo, racing with NYRR for the second time after finishing sixth at the 2021 TCS New York City Marathon. He will be joined at the starting line by Kenya’s Abel Kipchumba, the reigning champion of the B.A.A. Boston Half Marathon who owns one of the top-10 half-marathon times in history.

(02/24/2024) Views: 578 ⚡AMP
by Letsrun

Malindi Elmore and Tristan Woodfine to run 2024 NYC Half

On Thursday, the New York Road Runners (NYRR) announced the field for the 2024 NYC Half on March 17, which will feature Canadian marathoners Malindi Elmore and Tristan Woodfine alongside 11 Olympians and one of the world’s most decorated distance runners, Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele.

This will be Bekele’s first time at the NYC Half and only his second career road race in New York City. (He finished sixth at the TCS New York City Marathon in 2021.) Bekele is one of the most prolific runners of all time, having been at the top of the sport for more than two decades. His personal best of 2:01:41 from the 2019 Berlin Marathon still stands as the Ethiopian national record, and makes him the third-fastest marathoner in history.

Bekele will headline the men’s race alongside top U.S. marathoners Conner Mantz and Clayton Young, who are fresh off finishing first and second, respectively, at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 3. Also joining the men’s field is Cobden, Ont.’s Woodfine, who is coming off an impressive 2:10:39 personal best and sixth-place finish at the 2024 Houston Marathon. The 30-year-old is currently training for the 2024 Boston Marathon, where he hopes to place in the top five to potentially secure a spot on the Canadian Olympic marathon team in Paris.

The women’s elite field will be full of established distance runners, including Olympians Des Linden, Jenny Simpson, Edna Kiplagat and Elmore, who was recently nominated to her third Olympic Games. Elmore secured her spot on the Canadian team last fall with a 2:23:30 clocking at the 2023 Berlin Marathon, the second-fastest Canadian women’s marathon time. Like Woodfine, Elmore is also training for the 2024 Boston Marathon, which she hopes will prepare her for the hilly marathon course at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is expected to be the hilliest Olympic marathon course to date.

The men’s and women’s elite field will lead more than 25,000 runners during the United Airlines NYC Half, the world’s premier half marathon, which runs from Brooklyn to Manhattan, passing historic landmarks, diverse neighbourhoods and sweeping views of The Big Apple before finishing in the middle of Central Park.

(02/24/2024) Views: 509 ⚡AMP
by Marley Dickinson

Ednah Kiplagat confirms next race as she chases more history

Forty-four-year-old Edna Kiplagat has opened up on where she will compete next, giving the impression that she is not hanging her spikes anytime soon.

More than 25,000 runners have confirmed participation at the New York City Half Marathon scheduled for Sunday, March 17 from Brooklyn to Manhattan, finishing in Central Park.

One of the headliners in the women’s field is 44-year-old Kenyan runner Edna Kiplagat who will be using the race as part of her preparations for the Boston Marathon.

Kiplagat is one of the most successful long-distance runners and from her records, she is a two-time Boston Marathon champion and former London and New York City Marathon champion.

Kiplagat will be up against compatriots Gladys Chepkurui, the reigning Tokyo Half Marathon champion, and Cynthia Limo, a World Athletics Championships half-marathon medalist. The duo has the two fastest times in the women's open division.

Two-time US Olympian and 2018 Boston Marathon champion Desiree Linden will return as the top American finisher from last year's race, having recently finished 11th at the US Olympic Marathon Trials.

Olympic and World Championships medalist Emily Simpson will make her United Airlines NYC Half debut but she is no stranger to NYRR races as an eight-time winner of the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile.

Lindsay Flanagan and Annie Frisbie, both of whom finished in the top 10 at the 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials, will also be ones to watch.

Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele, a four-time Olympic medalist, 16-time world champion, and the third-fastest marathoner in history, will challenge the Kenyan charge in the men’s race. He will be competing in the streets of New York for the second time after finishing sixth at the 2021 TCS New York City Marathon.

The Kenyan charge will be led by, Abel Kipchumba, the reigning champion of the B.A.A. Boston Half Marathon who owns one of the top 10 half-marathon times in history.

Morocco's Zouhair Talbi will return to the event after taking third in his United Airlines NYC Half debut last year, which he called "the race of his life."

Since then, he finished fifth at the Boston Marathon and broke the Houston Marathon course record in January.

Tanzanian Olympian and marathon record-holder Gabriel Geay, who was the runner-up at last year's Boston Marathon, will race the United Airlines NYC Half for the first time.

An American contender to watch will be Hillary Bor, a two-time U.S. Olympian and five-time national champion who will be making his half-marathon debut.

(02/23/2024) Views: 440 ⚡AMP
by Abigael Wuafula

Obiri breaks event record, Kiplimo gets the better of Cheptegei in New York

Two-time world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri and world cross-country champion Jacob Kiplimo produced dominant performances at the United Airlines NYC Half on Sunday (19).

Obiri was locked in a duel with Ethiopia’s 2015 world silver medallist Senbere Teferi for much of the race, but broke away from the defending champion just before 15km to win in an event record of 1:07:21. Kiplimo, meanwhile, waited until just after 15km to make his move, and once he dropped Joshua Cheptegei he didn’t look back, going on to win in 1:01:31.

Obiri and Teferi made an early break from the rest of the field. By the time they reached 5km (15:50), they already had a 22-second margin over Diane van Es of the Netherlands, who led a small chase pack.

Teferi was tucked in right behind Obiri for a large part of the race with the Kenyan leading the duo through 10km (31:29). But as they started to approach the 15km marker, Teferi’s challenge began to fade. Obiri forged on ahead and crossed the line in 1:07:21 to take 14 seconds off the event record Teferi set last year.

Teferi had to settle for second place on this occasion, clocking 1:07:55. European cross-country champion Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal came through for third place (1:09:53).

“I’m so grateful to have won this race,” said Obiri, the 2019 world cross-country champion. “There was a lot of wind, but I tried to push the pace after 15km.

“My mind was just on winning and not the time, because it is a hard course. I still wanted to run sub-70, so I’m happy to have done that and to have won today.”

Britain’s Chris Thompson was a surprise early leader of the men’s race, opening up a significant gap on the rest of the field in the first 5km, covered in 15:00. He just about held on to the lead until 10km (30:10), by which point the large chase pack was just a few strides behind.

Once Thompson had inevitably been reeled in, Morocco’s Zouhair Talbi led what was now a lead pack of about 15 runners. The group soon became strung out with Talbi leading at 15km (44:35), just ahead of Kiplimo and Cheptegei.

Just a minute or two later, Kiplimo – contesting his first race since winning the world cross-country title in Bathurst last month – finally took charge and started to pull away from Cheptegei and Talbi.

Over the course of the final five kilometres, Kiplimo opened up a gap of 38 seconds on two-time world 10,000m champion Cheptegei, winning in 1:01:31. Cheptegei was second in 1:02:09, finishing nine seconds ahead of Talbi.

“I’m very excited to win this race, my first half marathon of 2023,” said Kiplimo. “Even though it was cold, I did my best. For the past few months I have been preparing for cross-country, and that helped me a lot for this race.”

(03/19/2023) Views: 1,350 ⚡AMP

3-time champion Molly Huddle is ready for 2023 NYC Half

The United Airlines NYC Half came into Molly Huddle‘s life in 2014 and it was one of the key turning points in the now 38 year-old’s storied career.  Never a fan of cross country or indoor track, the 28-time national champion liked to de-camp from her Providence, R.I., home in the winter to put in her pre-season base miles in the warmth of Arizona.  The NYC Half, with its mid-March date, was the perfect race to close-out her winter training block.  Her long-time coach Ray Treacy, whom Huddle affectionately calls “The Guru,” gave his blessing and she signed-up for the 2014 race.  It would be her first-ever half-marathon.

With the temperature right at the freezing mark, Huddle ran the entire race with the leaders.  She went through the first 10-K in 33:01, and the second in a much faster 32:21 as the pace heated up.  Although too far behind eventual winner Sally Kipyego (1:08:31), she finished a close third to eventual 2014 Boston Marathon champion Buzunesh Deba, 1:08:59 to 1:09:04.

“It was good,” a shivering Huddle told Race Results Weekly’s Chris Lotsbom that day.  “I think I stuck my nose in it in the beginning and the distance got to me a little in the end, but it was definitely a fun experience. I definitely want to do another one.”

