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Lokedi keen to defend New York title as she faces off with Jepchichir, Obiri

Lokedi keen to defend New York title as she faces off with Jepchichir, Obiri.

The 2022 New York City Marathon winner Sharon Lokedi will be seeking to defend her title against a formidable women's field during the 52nd edition of the marathon slated for Sunday.

Lokedi won the race in what was her marathon debut last year, pulling away in the final two miles to finish the race in 2:23:23.

She became the eighth athlete to win the race on debut. She has, however, been dealing with an injury for the better part of the year, which forced her to withdraw from the Boston Marathon in April.

Lokedi will be up against the 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Peres Jepchirchir who will be eyeing the top prize. The 30-year-old is the only athlete to win the Olympics, the New York City Marathon and Boston Marathon.

The two-time World Half Marathon gold medalist had been unbeaten since winning Boston last year until Dutch runner Sifan Hassan defeated her in London last April.

Joining the duo will be two-time Olympic silver medalist Hellen Obiri who is fresh from a triumphant display in the Boston Marathon.

Also in the fold will be the former world record holder Brigid Kosgei and veteran Edna Kiplagat who is a two-time world champion, Boston, London, and New York City winner.

The Kenyan squad will face stiff competition from Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey who is a 10,000m and half-marathon world record holder.

She will be making her New York City Marathon debut after her 2022 victory in Valencia in 2:16:49, which is the fastest women’s marathon debut in history.

Yalemzerf Yehualaw from Ethiopia and USA’s double Olympian Molly Huddle will also be in contention for the title.

Leading the men’s elite race will be 2021 winner Albert Korir who will be seeking to duplicate his heroics during the 2021 edition.

He will be joined by Edwin Cheserek who is a 17-time NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) cross country champion.

2023 World Athletics Championship silver medalist Maru Teferi of Israel will be seeking to upset the Kenyan contingent as well as Ethiopia’s Mosinet Geremew.

Netherlands’s Olympic silver winner Abdi Nageeye and 2021 New York Marathon champion and Morocco's Zouahir Talbi will also be eyeing the top spot.

Three elite athletes have, however,  pulled out of the race including the defending champion Evans Chebet, his Kenyan compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor and Ethiopian Gotytom Gebreslase.

Kandie and Chelimo victorious in Valencia

Kibiwott Kandie ran the fourth-fastest time in history to win a close men’s race while Margaret Chelimo moved into the all-time top 10 to claim the women’s title and secure a Kenyan double at the Valencia Half Marathon Trinidad Alfonso Zurich, a World Athletics Gold Label road race, on Sunday (22).

Held under ideal weather conditions with a temperature of 15°C at the start and no wind, the men's event saw four athletes break 58 minutes, led by Kandie's 57:40. Making his first appearance over the distance this year, the former world record-holder achieved his third win in Valencia to deny some top-class competition. Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha was second in a national record of 57:41 and he was followed over the finish line by his compatriots Hagos Gebrhiwet, who matched Kejelcha’s time, and Selemon Barega, who ran 57:50 in the second half marathon of his career.

In the women's race, Chelimo dipped under 1:05 for the first time to win in a PB of 1:04:46 ahead of her compatriots Irine Cheptai, who clocked 1:04:53, and Janet Chepngetich, who ran 1:05:15.

Hat-trick for Kandie

The pacemakers went out at a steady 2:45/km pace to target a finish time of around 58 minutes as agreed at the pre-race technical meeting. But Kandie clearly had other ideas and just before the 5km checkpoint the defending champion overtook the pacemakers after unleashing a devastating change of speed which saw him cover that kilometre in a frantic 2:39 to reach 5km in 13:43.

Only two athletes could live with that pace: the gold and silver 5km medallists at the recent World Road Running Championships in Riga, Gebrhiwet and Kejelcha. Surprisingly, world half marathon champion Sebastian Sawe remained in the chasing group, while Olympic 10,000m champion Barega managed to rejoin the leading group one kilometre later.

Kandie pushed hard to cover the next 3km split in a blistering 8:08, always with the threatening Ethiopian trio on his shoulder. They went through the 10km mark in 27:15, a time that predicted a 57:29 finish to indicate that the world record of 57:31 set by Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon in 2021 was feasible. Kandie was just one second slower than Kiplimo’s mark when he broke the world record to win in Valencia in 2020.

Some 31 minutes into the race, Barega moved to the front for the first time. The fast pace maintained, with several kilometre splits of 2:42, but after a 13th kilometre covered in 2:50, Kandie regained the lead as he tried to leave his rivals behind before the closing stages.

The lead quartet cruised through the 15km point in 41:01 following a slower three kilometre split of 8:24 to forecast a 57:39 final time, but the possibility of a world record and a thrilling finish was still there as four top athletes remained in contention.Barega was the first to drop as he began to lose ground just before the 19th kilometre and shortly afterwards Kejelcha – the world indoor record-holder for the mile – took the lead to go through that 19th kilometre in 51:52, just three seconds outside of the required world record pace. From there, the race turned into a tactical affair as victory became the priority of the leading trio.

At that point, the race looked like it might be between Kejelcha and Gebrhiwet, given their track credentials, but it was Kandie who found another gear with some 380m left to run and his Ethiopian opponents could not replicate his sudden burst of speed.

Kandie crossed the finish line in 57:40, the second-fastest time of his career behind his former world record of 57:32. He now has two of the four fastest half marathon times in history and the performance is a world lead of almost one minute.