The rest, shall we say, is history.

For the next three years Huddle would repeat the same winter program, training in Arizona then coming to New York for the NYC Half before starting her track season*.  She won in 2015, 2016 and 2017, and in the 2016 race she set the still-standing USATF record for an all-women’s race: 1:07:41.  During her reign at the top, she beat top athletes like Sally Kipyego, Caroline Rotich, Des Linden, Aliphine Tuliamuk, Buzunesh Deba, Emily Sisson, Edna Kiplagat, Diane Nukuri, and Amy Cragg.  She also lowered her 10,000m personal best from 31:28.66 to an American record 30:13.17, a mark which would stand for more than six years until Alicia Monson broke it just 11 days ago at The Ten in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.  She also collected $65,500 in prize money from the event which is organized by New York Road Runners.

Huddle returns to the NYC Half for the first time in six years on Sunday, but she’s no longer focused on winning.  The race comes about 11 months after she, and husband Kurt Benninger, had their first child, daughter Josephine Valerie Benninger, whom Huddle calls “JoJo.”  Speaking to Race Results Weekly at a press event yesterday in Times Square, she reflected on her history with the race.

“The last time I did the Half was 2017, I think, so a long time,” said Huddle, wearing a warm hat and jacket on a cold, late-winter day.  “Great to be back.  Great to be running again seriously after having the baby in April.  So, this will be a good test.”

Huddle has been slowly building her fitness since giving birth to Josephine.  She first returned to racing last August at the low-key Bobby Doyle Summer Classic 5 Mile in Narragansett, R.I., –very close to her home– clocking 29:17.  Since then she has run in a series of local races in New England –a pair of 10-K’s, a 5-K cross country, and a half-marathon– to regain her racing chops.

Then, in January of this year, she ran the super-competitive Aramco Houston Half-Marathon and clocked a very good 1:10:01, a mark which qualified her for the 2024 USA Olympic Team Trials Marathon.  She went back to training, and the NYC Half should give her a good reading on her progress.

“I’m really happy to fit it back in the schedule,” said Huddle, who is still breastfeeding and will be pumping while she is in New York (Kurt is with Josephine at home in Providence).  “I feel like I’m having more baseline workouts now, less of a building phase and more back to normal.  I’ve had a few little injury problems last month, but I’m coming around.”

A well-traveled athlete, Huddle is sticking close to home for her races now.  New York is a three and one-half hour drive (or train ride) from Providence.

“I love racing within a drive distance of home now because of the baby, and this is an easier race for me to get to,” Huddle said.  “So that’s good.”

Sunday’s race has yet another purpose for Huddle.  It will kick-off her training for her next marathon, a distance that she hasn’t taken on since the 2020 Olympic Trials in Atlanta when she was forced to drop out with an injury.  Although she wasn’t at liberty to reveal which race it will be, she said that the timing of the NYC Half was perfect, just like it always was.

“So, I’m really focusing more on the roads now; it fits in really well with that plan now,” Huddle said.  She continued: “This is going to kick off a marathon build-up for me, so this will be a really good race to fit into my marathon block as we go forward the next two months.”

(03/19/2023) Views: 1,026 ⚡AMP
by David Monti

Cheptegei, Kiplimo To Renew Their Rivalry At United Airlines NYC Half

Standing in Times Square this morning, Jacob Kiplimo and Joshua Cheptegei looked like any other tourists visiting one of this city's most famous landmarks. Their hands thrust into their jacket pockets to ward off the late winter cold, the two Ugandans took in the sights while engaging in friendly conversation and taking a few selfies. Neither had ever been to New York City.

But on Sunday at the 16th edition of the United Airlines NYC Half, America's largest half-marathon with about 25,000 finishers, they will return to their more familiar roles as rivals. Kiplimo, 22, the reigning World Athletics half-marathon and cross country champion, and Cheptegei, 26, the reigning Olympic and World Athletics 10,000m champion, will face each other again just 29 days after the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia. There --in hot, humid and windy conditions-- Kiplimo won the gold medal in a last-lap breakaway relegating Cheptegei, who was the event's reigning champion, to the bronze medal position. Both are savoring the chance to race head to head again, but their rivalry is clearly a friendly one.

"I'm happy to be competing together with Joshua," said Kiplimo, the world record holder for the half-marathon, with a relaxed smile. He beat Cheptegei in 2020 World Athletics Half-Marathon Championships where he was the surprise gold medalist and Cheptegei finished fourth in his first and only half-marathon. He added: "On Sunday we're going to try our best, I'm going to try my best."

Cheptegei said, "absolutely, yes," when asked if he was motivated to race against Kiplimo. "I would really give everything to win," he told Race Results Weekly. "But you never know what goes in the race."

According to the respected statistics website Tilastopaja Oy, Cheptegei has a 6-0 record over Kiplimo in track races at 5000m and 10,000m. In the half-marathon, Kiplimo won in their only meeting, and at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships they are tied 1-1. Cheptegei was the gold medalist in Aarhus, Denmark, in 2019 where Kiplimo took the silver.

But their biggest rival on Sunday just might be the course. When the race debuted as a summer event back in 2006, the course went from Engineers' Gate in Central Park to a stretch of the West Side Highway just north of Battery Park in lower Manhattan. Runners enjoyed a total elevation loss of 30 meters, and in the final 10 kilometers the athletes were often helped by a tailwind as the prevailing winds in New York City come from the north and west. But in 2018 New York Road Runners changed the course to encompass more of the city's residential neighborhoods, and it now goes from Prospect Park in Brooklyn to Central Park in Manhattan. The opening nine kilometers feature several significant hills, including a steep climb up the Manhattan Bridge where the runners cross from Brooklyn to Manhattan.

"I saw in the TV that some is a little bit tough," Kiplimo said of the course. He added: "I think it will be very difficult, but actually for me it's not so difficult because we'll just be running up and down. It's almost the same (as) World Cross."

Cheptegei, who has reached the point in his track career that he has begun thinking about his marathon debut, didn't seem too worried about the course and was already looking ahead to a possible run at the TCS New York City Marathon which also has a hilly course.

"They haven't told me so many things about the course," Cheptegei said. "They told me about the New York full marathon course, where the race is mostly decided, especially on the climb." He continued: "About Sunday, really excited to run my second half-marathon. I've really thought about it, and maybe in the future when I go to marathons maybe New York can be my final destination."

Both men said they had recovered well since their race in Bathurst, and Cheptegei said he had picked up some additional fitness.

"I think I had a lot of time to recover," he said. "I had to continue with my training because I was sure that I was actually going to be invited for the New York Half-Marathon. Everything has been going along well. My shape is actually better than cross country so I hope that I can run a good half-marathon."

NYRR is offering a $120,000 prize money purse for Sunday's race. Twenty-thousand dollars will be paid to the winners in the open male and female categories, while the wheelchair winners will receive $4,000. There is special prize money for NYRR members in the male, female and non-binary categories ($1500 for each category winner).

This year's United NYC Half comes three years after the 2020 race was abruptly cancelled at the outset of the pandemic. The 2021 edition of the race was also cancelled, and in 2022 the race was held at nearly full capacity with 22,335 finishers recorded. NYRR's new president and CEO, Rob Simmelkjaer, was clearly excited to oversee his first major event since becoming the organization's head in December, 2022.

"We can't wait to welcome 25,000 runners to the starting line," said Rob Simmelkjaer, who pronounces his last name SIM-el-care. He continued: "People are running more now than ever before."

The 2023 United Airlines NYC Half will be broadcast locally by WABC-TV channel 7 as part of their Sunday morning news broadcast. The pro races, which begin at 7:00 a.m. local time, can be streamed on both the NYRR's Facebook (https://twitter.com/nyrr) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/nyrr) pages, and will also be available via the ESPN app and the WABC website (https://abc7ny.com/)

(03/17/2023) Views: 1,017 ⚡AMP
by David Monti

Galen Rupp enters Sunday’s NYC Half, his first race in four months

Galen Rupp enters Sunday’s NYC Half, his first race in four months, coming off what he called “a pretty rough” 2022.

The two-time Olympic medalist competed four times with two DNFs in the Big Apple (NYC Half and New York City Marathon) and, in the road events he did finish, results of seventh and 19th, all surrounded by neck and back pain.

Rupp’s New York City Marathon debut on Nov. 6 was his most recent race. His back began really bothering him after 10 miles. He dropped out around the 22nd mile after it “completely locked up.”

“Obviously, the marathon left a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth,” Rupp said by phone last week. “Even the half last year in New York was a little bit of a disaster. So, definitely wanted to go back, and I thought that a half marathon would be a good distance for where I’m at right now to kind of test myself and see where I’m at.”

Rupp, a 36-year-old from Oregon, has taken it slow over the last few months. He didn’t run for the first two or three weeks after the five-borough marathon. By late December, he was back to a reduced but “decent volume” of miles, training remotely from Arizona-based coach Mike Smith.

He said he has been pain-free for two months — “a huge blessing” — but his training load hasn’t been close to normal going into Sunday’s 13.1-mile race.

“I’m not expecting to be in top shape,” he said. “But I am hoping to be competitive here in the half coming up and keep building from here.”

Rupp had no plans for a spring marathon as of the interview, but he did not rule out a late entry. Recognizing a need for competition, he’s eyeing more shorter distances this spring and summer.

He said it’s possible he races on the track and in the 10,000m at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in July. In his last track race, Rupp placed sixth in the Tokyo Olympic Trials 10,000m, having already made the team in the marathon.

He does expect to enter a marathon this fall, leading up to next February’s Olympic marathon trials, where the top three are in line to make the team for Paris. He can become the first man or woman to win three Olympic marathon trials since it became a one-event race in 1968.

Despite last year’s struggles, Rupp was still the fifth-fastest American male marathoner in 2022 from his 19th-place finish at the world championships. He ran 2:09:36, stopping four or five times in the last several miles after missing training time due to a herniated disk and pinched nerve in his back.

He is also the fastest American marathoner in this Olympic cycle by 101 seconds, courtesy of his runner-up in Chicago in October 2021 (2:06:35).

“I still feel like I could certainly PR and certainly run a lot faster than I have in a marathon,” said Rupp, the third-fastest American marathoner in history with a best of 2:06:07 from 2018. “I want to prove to myself, more than anything, that I can get back to the level that I was in and even exceed that level.”

Next year, Rupp will try to become the second U.S. male track and field athlete to compete in five Olympics, according to Olympedia.org. He believes he can continue beyond 2024.

“I know a lot of people talk about being older, but this is really the first time I’ve been hurt significantly for an extended period of time,” he said. “I believe, deep down in the core of my being, my heart of hearts, that I still have a lot left to give in the marathon.”

(03/16/2023) Views: 880 ⚡AMP
by Nick Zaccardi

Eilish McColgan will tackle NYC Half on the road to London

In-form Brit is set to face Hellen Obiri, Molly Huddle, Senbere Teferi and Karoline Grøvdal in New York next week as Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo lead the men’s field

After breaking Paula Radcliffe’s long-standing British 10,000m record in California last weekend, Eilish McColgan’s next big race in the run-up to her marathon debut in London is the United Airlines NYC Half on March 19.

She will face Hellen Obiri, the former world cross-country champion and two-time Olympic medalist, plus three-time NYC Half winner Molly Huddle of the United States.

Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia, who holds the course record with 67:35, also runs, in addition to 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden of the US and reigning European cross-country champion Karoline Bjerkeli-Grøvdal of Norway.

McColgan’s British record is 66:26 from last year’s RAK Half, but Obiri’s best is 64:22 from the same RAK Half, Teferi ran 65:32 in Valencia in 2019 and Huddle has a best of 67:41 from 2016.

Obiri and McColgan clashed at the Great North Run in 2021 with the Kenyan breaking away in the latter stages to win by six seconds. But the Briton has been in terrific form lately with a 30:00.86 national record for 10,000m at the Sound Running Ten event in California.

Her marathon debut in London is set to take place on April 23 too.

McColgan is among a number of Brits set to race in New York City too with others being Jess Warner-Judd, Chris Thompson and Andy Butchart. Warner-Judd ran a half-marathon PB of 67:19 in Houston in January and will be looking to revise those figures.

(03/09/2023) Views: 864 ⚡AMP
by Jason Henderson

New Mom and Elite Runner Molly Huddle is Ready to Take on the NYC Half

Molly Huddle admits making time for running is considerably more challenging since giving birth to a baby girl last April, but she’s excited to be back racing at a high level as a healthy and fit mother.

The 38-year-old two-time U.S. Olympian ran so well at the Houston Half Marathon on January 15, she’s optimistic about racing a late spring marathon. Next up, Huddle will be racing in the deep women’s elite field at the United Airlines NYC Half on March 19 for the first time since taking her third consecutive victory in the event in 2017.

Huddle began to gradually increase her training late last summer under the guidance of longtime coach Ray Treacy and ran a couple of moderately fast 10Ks and a half marathon last fall. But then she had a big breakthrough when she ran 1:10:01 in Houston. Even though that was well off the 1:07:25 PR she recorded while setting an American record in 2018, it was still an impressive effort.

“I wasn’t sure if I’d get back to even doing that, so that was good,” Huddle said. “Sometimes it’s good to just start 100 percent over and slowly build back. I think that was the only way I was gonna do it. I haven’t really been tested at a level that would be like trying to PR or qualify for a U.S. team, so we’ll see how it goes. But I think there’s a lot out there. I mean, just because you’re not making the Olympic team, you can still do a lot in the sport.”

Huddle said she generally felt good while running about 40 miles a week through eight months of her pregnancy, but then backed off and did whatever she could manage in the final month before Josephine was born on April 26. After giving birth, Huddle took extra time to recover until she felt like she could run consistently, but she also consulted with a pelvic floor specialist to make sure she wouldn’t risk injury by incorporating too much training intensity too soon.

While she’s earnestly back to training at a high level, she admits she’s still managing the physical challenges of breastfeeding, as well as the new time constraints as she and her partner, Kurt Benninger, the head cross country coach and assistant track coach at Brown University, juggle their schedules to maintain their professional lives while prioritizing their efforts to care for their daughter.

Huddle is grateful for the continued support from her longtime sponsor Saucony, as well as the increased honest public and social media conversations among women athletes becoming mothers. She says she’s taken cues, inspiration and advice from fellow elite-runner moms Aliphine Tuliamuk, Faith Kipygeon and Sara Vaughn, among others.

“It’s just a long timeline, but it’s been great to see other women do it,” Huddle says. “It takes some time and some, you know, intentional exercises and some pacing yourself, but then once you get the green light after, you know, a certain amount of months, I feel like you can do everything you were doing before.”

Huddle won the NYC Half in 2015, 2016, and 2017,with her winning time of 1:07:41 from 2016 setting an event record that stood until last year. She’ll line up against Ethiopia’s two-time Olympian Senbere Teferi, who last year broke Huddle’s event record while winning in 1:07:35. She is also a two-time world championships silver medalist and the 5K world-record holder (14:29) for a women-only race.

Other Notable Runners for the NYC Half

Two-time Olympic medalist and seven-time world championships medalist Hellen Obiri of Kenya, three-time Olympian and four-time European Championships medalist Eilish McColgan of Scotland, and two-time U.S. Olympian and 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden will also toe the line in New York. Other top Americans include Dakotah Lindwurm, Erika Kemp, Maggie Montoya, Annie Frisbie and Jeralyn Poe.

Huddle hasn’t announced which marathon she’ll run in late April or early May. Her last effort at 26.2 miles was four years ago this spring, when, despite having had an off day in London, she finished 12th place in a new PR of 2:26:33. She was considered one of the favorites to finish in the top three at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Atlanta three years ago this week, but dropped out near mile 20, partially because she was still struggling with an Achilles injury.

(02/27/2023) Views: 1,067 ⚡AMP
by Brian Metzler, Melanie Mitchell

Joshua Cheptegei will battle Jacob Kiplimo and Galen Rupp at 2023 United Airlines NYC Half

 The 2023 United Airlines NYC Half on Sunday, March 19 will feature professional athletes from 17 different countries, including 19 Olympians, 11 Paralympians, and seven past event champions, making it one of the most diverse fields in the race’s history.

The men’s open division will be headlined by Olympic champion Joshua Cheptegei, half-marathon world-record holder Jacob Kiplimo, and Olympic medalist Galen Rupp. Defending champion Senbere Teferi, Olympic and World Championships medalist Hellen Obiri, and three-time event champion Molly Huddle will lead the women’s open division. A trio of past TCS New York City Marathon and United Airlines NYC Half champions – Susannah Scaroni, Manuela Schär, and Daniel Romanchuk – will feature in the strongest wheelchair field in event history, which will also welcome Paralympic medalists Catherine Debrunner and Jetze Plat for the first time.