Kejelcha kept Gebrhiwet at bay to get some revenge following his defeat in Riga as he shattered his own Ethiopian record by 51 seconds. Gebrhiwet and Barega completed a classy top four, while the world champion Sawe was never a threat and finished fifth in 58:29.

“Honestly, I was not aiming for the world record today but I felt strong throughout and pushed hard for most of the race,” said Kandie. “I promise to return to Valencia and regain the world record anyway. I'll next focus on my build-up for the Valencia Marathon on 3 December.”

Spain's Carlos Mayo erased Fabian Roncero's 22-year-old national record thanks to a 59:39 time that placed him 13th, while Portugal's Samuel Barata smashed the 26-year-old Portuguese record with 59:40 in 14th. Italy's Pietro Riva also dipped under the one hour barrier for the first time with 59:41.

Chelimo proves strongest

The women's contest kicked off at an even 3:06/km pace with six athletes at the helm: Kenya's Chelimo, Cheptai and Chepngetich, plus Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase and Tigist Gezahagn, and Germany's Melat Kejeta.

Kenyan Margaret Chelimo to battle Melat Kejeta at Valencia Half Marathon

World Road Running Half Marathon silver medalist, Margaret Chelimo will lead a strong deep field at the 17th edition of the Valencia Half Marathon slated for Sunday in Valencia, Spain.

The 30 year-old who is also the 2019 World 5000m silver medalist will partner with her compatriot Janeth Chepngetich as they try to dethrone the seven Ethiopia’s who will be led by the former world marathon champion, Gotytom Gebreslase, who comes to this race with the third fastest time on paper of 1:05.36 that she got two years ago at Bahrain Night Half Marathon where she took the honors.

Chelimo who is also the 2022 World 10,000m bronze medalist, will have to get past the current European record holder over the half marathon distance, Melat Kejeta from Germany who holds the fastest in this field of 1:05.26 that she got at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships, where she finished in second behind Peres Jepchirchir.

The World Cross Country silver medalist, Tsigie Gebreselama and World Indoor 3000m champion Lemlem Hailu both from Ethiopia will also be fighting for the top podium finish.

The race director Marc Roig expresses his anticipation for the event, saying, “Valencia proves once again to be the race of choice for the world’s elite athletes looking to break records. “The return of last year’s winner in the women category is a testament to the race’s popularity. We expect to witness remarkable records, national records, and potentially the fastest world records of the year”.

Kenyan Irine Cheptai the latest addition to deep Valencia Half Marathon women's field

The Valencia Half Marathon will be Cheptai's second race of the season.

Irine Cheptai will be looking to extend her winning streak after being a late addition to the 2023 Valencia Half Marathon scheduled for Sunday, October 22.

Cheptai has only competed once this season, at the Copenhagen Half Marathon where she dominated, clocking 1:05:53 to win the race.

The 31-year-old will be competing in the streets of Valencia for the first time and will be banking on her half marathon experience on other courses to also impress in Spain’s capital.

Last year, she had a busy season as compared to this year where she will only be racing twice. In 2022, Cheptai opened her season with second-place finishes at both the New York City Half Marathon and Prague Half Marathon.

The Commonwealth Games 10,000m silver medalist then went ahead to win the TCS World 10K Bengaluru before heading to the 2022 National Trials for the World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

Before competing at the Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, Cheptai went to the AJC Peachtree Road Race and finished second, and then she finished second in Birmingham too.

She later won the Birell Prague Grand Prix and ended her season with a win at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, one of her favorite courses.

She still seems to be in good shape after opening her season late and being able to secure a resounding victory. However, the field in Valencia is nothing to play around with.

She will face off against former World marathon champion Gotytom Gebreslase. The Ethiopian will be competing in her second Half Marathon race after opening her season with a second-place finish at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon.

Cheptai will also enjoy good company from her compatriots including the World Half Marathon silver medalist Margaret Chelimo, and Janet Chepng’etich.

The world's fastest half marathon will once again feature big international names such as Kandie, Kejelcha and Kejeta in the hunt for big records

The Valencia Half Marathon Trinidad Alfonso Zurich, organized by SD Correcaminos, is still the world’s fastest race over this distance thanks to Letesenbet Gidey’s world record (1:02:52, 2021) and it is the second fastest for men, with a time set by Kibiwott Kandie (57:32, 2020).

With this high-quality list, the Valencia Half Marathon will count this year with major international elite names who will travel to the city of running on October 22, to fly through its streets.

With the aim of getting as close as possible to the world record achieved in 2021 and to be the world’s best in 2023, the women’s elite will be led by four athletes with sub 1h06 times, among them Melat Kejeta (GER, 1:05:18), current European record holder over the distance, together with Margaret Chelimo (KEN, 1:05:26), Gotytom Gebreslase (ETH, 1:05:36) and Tsigie Gebreselama (ETH, 1:05:46). In addition, ten other runners with 21.0795-kilometer times under 1h10 complete the initial list of names confirmed to run on October 22.

In the men’s race, familiar faces to the Valencia Half Marathon Trinidad Alfonso Zurich such as former winners Kibiwott Kandie (KEN, 57:32) and Yomif Kejelcha (ETH, 58:32) are among the favorites, together with other runners with times under 59 minutes including Matthew Kimeli (KEN, 58:43), Tadese Worku (ETH, 58:47), Hagos Gebrhiwet (ETH, 58:55) and Sebastian Sawe (KEN, 58:58).

“Valencia proves that it is, once again, the race chosen by the world elite to beat their records”, says Marc Roig, coach of the international elite for the Valencia Half Marathon, who adds that “the return of last year’s winners in the men’s category is a sign that this race is well liked. We expect some great records, as well as national records and to finish the year with the fastest world record of the year for both men and women”.

The revamped route of the Valencian course will continue to offer the opportunity for outstanding performances in a race long established at the top level worldwide, and that continues to be committed to experienced athletes, as well as to young hopefuls and debutants at the distance to maintain the sporting successes, both of international elite and leading national runners, who will be announced in the next few days.

Kenyan Shamilah Kipsiror fires warning shots ahead of Valencia Half Marathon

She believes her win in Nigeria is a morale booster ahead of her fifth Half Marathon this season.

After her victory at the Lotus Bank Abeotuka 10km race in Ogun state, Nigeria, Shamilah Kipsiror has her focus shifted to the Valencia Half Marathon scheduled for October.

The 36-year-old clocked a time of 32:22 to win the race in Nigeria and she believes her win is a morale booster ahead of her fifth Half Marathon this season.

Speaking to ACL Sports, she said the 10km race in Nigeria placed her in a better shape as she gears up to lock horns with some of the other great long-distance runners including compatriot Margaret Chelimo and Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase.

“I am preparing for the Half Marathon in Spain next October and I hope to emerge the winner.

I came to Nigeria for the 10km Race in order to maintain my current form and have a better time. I strongly believe that impossible is nothing,” she said.

She also expressed her excitement in winning the race adding that she had it easy since there were no strong opponents.

“I feel excited to win the women’s category of the Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10km Race and the road race was nice.

I had no challenger in the race; I took charge of the race in the last 7km and maintained my top speed,” she said.

Kipsiror has had a pretty great season so far this year and she managed to run a Personal Best (PB) of 1:07:53 at the Gent Half Marathon where she was debuting. 

She also competed at the Istanbul Half Marathon where she finished ninth. She also competed at the Nationale-Nederlanden Warsaw Half Marathon and finished fifth before completing the podium at the OMV Petrom Bucharest Half Marathon. 

Loaded men's field for 2023 New York City Marathon announced

The field has six past event champions, including Chebet, two-time champion Geoffrey Kamworor, and World Championships medalist Maru Teferi.

Reigning New York City Marathon champion Evans Chebet will return to the streets of New York to defend his title on Sunday, November 5.

Chebet, a two-time Boston Marathon champion, has had one of the greatest seasons so far, starting by defeating world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge in the Boston Marathon earlier this year.

The Boston Marathon win is enough motivation for him to make history one more time when he competes against a loaded field in the former capital of the USA.

The field has six past event champions, including Chebet, two-time champion Geoffrey Kamworor, and World Championships medalist Maru Teferi.

Challenging Chebet will be Kamworor, an Olympian and three-time half marathon world champion who is looking to become only the third athlete to win three TCS New York City Marathon men’s open division titles. He won in both 2019 and 2017 and has made the podium in all four of his appearances.

The newly crowned World marathon silver medallist Teferi, two-time World silver medallist Mosinet Geremew of Ethiopia, Olympic silver medalist Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands, and the 2021 TCS New York City Marathon champion Albert Korir of Kenya will also be in the mix to stop Chebet from winning back-to-back titles.

Two-time TCS New York City Marathon runner-up Shura Kitata of Ethiopia, North America’s marathon record-holder Cam Levins of Canada, and 2023 United Airlines NYC Half podium finisher Zouahir Talbi of Morocco will also toe the line.

Edward Cheserek, the most decorated athlete in NCAA history, will make his 26.2-mile debut, while the American contingent will be led by 2022 USATF Marathon champion Futsum Zienasellaissie and 2021 TCS New York City Marathon fourth-place finisher Elkanah Kibet.

Meanwhile, along with the previously announced TCS New York City women’s field, last year’s runner-up and two-time Olympian Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel and Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia will be back. 

Kenyans Edna Kiplagat and Olympian Viola Cheptoo will also return. Letesenbet Gidey and Yalemzerf Yehualaw will also line up for the first time.

Ethiopia dominates women’s marathon on Saturday morning in Budapest at the 2023 World Athletics Championships

The third-fastest marathoner in history, Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso, claimed her first world title on Saturday morning in Budapest at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. Beriso broke away from the field in the final 10K to win in 2:24:23 on a warm morning in the Hungarian capital.

The race started as a tactical affair, with nearly 20 women passing the halfway point on a 2:29 marathon pace in 1:14:30. As the final lap of four began, Ethiopia had four women in the lead group of seven athletes until Tsehay Gemechu dropped out as Beriso started to surge. It seemed like there would be an Ethiopian podium sweep with three kilometres to go, but 10K world record holder Yalemzerf Yehualaw faded from third to fifth, losing nearly two minutes to her competition in the final kilometers.

Morocco’s Fatima Gardadi took advantage of Yehualaw’s faltering, having the race of her life to win bronze in 2:25:17, behind 2022 world champion Gotytom Gebreslase, who won silver in 2:24:34.

Beriso has had quite a track record in her last three marathons. Last December, Beriso pulled off an upset over her compatriot Letesenbet Gidey at the 2022 Valencia Marathon to win and become the third-fastest woman in history in 2:14:58. Beriso was also the runner-up at the 2023 Boston Marathon, finishing behind Kenya’s Hellen Obiri.

Wodak: “I ran as hard as I could.”

Vancouver’s Natasha Wodak was in the mix with the lead group in Budapest as she started her third lap but started to feel nauseous and fell back to the chase pack at 27km. She finished 15th overall in 2:30:09. “I ran as hard as I could,” Wodak told Canadian Running post-race. “It was tough, and I am a little disappointed.”