These athletes will lead more than 25,000 runners at the United Airlines NYC Half, which goes from Brooklyn to Manhattan, passing historic landmarks, diverse neighborhoods and sweeping views of the city along the way before ending in Central Park.

Men’s Open Division

A pair of Ugandans, two-time Olympic and four-time World Championships medalist Cheptegei and Olympic medalist and two-time World Champion Kiplimo, will race head-to-head in the men’s open division as they take on an NYRR race for the first time. At 26 years old, Cheptegei is the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 5,000 meters and world champion in the 10,000 meters, as well as the world-record holder in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. In November 2021, Kiplimo set the half marathon world record of 57:31 to win the Lisbon Half three months after taking a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the 10,000 meters. Then last year, the 22-year-old won bronze in the 10,000 meters at the World Championships. He won the gold medal, ahead of Cheptegei’s bronze, at the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia, on February 18.

“I’m very excited for my first race in New York City, the United Airlines NYC Half,” said Cheptegei. “One of the primary goals for 2023 is to defend my 10,000-meter gold medal from the World Championships, and this half marathon is an important part of those preparations. The race seems like a great tour of New York City and it’s very cool that we get to run through Times Square. There’s so much running history in New York, and the city has seen so many champions battling it out in iconic races. I want to add to that history.”

“It will be my USA road racing debut at the United Airlines NYC Half next month, and I will try hard to become the first champion from Uganda,” Kiplimo said. “My gold medal from the World Cross Country Championships last weekend shows that everybody will need to be at their best to beat me. I have been told that the NYC Half course is difficult, and a record may not be possible, so I will focus on being the first across the finish line in Central Park.”

Challenging the Ugandan pair will be two-time U.S. Olympic medalist and Chicago Marathon champion Rupp, last year’s United Airlines NYC Half runner-up Edward Cheserek of Kenya, and past event champions Ben True of the United States and Belay Tilahun of Ethiopia.

Women’s Open DivisionTwo-time Olympian Huddle will be racing the United Airlines NYC Half for the first time since taking her third consecutive victory in the event in 2017. Huddle won the race in 2015, 2016, and 2017, with her winning time of 1:07:41 from 2016 setting an event record that stood until last year. The former American record-holder in the half marathon was fifth at the Houston Half Marathon in January, nine months after giving birth to her daughter.

“In a lot of ways, my three-straight wins at the United Airlines NYC Half really began my transition to full-time road racing. I’m excited to return to the race for the first time in six years, with a different mindset towards training and racing since the birth of my daughter,” Huddle said. “I’m inspired to teach her the value of hard work and resilience, and where better to do that than the city that has seen some of my career’s greatest successes?”

Huddle will line up against Ethiopia’s two-time Olympian Teferi, who last year broke Huddle’s event record, finishing in a time of 1:07:35 to win the race, and returned to Central Park three months later to win her first Mastercard New York Mini 10K. She is also a two-time World Championships silver medalist and the 5K world-record holder for a women-only race.

Two-time Olympic medalist and seven-time world championships medalist Obiriof Kenya, three-time Olympian and four-time European Championships medalist Eilish McColgan, andtwo-time U.S. Olympian and 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden will also toe the line.

The event will be covered locally in the tri-state area by ABC New York, Channel 7 with live news cut-ins between 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Additionally, the four professional fields will be covered by a livestream, distributed internationally from NYRR’s digital channels, abc7ny.com, and the ESPN App, beginning at 7:00 a.m. ET.

(02/23/2023) Views: 990 ⚡AMP
by NYRR Press Release

Amazing Wins and an Event Record at the 2022 United Airlines NYC Half

The United Airlines NYC Half made a spectacular return to the streets of New York City today as the first major NYRR race back at full scale since the onset of the pandemic.

This year’s event featured the strongest professional athlete field in event history, including 23 Olympians, eight Paralympians, six half-marathon national record holders, and the defending wheelchair division champions. In ideal racing conditions, the pro races played out thrillingly over 13.1 miles of New York City streets.

In the men’s wheelchair division, Daniel Romanchuk of the United States defended his title in a time of 49:22, more than two minutes faster than his winning time from 2019 and four minutes up on the rest of the field today. “I’m really happy to be back in New York racing and see the city so alive,” said Romanchuk a two-time Paralympic medalist and two-time TCS New York City Marathon winner.

 For the women open race,  Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia and Irene Cheptai of Kenya pulled ahead early and ran shoulder to shoulder in Brooklyn, across the Manhattan Bridge, and through Manhattan.

Teferi prevailed in the end, setting an event record of 1:07:35 and breaking Molly Huddle’s record by six seconds. Cheptai was also under the old record in a time of 1:07:37. “I was being very careful throughout the race and watching my pace,” said Teferi through a translator. “I’m very happy to have won.” Her victory is all the more remarkable given that she briefly took a wrong turn in the race’s final 100 meters. Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal of Norway was third in 1:08:07. 

The men’s open division saw 22-year-old Rhonex Kipruto outlast a lead pack of four runners and break the tape in 1:00:30, just over a minute off the event record of 59:24, held by Haile Gebrselassie. Edward Cheserek of Kenya was second in 1:00:37 and Teshome Mekonen of Ethiopia finished third in 1:00:40.

“I feel good because I’ve come back again to win, and my first win was in New York,” said Kipruto, referring to his 2018 victory in the Healthy Kidney 10K in Central Park. “It was not an easy win today because the course was very hilly. It was about the win, not about the time.”

Today’s events also included the return of the Times Square Kids Run at the United Airlines NYC Half for hundreds of youth ages 8–18. 

(03/20/2022) Views: 1,288 ⚡AMP

Rhonex Kipruto will lead Kenyan cast for New York Half Marathon

Rhonex Kipruto will be hoping for a bright start to the season when he lines up for the New York Half Marathon in United States of America on Sunday.

He is among elite athletes who will be battling it out for top honours in the prestigious race which has attracted a good number of entries.

The race will begin in Brooklyn at Prospect Park before taking runners across the East River via the Manhattan Bridge then head to Lower East Side, up to Midtown, through Times Square and conclude at Central Park.

Kipruto, who has been training in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County will be competing against his compatriots who include Edward Cheserek who has been training in Kaptagat and Stephen Sambu who is also in the US.

The trio will face stiff competition from Ethiopians Tariku Bekele, Birhanu Dare and Ashenafi Birhana, Galen Rupp and Shadrack Kipchirchir from USA among other top athletes.

In an interview with Nation Sport, Kipruto said he has trained well and since this is his first race this season, he wants to gauge his performance as he sets his eyes on the World Championships slated for July 16-24 in Eugene, USA.

“The race will be competitive but I will be out to gauge my performance as we start another season where I’m looking forward to a better one compared to last year. I have trained well but I can’t say that my training is 100 percent,” said Kipruto.

He revealed that last year he participated in various races but this year he wants to concentrate on preparing for the World Championships thus he will reduce the number of races he will feature in.

“Last year I participated in many races and I came to realise they were not of help and that’s why I want to run few races as I prepare to make the team that will be participating in World Championships in July,” he added.

Kipruto was a late inclusion in the Tokyo Olympics team for the 10,000m race after withdrawal of Geoffrey Kamworor which led to his dismal performance where he finished ninth in 27:52.78.

In the women's category, Irene Cheptai will be joined by two-time world marathon champion Edna Kiplagat, Sharon Lokedi and Grace Kahura.

Cheptai, who is also starting her season revealed that she has been training well in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet and she just wants to run a good race as she also sets her sights on World Championships.

“I’m going into the race to just see how I will perform and with such a good field of athletes, I will be eyeing a good race. This is part of my preparations for global events like World Championships and Commonwealth Games,” said Cheptai who finished sixth at Tokyo Olympic Games in the 10,000m after timing 30:44.00.

The Kenyan athletes will be competing against Ethiopia’s Senbere Teferi, USA’s Sara Hall, Charlotte Purdue among others. 

(03/19/2022) Views: 2,017 ⚡AMP
by Bernard Rotich

2022 NYC Marathon returning to full capacity

The New York City Marathon will return to full capacity with an estimated 50,000 runners set to participate in early November.

The race, one of the most prestigious events on the global running calendar, was cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and returned last year with a reduced field of 30,000 runners amid a number of safety protocols.

"Last year's marathon served as an uplifting and unifying moment for New York City's recovery as well as a symbol of renewed hope, inspiration, and perseverance," New York City Marathon race director said on Thursday.

"This November, we are excited to have runners from all over the world fully return as we come together to deliver one of the best days in New York."

Organizers said this year's marathon, scheduled for November 6, will require runners to be fully vaccinated. Many event elements will be restored, including on-course entertainment.

The 26.2-mile (42.16 km) run through the city's five boroughs typically draws hundreds of thousands of people along the race course in a city-wide celebration.

(02/25/2022) Views: 1,002 ⚡AMP

Galen Rupp, Rhonex Kipruto, Molly Seidel and Sara Hall will headline 2022 united airlines NYC Half

The 2022 NYC Half Marathon scheduled for March 20 will boast its most impressive field of professional athletes ever, the New York Road Runners announced Tuesday.

In total, 24 Olympians, eight Paralympians, and six open division athletes who hold national half-marathon records in their respective countries will descend upon the big apple next month in the race’s first running since 2019. The last two years saw the NYC Half Marathon canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The men’s open division will see US Olympic medalist Galen Rupp try his hand in the half marathon. He is the American record-holder in the 10,000 meters while winning the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London at that race. He also has a bronze medal in the marathon at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio. 

Rupp will be racing the NYC Half Marathon for just the second time ever after finishing third in 2011.

“The NYC Half was my debut at the distance, and was only the second road race of my professional career,” Rupp said. “I can’t believe that more than a decade has passed since then. It’s wild that the race will be more than double the size it was when I ran in 2011, and I’ve heard the Brooklyn-to-Manhattan course is challenging, but a great tour of the Big Apple. With the World Championships taking place in my home state of Oregon later this summer, I’m looking for the race to be a great stepping stone to everything else I want to achieve in 2022.”

He’ll have plenty of top-notch competition, however. Rhonex Kipruto of Kenya is the 10K world-record holder while Ben True was the first American man to win the NYC Half Marathon in the open division back in 2018.

Five-time US Olympian Abdi Abdirahman will be making his 10th appearance at this event next month — a stark contrast to US Army officer Elkanah Kibet, who makes his debut at the NYC Half Marathon after finishing in fourth place at the 2021 New York City Marathon back in November.

The women’s opened division is headlined by half-marathon American record holder Sara Hall, who is a two-time defending champion at the New York Mini 10K.

She ran a record 1:07:15 half marathon just last month in Houston.

“My NYC racing career started with my win at the Fifth Avenue Mile way back in 2006 and along the way I’ve broken the tape at… the New York City Marathon weekend and twice won the New York Mini 10K in Central Park,” Hall said. “Until now, though, I’ve never stepped to the line at the NYC Half. Setting the American record over that distance last month gives me a ton of confidence as I train for this new challenge.”

She’ll be joined by Molly Seidel, who won bronze in the marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics before setting an American course record in a fourth-place finish at the 2021 NYC Marathon.

Both the women’s and men’s wheelchair division champions from last year’s half marathon return in U.S. Paralympic medalists Tatyana McFadden and Daniel Romanchuk.

Romanchuk is a two-time NYC Marathon winner, including a title in 2018 that saw him become the first American and youngest athlete ever to win the men’s wheelchair division.

McFadden is one of the most decorated Paralympians there is, winning 20 medals over six Games.

“I love this race. We get to run by all the great NYC iconic spots,” McFadden said. “It’s fun seeing all the kids running in Times Square as we go by; it will be great to be back after so long.”

(02/23/2022) Views: 1,281 ⚡AMP
by Richard Heathcote

American record-setter Sara Hall sets sights on NYC Half, says U.S. poised to dominate in 2022

Fleet-footed Sara Hall returns to action at the New York City Half next month having claimed the United States half-marathon record last month ahead of what she sees as a banner year for American athletics.

She set the U.S. record of 1:07:15 in Houston last month, beating Molly Huddle's previous best (2018) by 10 seconds, after finishing on the podium at the 2020 London Marathon and at the Chicago Marathon last year.

Joining her at the marquee New York race are Tokyo bronze medalist Molly Seidel, who finished fourth in the New York City Marathon in November, and 2021 Chicago runner-up Emma Bates.

"It's been awesome to see U.S. female marathoners either getting on the podium or being in contention every time out at the highest level every time," Hall told Reuters.

With all eyes on the U.S. when it hosts the World Athletics Championships for the first time this summer, Hall believes the U.S. could dominate at Eugene, Oregon's Hayward Field.

"USA track and field is strong against so many," said Hall. "Every event, we're in medal contention... it's a really exciting time to be a fan of the sport."

She credits her own recent run of success in part to her husband, Ryan Hall, who began coaching her after he retired from professional athletics in 2016. Whereas "tough love" has been widely embraced in athletics coaching for decades, she says his softer approach has made the difference.

Together, they hold the men's and women's American half-marathon records.

"I've had coaches in the past that were like, 'Oh, you just gave up', you know, like that kind of stuff," said Hall.

"That was really detrimental to me because it really made me believe I wasn't mentally tough. And then when you believe that about yourself, it's kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Hall hopes hers can be an example in what can be achieved with a method not based in "fear," as conversation about mental health and wellbeing dominates the upper echelons of sport.

"I hope that people are seeing what creates longevity," Hall told Reuters. "That win at all costs, tough love approach, that doesn't create longevity in the sport."

The NYC Half will take place on March 20.

(02/22/2022) Views: 1,271 ⚡AMP
by Amy Tennery

The United Airlines NYC Half will be held March 20, 2022 after being cancelled in 2020 and not held in 2021 due to the pandemic

New York Road Runners (NYRR) has announced the return of the United Airlines NYC Half on March 20, 2022, after being cancelled in 2020 and not held in 2021 due to the pandemic.

Next year’s race will get back at full scale with an expected field of 25,000 runners – marking the first NYRR race to return to its traditional field size. The event is one of the organization’s signature races taking a 13.1-mile run from Brooklyn to Manhattan.

“In early March 2020, the United Airlines NYC Half was one of the first mass sporting events to be cancelled during the onset of the pandemic,” said Kerin Hempel, CEO, NYRR.

“We are extremely excited for the glorious return of this popular race. It will be reflective of our city’s vigour and serve as a defining moment as we bring our races back to full scale.”

The course showcases New York City’s historic landmarks, popular parks, views from the Manhattan Bridge, and diverse neighbourhoods. Starting at Prospect Park in Brooklyn the race passes Grand Army Plaza, the United Nations, Grand Central Terminal, and Times Square, before ending near the TCS New York City Marathon finish line in Central Park.

Additionally, the race will host hundreds of children taking part in the Rising New York Road Runners youth event featuring a 1,500m out-and-back course on Seventh Avenue in Times Square.

The 2022 United Airlines NYC Half field will consist of both guaranteed and non-guaranteed entrants. Runners can receive guaranteed entry through a variety of methods, e.g., for NYRR members who complete four qualifying events in 2022 and have an active membership by the last qualifying event.

Non-guaranteed applicants can register for a chance to run through the entry drawing. The application period for all guaranteed entrants and the entry drawing for non-guaranteed entrants opened at 13:00 EST on November 18 and closes at 23:59 EST on December 1.

The drawing for non-guaranteed applicants will take place on December 8, and runners will be notified of their entry status.

(11/20/2021) Views: 1,401 ⚡AMP

2021 NYC Half Cancelled Due to Pandemic-Related Health and Safety Concerns

The 2021 United Airlines NYC Half is cancelled due to health and safety concerns related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The race, which takes place annually in March, is one of the world’s largest half marathons. The decision was made in consultation with the Mayor’s Office of New York City, and was announced today by New York Road Runners (NYRR), the event organizers.

The cancellation marks the second consecutive year the United Airlines NYC Half has been cancelled. This year’s event, which had been scheduled for March 15, 2020, was canceled at the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak. The event annually features 25,000 participants on a course that runs from Brooklyn to Manhattan. 