Wodak, 41, said her goal was to finish inside the top 10, and even though she positioned herself to achieve that, she admitted she didn’t have the legs in the final 10K. “To be 15th in the world is still a good day,” said Wodak.

Toronto’s Sasha Gollish made her return to the marathon at the world championships and savoured every minute of it. In 2019, she experienced heartbreak after failing to finish the marathon at the World Athletics Championships on a hot morning in Doha, Qatar. Today, Gollish achieved redemption, finishing 61st overall in 2:45:09 and bringing her energy for every second.

“I hope my journey inspires everyone who has not run a marathon to go out and test themselves,” said Gollish to Canadian Running. “Cause anything is possible.”

Gollish received an invitation to represent Team Canada in this marathon only a month ago after Canada’s Kinsey Middleton and Elissa Legault withdrew due to injury. Gollish was the third Canadian finisher at the 2022 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, where she ran a personal best of 2:31:40.

For full results from the women’s marathon at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, check here. The men’s marathon will take place tomorrow morning in Budapest at 7 a.m. C.E.T. and 1 a.m. E.T. Ben Preisner, Justin Kent and Rory Linkletter will represent Team Canada in the event.

World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 preview: marathon

In Oregon last year, Tamirat Tola ran his way into the World Championships history books with the fastest ever winning time in the men’s marathon: 2:05:36. Thirteen months on, the 31-year-old Ethiopian has the chance to add his name to the select band of marathon men to manage a successful title defence.

Only three have achieved the feat thus far: Spain’s Abel Anton (1997, 1999), Jaouad Gharib of Morocco (2003, 2005) and the Kenyan whose championship record Tola broke in Oregon, Abel Kirui (2009, 2011).

Tola was a class apart in 2022, the 2016 Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist showing his track pedigree as he blitzed the final 10km circuit in 28:31 to finish a decisive 1:08 clear of compatriot Mosinet Gerenew, also the silver medallist in Doha in 2019.

Tola, who was the marathon runner-up at the 2017 World Championships, has maintained his form this year, finishing third at the London Marathon in April in 2:04:59, behind Kelvin Kuptum (2:01:25) and Geoffrey Kamworor (2:04:23).

Neither of those two Kenyans will be on the start line in Budapest, but the defending champion will face two rivals from Kenya who have run faster than him in 2023. Timothy Kiplagat stands third on the world list with the 2:03:50 he clocked as runner-up to Belgium’s Bashir Abdi in Rotterdam in April. Abdi, the bronze medallist in Eugene, will be absent in Budapest but Kiplagat will be joined on the Kenyan team by Joshua Belet, runner-up at the Hamburg Marathon in April in 2:04:33. The third Kenyan in the field is Titus Kipruto, fourth at this year’s Tokyo Marathon in 2:05:32, who set a PB of 2:04:54 as runner-up in Amsterdam last year.

Ethiopians have finished first and second at the last two World Championships and Tola will have notable support in Budapest. Milkesa Mengesha, the 2019 world U20 cross-country champion, won the Daegu Marathon in April and clocked a best of 2:05:29 in Valencia last December. Chalu Deso won in Tokyo in March in 2:05:22. Leul Gebresilasie finished second and fourth at the last two London Marathons and has a best of 2:05:12. Tsegaye Getachew placed third in Tokyo in April in 2:05:25.

Not that the race looks like being an exclusive battle between the two established East African giants of distance running.

Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands was runner-up to Eliud Kipchoge in the 2021 Olympic marathon in Sapporo. The 34-year-old finished third in New York last November and in Rotterdam in April.

Tanzania’s Alphonce Felix Simbu is a seasoned major championship marathon campaigner. The 31-year-old earned world bronze in London in 2017 and Commonwealth silver in Birmingham last year. He also finished fifth and seventh in the last two Olympic marathons.

Commonwealth champion Victor Kaplangat is joined on the Ugandan team by Stephen Kissa, who set a national record of 2:04:48 in Hamburg last year. Morocco’s Mohamed Reda El Aarby placed second in New York in 2021 and fourth last year.

There are a host of other sub-2:06 performers in the field: Israel’s European bronze medallist Gashu Ayale, Kaan Kigen Ozbilen of Turkey, Eritreans Goitom Kifle and Oqbe Kibrom, plus the Japanese duo Kenya Sonota and Ichitaka Yamashita.

Ayale’s Israeli teammate Marum Terifi is the second-highest placed runner from last year’s race on the entry list. He finished 11th in Oregon and then took silver at the European Championships in Munich.

Veteran Spaniard Ayam Lamdassem was sixth in Munich but fifth at global level in the Olympic marathon in 2021. Another 41-year-old on the start line will be the remarkable Ser-od Bat-Ochir. The Mongolian is unlikely to be troubling the medal contenders but will be contesting his 11th successive World Championships marathon – his 16th successive global championship marathon, having also contested the past five Olympic marathons.

Women's marathon

In Oregon last year Gotytom Gebreslase won in the fastest ever time in a women’s championship marathon, 2:18:11, but the Ethiopian will have to beat two of the six fastest women of all time if she is to successfully defend her title in Budapest.

The 2011 world U18 3000m champion was unable to keep up with one of them on the rolling hills of Boston in April, finishing 10th in her only marathon of the year in 2:24:34 – eight places and 2:44 behind compatriot Amane Beriso Shankule, who was runner-up to two-time world champion Hellen Obiri.

At 31, the formerly injury-plagued Beriso produced a stunning performance in Valencia in December last year, upsetting world 10,000m champion Letesenbet Gidey’s world record attempt with a victory in 2:14:58, putting her third on the world all-time list behind Kenyans Brigid Kosgei (2:14:04) and Ruth Chepngetich (2:14:18).

Gebreslase will also have to contend with Rosemary Wanjiru, who moved above Gidey to sixth on the world all-time list with a winning time of 2:16:28 in Tokyo in March. The 28-year-old Kenyan, fourth in the world 10,000m final in Doha in 2019, clocked one of the fastest marathon debuts in history, 2:18:00, as runner-up to Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa in Berlin last year.

In addition to Gebreslase, five other finishers from the top 10 in Oregon last year will be on the start line: bronze medallist Lonah Salpeter from Israel and fourth-placed Nazret Weldu of Eritrea, plus Keira D’Amato of the US (eighth), Japan’s Mizuki Matsuda (ninth) and Mexico’s Citiali Moscote (10th).

The loaded field also includes the second-fastest woman of 2023, Ethiopia’s Tsehay Gemechu, the runner-up to Wanjiru in Tokyo in 2:16:56, who finished fourth in the 5000m in Doha in 2019, and Bahrain’s 2017 marathon world champion Rose Chelimo.

The Ethiopian challenge will be strengthened by world 10km record-holder Yalemzerf Yehualaw, who ran 2:17:23 on her marathon debut last year then won in London later in 2022 before finishing fifth at this year’s edition of the race. Wanjiru, meanwhile, is joined on the Kenyan team by 2014 world half marathon bronze medallist Selly Kaptich, who was third in Berlin in 2019, and Shyline Jepkorir, a winner in Enschede in April in 2:22:45.

At 36, the veteran Kaptich is four years younger than Australia’s two-time Commonwealth medallist Lisa Weightman, who showed her enduring class with 2:23:15 for fourth place in Osaka in February.

Another notable entrant is Poland’s Aleksandra Lisowska, who broke away in the final 2km to win the European title in Munich 12 months ago.

Bat-Ochir made his world debut in Paris back in 2003 and boasts a highest placing of 19th in Daegu in 2011. He finished 26th in Oregon last year, his second-best global performance. His appearance in Budapest will match Portuguese race walker Joao Viera’s tally of 11 – two shy of Spanish race walker Jesus Angel Garcia’s record.

Ethiopia selects marathon squad for the marathon event at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest

The Ethiopian Athletics Federation has selected 12 athletes to compete in the marathon events at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, from August 19–27.

Leading the Ethiopian marathon squad are defending champions Tamirat Tola and Gotytom Gebreslase, who won the men’s marathon gold at the 2022 World Championships.

Following their world rankings and personal best times last year, the EAF selected 12 marathon competitors (six men and six women) to compete in the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Reigning world champions Tamirat Tola and Gotytom Gebreslase, who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, are among them.

Tsegaye Getachew, Chalu Deso, Leul Gebresillassie, Seifu Tura, and Amhed Essa will represent the Ethiopian men’s squad, while Worknish Edessa, Megertu Alemu, Yalemzerf Yehualaw, Tsehaye Gemechu, and Amane Beriso will represent the women’s team.

The EAF has announced that all selected athletes will attend a training camp starting June 14, 2023, to begin their usual two-month preparation. The EAF has also appointed two national team coaches to oversee the athletes as they prepare for the competition.

The EAF stated that after the two months of training camps, three athletes will be chosen to join the two defending champions to represent Ethiopia at the World Championships.

EAF Technical Director Asfaw Dagne told The Reporter, “The two months of training will be followed by the selection of the top three athletes. Their health condition and performance after their training in those two months will determine the final selections.”

World Athletics published the qualification standards for the championships, including lists of courses and competitions that comply with the standards. According to the qualification standards, athletes must achieve qualifying performances on a course measured by World Athletics and graded by the Association of International Marathon and Distance Races (AIMS).

Athletes must meet a minimum time of 2:09:40 for men and 2:28:00 for women.

Evans Chebet successfully defended his title at the Boston Marathon and fellow Kenyan Hellen Obiri triumphed in the women’s race at the World Athletics Platinum Label road race on Monday

The big sub-plot of the race, however, was the performance of Eliud Kipchoge, who headed to Boston in the hopes of taking one step closer to completing his set of World Marathon Majors victories but trailed home in sixth place in 2:09:23, the slowest time of his glittering career and more than three minutes behind the winner.

But the day belonged to Chebet and Obiri, both of whom dropped their final opponents in the last few minutes of the race, winning in 2:05:54 and 2:21:38 respectively. Chebet’s mark is the third-fastest winning time ever recorded in the men’s race in Boston and Obiri’s performance is the fourth-fastest women’s winning mark.

Kipchoge looked comfortable in the early stages and was part of a lead pack of 11 men that passed through 10km in 28:52 before reaching the half-way point in 1:02:19.

Chebet and Kipchoge were still together in the lead group through 30km, reached in 1:29:23, but the double Olympic champion and world record-holder started to lose contact with the leaders just a minute or two later, having missed picking up his bottle at a water station.

At 35km, with 1:44:19 on the clock, the lead pack was down to five men – Chebet, 2021 Boston winner Benson Kipruto, Tanzanian record-holder Gabriel Geay, Kenya’s John Korir and Ethiopia’s Andualem Belay. Kipchoge, meanwhile, was more than a minute behind the leaders and no longer in contention for a podium spot.