Runners who had previously registered for the cancelled 2020 United Airlines NYC Half and opted to defer entry to 2021 will have the option to choose a full refund for their 2020 entry fee or defer entry to the 2022 event. Runners who earned entry to the 2021 race through an NYRR incentive program do not need to take any action; runners will receive an email informing them their entry will be deferred to 2022.

All runners impacted by the 2021 cancellation will be contacted directly by NYRR. Runners from around the world will be invited to participate in the 2021 Virtual United Airlines NYC Half. Details will be announced soon.     

NYRR normally hosts approximately 50 in-person running events annually. In addition to the cancellation of the 2021 United Airlines NYC Half, NYRR will not be organizing its normal schedule of races in the first quarter of 2021.

This fall, NYRR re-introduced in-person running events through the Return to Racing Project, which feature many new health and safety protocols. The races are limited to a few hundred runners in compliance with city and state event guidelines. More information on the 2021 race calendar will be shared at a later date.

(12/03/2020) Views: 1,329 ⚡AMP

United Airlines New York City Half-Marathon has been cancelled due to the Coronavirus

New York’s number of confirmed coronavirus cases jumped to 173 Tuesday, up 31 since Monday.

In New York City, there are 17 new cases, bringing the total to 36, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office.

“Against the backdrop of 8.6 million people and for the vast majority of New Yorkers, life is going on pretty normally right now,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in an interview. “We cannot shut down because of undue fear.”

Officials are urging New Yorkers to practice what they call “social distancing.” That means avoiding large gatherings and public transit as much as possible.

The concerns are having an impact on several events around town. On Tuesday night, organizers cancelled New York City Half Marathon scheduled for Sunday.

Here is the press release from the NYRR: "At New York Road Runners, the welfare of our running community is always our top priority. Due to the rapidly developing coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, the NYC Half, scheduled for Sunday, March 15, and the accompanying Rising New York Road Runners youth event, have been cancelled. We appreciate the support of New York City officials through this complicated decision-making process.

"We know this is a challenging time for everyone, and the cancellation of the NYC Half is disappointing news to many, but the resources necessary to organize an event with 25,000 runners on the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan have become strained during this difficult period. Over the past week the NYRR team worked hard to adjust plans, implementing modifications and accommodations to alleviate crowding and facilitate social distancing. Unfortunately, it has become clear that we will be unable to proceed in the manner that our runners have come to expect at NYRR events, where the safety and security of our runners, volunteers, staff, partners, and spectators are our main concern.

"Due to the scale of the race during this unprecedented time, runners who registered directly with NYRR will be contacted in the next few days with the option to select either a full refund of their entry fee or guaranteed non-complimentary entry to the 2021 NYC Half next March (exact date TBD). Runners who gained entry through a charity or tour operator should reach out directly to that organization for the options available to them."

(03/10/2020) Views: 1,630 ⚡AMP

Six of Canada’s fastest women are set to race United Airlines NYC half

March 15 is the United Airlines NYC Half-Marathon and six of Canada’s fastest women are set to race. Natasha Wodak, Krista DuChene, Kinsey Middleton, Jen Moroz, Melanie Myrand and Dayna Pidhoresky will all be lining up.

Canada is in the midst of a distance running renaissance that’s showing no signs of slowing down, and these women have played a major part in that. Wodak holds that fastest personal best of the Canadians. She ran a Canadian record in Houston a few weeks ago, becoming the first Canadian women to run under 1:10:00 for the half.

Her record of 1:09:41 stood for three weeks before it was broken by Andrea Seccafien, the current record holder, by two seconds.

DuChene is coming off her strongest year since 2015, running a 2:32:27 to win the master’s division at the 2019 Berlin Marathon. Middleton had a tough day at STWM in October but her 1:12:15 from Houston shows that she’s ready for a strong spring racing season. Myrand hasn’t put up a result since the World Championship marathon in Doha last September, so it’ll be interesting to see where she’s at. Her current personal best is a 1:15:50, a time she’ll likely lower.

Pidhoresky hasn’t touched her half-marathon personal best since the Niagara Falls half-marathon in 2011. Her 1:11:46 is sure to get broken, especially considering her Olympic qualifying marathon from STWM.

(02/20/2020) Views: 1,831 ⚡AMP
by Madeleine Kelly

Defending Champions Joyciline Jepkosgei and Belay Tilahun will Return for the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon

All four defending champions – Joyciline Jepkosgei, Tatyana McFadden, Belay Tilahun, and Daniel Romanchuk – will return for the 2020 United Airlines NYC Half, which will feature a world-class professional athlete field that includes 14 Olympians and eight Paralympians leading 25,000 runners from Prospect Park in Brooklyn to Central Park in Manhattan.

The 15th running of the event will take place on Sunday, March 15, leading the athletes on a 13.1-mile tour through neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Manhattan and past iconic New York City landmarks, including Grand Army Plaza, the United Nations, Grand Central Terminal, and Times Square. Coverage of the race, including features, interviews, and pro race look-ins will be available on WABC-TV, Channel 7 in the New York area from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. ET on race day, while a pro race livestream will begin at 7:00 a.m. ET on multiple ABC7 and NYRR social media channels.

“This year’s United Airlines NYC Half will feature all four defending champions leading an exciting array of international stars and rising American talent,” said Michael Capiraso, president and CEO of NYRR. “Olympians and Paralympians from 18 different countries will join our defending champions in a race that will be followed all around the world, as New York again becomes the focal point of the global running community this March.”

Jepkosgei, who won the United Airlines NYC Half and TCS New York City Marathon last year in her first two trips to the United States, will look to defend her event title against a stacked international field. 

At the 2019 United Airlines NYC Half, during her first-ever trip to the United States, Jepkosgei won on a solo run to the finish in a time of 1:10:07. The world championships silver medalist in the distance became the sixth woman from Kenya to win the United Airlines NYC Half, and the first to do so since 2014. She then made her marathon debut at the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon and finished in first place with a time of 2:22:38.

She was just seven seconds off the course record and registered the second-fastest time in the women’s open’s division in New York City Marathon history. The time was also the fastest ever by a woman making her New York City Marathon debut. Jepkosgei is the world-record holder in the half marathon, having run a 1:04:51 to win the 2017 Valencia Half-Marathon in Spain.

“In my first two trips to the U.S. – for the United Airlines NYC Half and TCS New York City Marathon last year – I was so excited to cross the finish line first in Central Park to win both races,” Jepkosgei said. “I cannot wait to return to New York to defend my NYC Half title.”

Challenging Jepkosgei will be two-time NYC Half champion Caroline Rotich, 2018 NYC Half champion Buze Diriba and last year’s runner-up, Mary Ngugi. Olympians Milly Clark, Susan Krumins, Steph Twell, and Natasha Wodak will join them in the field, along with the United States’ Jess Tonn, who finished as the runner-up at the 2019 USATF 5K Championships and will be making her half-marathon debut.

(02/19/2020) Views: 1,721 ⚡AMP

Belay Tilahun of Ethiopia and Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya won their New York City racing debuts in the open division

Tilahun, a 24-year-old member of West Side Runners, recorded his surprise victory in a time of 1:02:10 with an exciting kick through the final two miles. 

“I was feeling quite cold at the beginning, but as I was warming up, I began to feel better. After about 15 kilometers, I was confident that I could win. So I used the finishing kick that I had to win,” Tilahun said. 

Eritrea’s Daniel Mesfun finished second in 1:02:16 after leading for the majority of the race, while U.S. Olympic silver medalist Paul Chelimo took third in 1:02:19 in his half-marathon debut. 

A record eight American men finished in the top 10 in the open division, as Chelimo was followed by Jared Ward, Noah Droddy, Brogan Austin, Tim Ritchie, John Raneri, Parker Stinson, and Ben True, respectively.

 In the women’s open division, Jepkosgei, the half marathon world record-holder, won her first-ever race in the United States on a solo run to the finish in a time of 1:10:07. The world championship silver medalist in the distance became the sixth woman from Kenya to win the event, and the first to do so since 2014. “This season I am preparing to debut in the marathon, and this was a great half marathon to see how my body feels,” Jepkosgei said.

Fellow Kenyan Mary Ngugi came through the finish line one minute later in 1:11:07 to take second place, 15-hundredths of a second ahead of last year’s champion, Ethiopia’s Buze Diriba.

Emma Bates, the 2018 USATF Marathon champion, was the top American in the women’s open division, taking fourth place in 1:11:13. She was followed by 2018 Boston Marathon winner Des Linden in fifth place in 1:11:22.