Evans Chebet wins the 2023 Boston Marathon (© Getty Images)

With three miles to go, and Korir and Belay no longer in the running, the race was down to three men: Geay, Chebet and Kipruto. They ran together as a trio for the best part of two miles before Geay’s challenge eventually faded, leaving the Kenyan duo out in front. Chebet then gradually pulled ahead of his compatriot and training partner Kipruto, going on to cross the finish line in 2:05:54.

Geay recovered enough to pass Kipruto in the closing stages, claiming the runner-up spot in 2:06:04, two seconds ahead of Kipruto. 2021 New York winner Albert Korir finished strongly to take fourth place in 2:08:01 and Morocco’s Zouhair Talbi was fifth (2:08:35). Kipchoge followed a further 48 seconds in arrears.

“I train with Benson; he’s my friend and like a brother to me,” said Chebet, who became the sixth man to win back-to-back Boston titles. “With one kilometre to go, I said to him, ‘let’s go’.”Obiri wins in final mile thriller

Five months after making her marathon debut with a sixth-place finish in New York, two-time world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri triumphed in her second race over the classic distance.

In an incredibly close race that wasn’t decided until the final few minutes, Obiri disposed of one of the strongest women’s fields ever assembled for the Boston Marathon.

In contrast to the men’s race, the women’s contest started off at a cautiously steady pace and gradually picked up as the race went on. A large lead pack of more than 20 runners passed through 10km in 34:46, but they had been whittled down to 11 contenders by the half-way mark, reached in 1:11:29.

By this point, the lead pack still included Obiri, world marathon champion Gotytom Gebreslase, Ethiopian record-holder Amane Beriso, Amsterdam course record-holder Angela Tanui, 2020 Tokyo champion Lonah Salpeter, Eritrean record-holder Nazret Weldu and 2021 London champion Joyciline Jepkosgei.

Gebreslase and Weldu had fallen out of the pack with five miles to go, and the lead pack was reduced further to just six women at 23 miles: Obiri, Salpeter, Beriso, Jepkosgei, Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh and USA’s Emma Bates.

Jepkosgei and Bates started to fade in the last few miles, while Yeshaneh tripped and fell, only to rejoin the lead pack soon after. Salpeter was the next to fade, leaving just Obiri, Beriso and Yeshaneh to battle it out for the victory.

Hellen Obiri wins the 2023 Boston Marathon (© Getty Images)

With 2:17 on the clock, Obiri and Beriso had broken free from Yeshaneh. About 90 seconds later, Obiri embarked on a long drive for the finish line. With occasional glances over her shoulder, the Olympic silver medallist maintained a healthy gap ahead of Beriso and went on to finish in 2:21:38.

Beriso took second place in 2:21:50 and Salpeter overtook Yeshaneh in the closing stages to claim third place in 2:21:57, three seconds ahead of the Ethiopian. Bates was fifth in 2:22:10, making her the top US finisher in either of the races.

“I’m so happy,” said Obiri. “I was undecided about which marathon to do this year, but eventually I decided to do Boston. My coach (Dathen Ritzenhein) told me, ‘you have trained well, you’re ready to do Boston’. I’m very, very happy I chose to do it.”

Leading results

Women1 Hellen Obiri (KEN) 2:21:382 Amane Beriso (ETH) 2:21:503 Lonah Salpeter (ISR) 2:21:574 Ababel Yeshaneh (ETH) 2:22:005 Emma Bates (USA) 2:22:106 Nazret Weldu (ERI) 2:23:257 Angela Tanui (KEN) 2:24:128 Hiwot Gebremaryam (ETH) 2:24:30

Men1 Evans Chebet (KEN) 2:05:542 Gabriel Geay (TAN) 2:06:043 Benson Kipruto (KEN) 2:06:064 Albert Korir (KEN) 2:08:015 Zouhair Talbi (MAR) 2:08:356 Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) 2:09:237 Scott Fauble (USA) 2:09:448 Hassan Chahdi (FRA) 2:09:46

Kenyan Celestine Chepchirchir eyes Boston Marathon title

The 127th edition of Boston Marathon which will be run on Monday has attracted 18 Kenyan athletes, among them big names who will contest for honors in the world’s oldest marathon race.

Winners in both categories will go home US$150,000 (Sh19,662,647.40) richer, and the top 10 finishers will also be awarded in the open division.

There will be a new champion in the women’s category since last year’s winner Peres Jepchirchir will not compete. Jepchirchir has opted to compete in the London Marathon.

Cellestine Chepchirchir is among the Kenyan women in contention for the title. For the last three months, she has been preparing for the race in Kapsabet, Nandi County.

She will come up against Kericho-based Sheila Chepkirui, former New York Marathon champion Joyciline Jepkosgei, the 2017 London Marathon champion Edna Kiplagat, 2021 Amsterdam Marathon Angela Tanui and Fancy Chemutai.

Other Kenyans in the women’s filed include Maurine Chepkemoi, Mary Ngugi, Viola Cheptoo, Vibian Chepkirui and Hellen Obiri.

The men’s category will have world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge, defending champion Evans Chebet, the 2021 Boston Marathon champion Benson Kipruto, John Korir, Mark Korir, 2021 New York Marathon champion Albert Korir, Nobert Kigen, and Michael Githae.

In an interview with Nation Sport last week, Chepchirchir who has been training in Kapsabet, Nandi County, and has so far competed in 12 marathon races worldwide said she was delighted to be making her maiden appearance in a World Marathon Majors event this year.

Chepchirchir said that being named among elite athletes for Boston Marathon comes with a big responsibility because there will be a lot of expectations on her.

 “I’m privileged to compete with some of the star athletes I have been watching on TV in major races. When I was named among the competitors, I immediately knew I was going to have to work extra hard, and to run a good race. It’s my first major marathon race and my training has gone well. I believe I will run a good race,” said Chepchirchir.

The soft-spoken athlete, who is coached by her husband Nahaman Serem, has competed in 12 marathon races. She finished fourth last year in Seoul Marathon, which gave her a reason to continue running.

Last year, she had been named among the elite athletes for Chicago Marathon but she delayed in processing her travel documents and missed the race.

“I would have competed in my first major marathon last year at the Chicago Marathon but my travel visa delayed. I was also prepared for the race. Unfortunately it didn’t happen but I thank God because I have another race to run this year. My aim will just to run a good race,” added Chepchirchir, who has a personal best time of 2 hours, 20 minutes and 10 seconds.

Other competitors in the women’s category include world champion Gotytom Gebreslase from Ethiopia, 2016 Boston Marathon champion Atsede Baysa, 2020 Tokyo Marathon champion Lonah Salpeter from Israel, 2018 Boston Marathon champion Desiree Linden from USA, among others.

The Boston Marathon has never been easy, that’s why Des Linden keeps coming back

The conditions were wretched when Des Linden first toed the starting line in Hopkinton in 2007. An amped-up nor’easter brought rain, a 30-mile-per-hour headwind, and soggy, chilly misery for the runners.

“I was one probably of the few people who felt, that was one of the best things I’ve ever done,” Linden recalled years later. “I’m going to do this forever. I loved it.”

On Patriots Day Linden will lace up for her 10th Boston Marathon. During the 16 years since her first appearance here, which also was her 26-mile debut, Linden has won the laurel wreath (”storybook stuff”), lost by two seconds on a sprint down Boylston Street, finished fourth twice, and 17th in a “total suffer-fest.”

Every trip here is a homecoming, said the California native and Michigan resident who has a dog named Boston. What brings Linden back is the race’s incomparable history, the feeling of family that she gets from the Boston Athletic Association, the exuberant crowds along the course, “the greatest finish line in our sport,” and the unchanging challenge from the lumpy layout and mercurial weather.

“We’re in this era where we want the marathon to be easier than ever before,” said Linden. “We want it faster, we want it flatter, we want wind blockers, we want shoes that bounce you forward, we want better gels. You name it, we’re trying to dumb this thing down. Boston is already not going to manage well with a lot of those things, then you throw in the weather conditions. I’ll take the tough one every time.”

Boston never has been easy. For decades there were no mile markers or water on the course. There was no prize money until 1986 — the reward was a medal and a bowl of canned beef stew. The starter fired the gun and sent you off. If you ended up sitting on the curb, cramped and blistered, the “meat wagon” picked you up.

Linden loves the purity of a race that always has the same course but rarely the same conditions. “A lot of people get surprised by it,” she said. “Well, it’s Boston in the spring.”

Boston is the recurring theme of “Choosing To Run,” Linden’s new memoir written with Bonnie D. Ford. Chapters recounting her 2018 triumph, the first by an American woman here in 33 years, are interspersed with a narrative of her evolution from a track racer to a marathoner.

Linden, who’ll officially become a master when she turns 40 in late July, is in the final stretch of her elite career, which she hopes will include a third Olympic team next year in Paris. Maybe she’ll run a fall marathon to prep for the Orlando trials in February. “Or maybe I just spin the legs and do some fast stuff,” she mused.

At this stage of her career it’s all about being smart and patient. “It’s a challenge letting go of your prime years, but there’s also a reality to it,” Linden said. “It’s recalibrating and readjusting what the goal is. I’m learning.”

One significant concession is her weekly mileage, which Linden has reduced from 120 to between 95 and 105. “I have this mentality that I’m being lazy if I’m not doing 115-120-mile weeks,” she said. “ ‘You’re not being lazy,’ my coach [Walt Drenth] said. ‘It’s just not practical.’ ”

At her age, maintaining speed and power are more important than training volume. “So work on what’s going away,” Linden said, “and rely on what you’ve done in the past as far as the volume goes.”

The lighter workload paid dividends at the recent New York City Half Marathon, where she placed fifth in 1 hour, 12 minutes, 21 seconds, the top American finisher. “It was the first time in a while that I got good momentum from a race,” she said.

Up against a stacked Boston field that includes Gotytom Gebreslase and Lonah Salpeter, the world gold and bronze medalists; two-time Boston victor Edna Kiplagat; returning medalists Ababel Yeshaneh and Mary Ngugi; two-time Olympic track medalist Hellen Obiri; and Amane Beriso, a sub-2:15er, Linden is realistic about her chances.

“Top 10 is a great goal at times and particularly this year — the field’s incredible,” said Linden, who was 13th last year. “Just mixing it up and racing is fun for me.”

At this point in her career Linden has little left to chase. She was seventh in the 2016 Olympics, cracked the top 10 at the 2009 world championships, and has posted top-five efforts in New York, Chicago, and Berlin.

But her crowning achievement came in Boston five years ago when she slogged her way through punishing wind and chilly rain to win a race that she didn’t plan on finishing. “It’s not gonna be my day,” Linden told Shalane Flanagan after 6 miles. “I think I’m going to drop out soon.”

But she pushed on, thinking more about survival than victory. “I was running in fear for most of the race,” Linden said. “Even halfway through Boylston I was thinking, if someone comes up on my shoulder I know I can respond.”