(03/19/2019) Views: 2,519 ⚡AMP

Thomas Panek is the first blind runner to complete the half marathon with guide dogs

Thomas Panek and his running guide dogs Westley, Waffle and Gus will make history on Sunday in the 2019 New York City Half Marathon.

Panek, the president and CEO of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, will be the first blind runner to complete the half marathon with guide dogs.

His trio of Labrador Retrievers -- who will take turns pacing him along the 13.1 mile course -- will be the first four-legged athletes in the race.

"It's really a team," Panek said.

 Panek had no intention to give up the sport, even after losing his eyesight in his early 20s.

Thanks to volunteer human guides, he has since completed 20 marathons. Still, Panek missed the feeling of independence, which ultimately inspired him to start a formal training program for running guide dogs.

In 2015, Panek established the first-of-its-kind "Running Guides" program at Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a certified nonprofit school in Westchester County, New York that has trained guide dogs for the visually impaired for decades.

Twenty-four dogs have completed the program and another 12 are halfway to graduation. Once trained, Guiding Eyes matches each dog with an applicant and helps train the new team free of charge.

Thomas Panek finished the half on Sunday clocking 2:20:52.  

(03/17/2019) Views: 2,418 ⚡AMP

Joyciline Jepkosgei and Edna Kiplagat showdown at New York City Half Marathon

Former two-time world marathon champion Edna Kiplagat and world half marathon record-holder Joyciline Jepkosgei will be among a horde of Kenyan stars who will take part in the New York Half Marathon on Sunday.

Majority of the athletes are using the race as part of their preparations for upcoming major races.

Jepkosgei will be debuting in the full marathon in Hamburg in April and she is using the race to gauge her preparedness as she seeks to swim in the deep end of the 42km race.

“I’m really prepared for the race in April but I’m using the half marathon to test my capability so far. Training in Iten has always given me good results,” said Jepkosgei.

“Competition will always be tight but I have the experience in the 21km. I will be doing my best to win the race as I finalise my training ahead of my debut,” Jepkosgei told Nation Sport.

Jepkosgei was the first woman to run under 30 minutes in 10km when she clocked 29:43 in the Prague Grand Prix in 2017.

She holds the half marathon record of 64:51 from 2017 Valencia Half Marathon.

Kiplagat, who is eyeing victory in Boston Marathon, said that she has finalised her training.

"The New York race is just part of training for me and I will be participating as part of my recovery program. I will be happy with any outcome in the race as I set my sights on the big race in April,” said Kiplagat.

Kiplagat told Nation Sport that her ultimate goal is to represent Kenya once again in the World Championships where she will be chasing a third title.

(03/16/2019) Views: 2,514 ⚡AMP

Andrew Silverman with multiple sclerosis is set to run the United Airlines NYC Half on Sunday

When Staten Island native Andrew Silverman goes on a long run, he doesn’t just get tired: The 31-year-old gets blurry vision, plus a bizarre numbness and tingling in his toes.

The strange feeling, known as Uhthoff’s Phenomenon, is caused by Silverman’s multiple sclerosis — an autoimmune disorder that attacks the central nervous system, leading to fatigue, vision loss, dizziness and, in extreme cases, paralysis and cognitive dysfunction.

“I’m so used to it that I don’t even mind it anymore,” Silverman, a pediatric oncologist who was diagnosed with MS in 2015 says.

On Sunday, the Columbia University Irving Medical Center fellow will shrug it off again to run the United Airlines NYC Half marathon — the sixth 13.1-mile race he’s finished since his diagnosis. And he hopes to complete it in two hours.

His reason for running? Because he can, at least right now.

“I’d love to be running in 30 years, but am I going to be in a wheelchair?” says Silverman. “I can envision every one of the potential major complications of MS, and it scares me.”

Silverman began noticing symptoms in 2012, during his third year at the SUNY Downstate College of Medicine. Whenever he bent over to tie his shoes and his chin touched his chest, his toes tingled. It’s an MS symptom known as Lhermitte’s Sign, often experienced by others as an electric-shock sensation running through the body — but Silverman chalked it up to the stress of medical school.

He started running in 2013, to get in shape for his wedding to his wife, Krystina Randazzo, now 30 and a teacher. He stuck with the running after the big day, and decided to run a half-marathon in Brooklyn in 2015. But that year, Silverman’s health worsened: He was fatigued and seeing double, and unintentionally lost 40 pounds in four months.

By May, days before the half marathon, he was struggling to walk. So he saw a doctor in Staten Island, who ran an MRI and promptly recognized his symptoms as MS indicators. Silverman returned to his own hospital, this time as a patient, and spent four days in inpatient recovery.

He is going to keep running just as long as he can.

(03/13/2019) Views: 2,204 ⚡AMP

Canadian marathon record holder Cam Levins and 2015 Pan Am Games medallist Sasha Gollish are set to run United Airlines NYC Half

The 2019 United Airlines NYC Half-Marathon has a truly star-studded lineup. In the men’s field, Levins is joined by Americans Ben True and Paul Chelimo. Chelimo is an Olympic silver medallist over 5,000m and Sunday will be his half-marathon debut.

Chelimo told Let’sRun on Monday that he’s less concerned about time, and aiming for a spot on the podium. True was sixth at the 2015 World Championships in the 5,000m and is the 2018 NYC Half defending champion. 

Levins is targeting the London Marathon at the end of April where he will race against world record holder Eliud Kipchoge. “I’m very excited to meet him, he’s an inspiration to marathoners everywhere, but if he goes out on world record pace I’d hardly even call it the same race.”

Levins’ half-marathon personal best is a 1:02:15 from the World Half-Marathon Championships last March in Spain, which is less than a minute off of the current Canadian half-marathon record of 1:01:28 set in 1999 by Jeff Schiebler. It would take a very strong run for Levins to knock down this mark, but it doesn’t seem out of the question considering the strength of Sunday’s field. 

On the women’s side, 2:32 marathoner Sasha Gollish is joined by 2018 Boston champion Des Linden, half-marathon world record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei and two-time marathon world champion Edna Kiplagat. 

Gollish’s personal best is from 2018 World Half-Marathon Championships where she was the first Canadian across the line in 1:11:52.

(03/13/2019) Views: 2,787 ⚡AMP

World Half Marathon record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei will headline the star-studded field at the United Airlines New York City Half on March 17

Joyciline Jepkosgei, 26, will use the race as a warm up for her eagerly awaited marathon debut in Hamburg on April 28. In 2017, the Kenyan had a sensational year when she broke six world records, four of which came in the one race.

Coached by her husband Nicholas Koech, Jepkosgei took the half marathon world record in Prague in a time of 64:52, along with new world best for 10km in 30:05, 15km in 45:37 and 20km in 61:25.

“I’m excited to be running my first New York Half Marathon in two weeks’ time. The field has very good and experienced runners and it will give me great opportunity to gauge myself ahead of my full marathon debut in Hamburg in April,” Jepkosgei told Standard Sports.

“I’m eager to see how I will run my full marathon,” she added, “it will be a new experience for me, and I don’t really know what is in store for me, and marathon is torturing.  I will just want to run and finish the race.”

Jepkosgei will be joined by her countrywoman Mary Wacera, a two-time World Half Marathon Championships medalist. The Nyahururu-based Wacera won the silver at the 2014 World Half Marathon in Copenhagen and followed it with bronze from Cardiff’s global showpiece.

The two Kenyans will face tough challenge against Ethiopian Buze Diriba, the race’s defending champion and American Desire Linden.

Linden will be using the half marathon as her final tune-up race before attempting to defend her Boston Marathon title in April. Last year, she became the first American to win the Boston Marathon in 33 years.

(02/28/2019) Views: 2,719 ⚡AMP

Defending Champions Ben True, Buze Diriba, Ernst van Dyk, and Manuela Schär will Return for defending titles at 2019 United Airlines NYC Half

The 2019 United Airlines NYC Half will feature a star-studded field featuring nine Olympians leading 25,000 runners from Brooklyn to Manhattan in the first race of the 2019 NYRR Five Borough-Series.

The elite field will be headlined by 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden and U.S. Olympic silver medalist Paul Chelimo, who will make his half marathon debut, as well as all four defending event champions: Ben True, Buze Diriba, Ernst van Dyk and Manuela Schär. 

In addition to Linden, the Americans will be represented by two-time TCS New York City Marathon top-10 finisher Allie Kieffer, USATF champion and Pan American Games medalist Kellyn Taylor, 2018 Boston Marathon runner-up Sarah Sellers, and 2018 USATF Marathon champion Emma Bates.

This year, runners will begin their journey on Prospect Park’s Center Drive before taking the race onto Brooklyn’s streets.

For the second year in a row, the course will take runners over the Manhattan Bridge and up the FDR Drive before a crosstown dash on 42nd Street and a turn north on 7th Avenue, through Times Square, and into Central Park.

This year’s less hilly Central Park route finishes just north of Tavern on the Green and will feature a shorter post-race walk-off for runners to exit the park and start their celebrations.

(02/22/2019) Views: 3,083 ⚡AMP

Paul Chelimo is running the United Airlines New York City Half Marathon, his debut at the distance

Paul Chelimo, 5,000-meter silver medalist at the 2016 Olympics, is making his debut in the half marathon distance. Last fall, Chelimo won the USATF 5K championships in Central Park in a course-record time of 13:45.

The 14th running of the event will take runners on a 13.1-mile tour through New York neighbourhoods in Brooklyn and Manhattan and past iconic city landmarks.

“I’m really excited about this new challenge in my career,” Chelimo told the New York Road Runners in a press release. “I’ve been doing longer runs than ever in my training this winter, and am ready to show the long distance guys a thing or two on March 17.”

Chelimo will face some hefty competition in the race. Ben True, who won last year’s race in 1:02:39, is returning to defend his title. The field will also include four-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman, 2018 USA Marathon champion Brogan Austin, and U.S. Olympian Jared Ward, who finished as the top American finisher at the 2018 NYC Marathon.

“I am ready to show the long distance guys a thing or two on March 17. I have unfinished business on the track, and then I’m looking forward to making a debut in the TCS New York City Marathon in the near future.”

(02/21/2019) Views: 2,746 ⚡AMP

Desire Linden will race 2019 NYC Half in Preparation to defend her Boston Marathon Title

2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden will open her 2019 season with the United Airlines NYC Half on Sunday, March 17. The full field of professional athletes will be released soon.

Last April, Linden battled through rainy and cold conditions to become the first American woman in 33 years to win the Boston Marathon. Then in November, she followed up the victory with a sixth place finish at the TCS New York City Marathon.

For the half marathon, Linden's best time is 1:10:34, which she set in Florida in 2011. Speaking with SI about her 2019 racing plans, Linden said that she is 100% healthy at the moment with all things heading in the right direction for her upcoming races.

"I don’t want to call it a rust buster because it’s going to be a solid race, but I haven’t put on a uniform or racing shoes yet this year. I’m going through the process of getting ready, handling pre-race nerves and it’s nice to have one under the belt," Linden says. 

"It’s always good to get the feeling of competing, lining up against other people and running hard.  That’s one of the main goals to get out of the race and it’ll be good to get it done early. From there, we’ll analyze things on how to make better decisions before going up to Boston," she says.

(02/21/2019) Views: 2,185 ⚡AMP

Ben True is the first American to ever win the NY City Half Marathon

Ben True out sprints Dathan Ritzenhein to win the United Airlines New York City Half Marathon this morning. Running his first half marathon Ben posted a 1:02:39 beating 35-year-old Ritzenhein who finished three seconds back.

True said after the race that he questioned whether he could hang with Ritzenhein after the 35-year-old made his move. It wasn’t until the last mile of the race when True, 32, felt confident that he could prevail.

“When Dathan pulled away, probably around mile 10, I wasn’t quite sure I was going to be able to reel him back in,” True said.

“And even when I started reeling him back in, I didn’t know if I was then going to be able to get around him. It really wasn’t until the very end that I was like, ‘All right, I can get this.’”

The real challenge of the day was the weather, 29 degrees and headwinds up to 14mph. The women’s race was also a sprint to the finish. Ethiopian Buze Diriba (1:12:23) out kicking America’s Emily Sisson by just one second.

True's first place finish in the men's open division represents the first time an American man won the open division in the event's history.

(03/18/2018) Views: 2,810 ⚡AMP

The best Half Marathon time in the last 12-months on US soil is 1:00:04. Can that change Sunday?

Kenyan Olympic 5000m champion Vivian Cheruiyot said that she expects to run a fast time at the New York Half marathon on Sunday. The elite men's field looks strong. Kenyans Wilson Chebet (59:15) and Stephen Sambu (60:41), Ethiopia's Teshome Mekonnen (60:27) with Dathan Ritzenhein (60:00), Abdi Abdirahman (60:29) leading the American charge and also Ben True who will be running his first half. But it is the women's race that has the real top names. Cheruiyot, 34, is stepping up her campaign in marathon after graduating from the track competition and will be using the race in New York as part of her preparations for the London marathon on April 22. "It is always a pleasure to race against some of the world's best runners because it brings out the best in you. I know the organizers in New York have assembled a big team of elite runners and I am excited to run the New York Half Marathon this Sunday,” she said before her departure on Thursday night. She will face Ethiopians Mamitu Daska and Buze Diriba and her compatriot Betsy Saina. (03/16/2018) Views: 2,127 ⚡AMP

Lottie Bildirici a cancer survivor ten years in remission just recently told the world

Lottie Bildirici is a tri-athlete, a health coach, a chef, a cooking show host, recipe developer and blogger. Lottie Bildirici recently revealed to her 68,000 followers, she's a cancer survivor. “I was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkins lymphoma when I was 14 years old," she said, adding that she is ten years in remission. Lottie marked the decade by deciding to speak out about overcoming cancer. She's running the United Airlines Half Marathon this weekend to raise money with Team in Training. As a teenager she endured chemotherapy and radiation and then turned to clean eating and strength conditioning to stay healthy inside and out. "Simple is best, whole food, nothing processed, no white sugar, no white flour so it's really back to the basics." But it's through her fundraising for leukemia and lymphoma research where Lottie hopes to make a difference.. (03/15/2018) Views: 2,186 ⚡AMP
Inspirational Stories

Dathan Ritzenhein running NY Half ahead of Boston

Dathan Ritzenhein was interested in competing in a half marathon ahead of the Boston Marathon, and he found one of his favorites. Dathan and more than 22,500 other people are running the 2018 United Airlines NYC Half this weekend. Ritz has run the NYC Half four times previously, having finished on the podium twice. The race in NY will be a big one for Ritz as it comes four weeks before he returns to the marathon at the 2018 Boston Marathon for the first time since having to drop out of the 2016 TCS New York City Marathon after pulling his plantar. Boston will also represent Ritzenhein’s first marathon as a member of the Hansons-Brooks team. The Rockford resident will use the race in preparation for his second appearance at the Boston on April 16. Last time he raced it, in 2015, he finished seventh in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 20 seconds and was the top American finisher. (03/07/2018) Views: 2,161 ⚡AMP

Allie Kieffer is back from Kenya and ready to Race the NYC Half

This year’s women’s open division is highlighted by last year’s runner up Emily Sisson racing against Olympic Champion Vivian Cheruiyot, TCS NYC Marathon podium finisher Mamitu Daska and rising American star Allie Kieffer who placed 5th at the NYC Marathon in 2017. Allie has been running over 100 miles weekly in Kenya over the last seven weeks. Sisson had the fastest-ever debut by an American on a record standard half marathon course with a time of 1:08:21. For the men's race Ritzenhein has two podium finishes and, along with Abdirahman, is the most successful American male ever in this event with a PR of 60 minutes flat. (03/06/2018) Views: 1,929 ⚡AMP

Kenya´s Olympic champion Cheruiyot leads New York Half Marathon

Kenyan Olympic 5,000m champion Vivian Cheruiyot will compete in the New York Half Marathon on March 18 in the build-up to the London Marathon. Cheruiyot, who is the Frankfurt Marathon champion, is the third fastest in the field with a best time of 67:44 behind Ethiopians Mamitu Daska (66:28) and Buze Diriba (66:50). It will be Cheruiyot's first race this year. Her last race was in October last year when she raced to victory in Frankfurt clocking in 2:23:35. "I have a solid training program and will be hopeful it will withstand the challenge of New York. It is always good to see how the body responds in competition so that you can adjust before going to the main marathon competition," Cheruiyot said on Wednesday. (02/28/2018) Views: 1,985 ⚡AMP