She won by more than four minutes, to her astonishment. Linden’s jacket and headband were added to the BAA memorabilia collection, whose artifacts date from the 19th century. “The same museum I had once viewed as an unattainable sanctum,” she wrote in “Choosing To Run.”

Gloria Ratti, the BAA’s longtime first lady, had given Linden the tour before her 2007 debut. That, she said, “made me fall in love with 26.2.”

“Everyone talks about Boston’s special history,” Linden said. “You can feel it on the course, you can see it on race day. But to have that collection of the very first medals and the shoes that were being worn … ”

Sharon Lokedi Withdraws from the Boston Marathon due to an injury

Sharon Lokedi’s highly anticipated return to competition will be postponed for the time being. On Thursday, March 30, the 2022 New York City Marathon champion announced via Instagram that she will not run the Boston Marathon on April 17. She said an injury forced her to withdraw from the race.

“Just when everything was lining up well and getting excited to toe the line once again, I sustained an injury that hindered my training, not giving me enough time to get back,” Lokedi, 29, wrote on social media.

Three weeks ago, Lokedi’s coach, Stephen Haas, told Runner’s World she was training well in Kenya, but she was slightly behind where she was for her New York City Marathon buildup because she took a lengthy break after the race. Runner’s World has reached out to Haas for comment on the injury.

Last fall, the University of Kansas graduate stunned in her first 26.2 at the New York City Marathon. She outran veterans, including reigning world champion Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia and Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, who was born in Kenya and now runs for Israel, to win the World Marathon Major in 2:23:23. Securing the upset put Lokedi on the map as the next rising star on the roads.

The Boston Marathon would’ve been Lokedi’s first race since her debut in November.

Prior to Thursday’s announcement, Lokedi was considered a favorite among a stacked elite field. The remaining podium contenders include Salpeter, who finished second in New York City, and Gebreslase. They’ll be joined by Ethiopian Amane Beriso, who ran 2:14:58, the third-fastest marathon in history, and two-time world champion Hellen Obiri, who was added to the lineup earlier this week.

Two-time Olympic medalist Hellen Obiri joins Boston Marathon elite list

On Wednesday, Hellen Obiri, a two-time Olympic medalist from Kenya, was announced as a late addition to the women’s elite field at the 2023 Boston Marathon on April 17, joining an already star-studded field featuring world championship and Olympic medalists. 

This will be the second marathon of Obiri’s 12-year professional career. Her debut came last fall in New York, where she finished sixth in 2:25:49. 

Last fall, Obiri moved from Kenya to Boulder, Colo., joining forces with coach Dathan Ritzenhein and On Athletics Club. She started her 2023 season with a bang, winning UAE’s RAK Half Marathon in February in 65:05 and setting a course record of 67:21 at the NYC Half two weeks ago. Obiri owns the fifth-fastest half-marathon result in history, with a personal best of 1:04:22 from February 2022.

This past week, Obiri made headlines on Strava as she did a 25-mile long run at 2:25 marathon pace with her OAC training partner Joe Klecker of the U.S. (who posted the run). According to Klecker’s Strava caption, Obiri hit 40K in 2:18 (even with a 7:14 first mile).

Obiri’s winning streak has indicated that she’s in great shape and now comes into Boston as one of the favourites in the women’s elite field. She will be challenged by 2022 world marathon champion Gotytom Gebreslase, 2020 Tokyo Marathon champion Lonah Salpeter and the woman who beat Obiri last fall in NYC, Sharon Lokedi.

We are less than three weeks away from the 127th Boston Marathon.

Obiri and Kibet win Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon

Hellen Obiri and Benard Kibet Koech achieved a Kenyan double at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon, a World Athletics Gold Label road race, on Saturday (18).

Two-time world 5000m champion Obiri went one better than her runner-up spot in Ras Al Khaimah last year, clocking 1:05:05 to triumph by 44 seconds in the women’s race ahead of Ethiopia’s world marathon champion Gotytom Gebreslase.

The men’s race was closer, but Kibet still claimed a clear win as he kicked away to beat his Kenyan compatriot Daniel Mateiko by four seconds - 58:45 to 58:49.

Obiri and Gebreslase were part of a pack that passed through 5km in 15:10. By 10km they had broken away from their competition, clocking 30:28 at that point, just ahead of Kenya’s Olympic marathon silver medallist Brigid Kosgei (30:31).

Obiri started to make a move and was 25 seconds ahead at 15km, following her pacemaker through that mark in 45:39. Her lead only grew and she eventually crossed the finish line 44 seconds clear, Gebreslase claiming the runner-up spot in 1:05:51.

Running a well-judged race, Ethiopia’s Ftaw Zeray finished third in a PB of 1:06:04, half a minute ahead of Kosgei.

In the men’s race, Kibet and Mateiko featured in the lead group that passed the 10km mark in 27:33. Breaking away along with their compatriot Richard Yator, the trio were together through 15km in 41:30 before Yator was dropped.

Kibet kicked and Mateiko couldn’t match his rival’s finishing strength, as Kibet took more than a minute off his PB with his winning performance.

Yator followed them over the finish line in 59:37, while Ethiopia’s Gemechu Dida finished fourth in 59:53.

A record number of more than 5500 participants took part in the programme of events in Ras Al Khaimah, which also included a half marathon relay, 5km race and 1 mile events.

B.A.A. announces women’s elite field for 127th Boston Marathon

The Boston Athletics Association (B.A.A.) has revealed the women’s elite field for the 127th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 17. The field features 16 women who have run under 2:21, including the 2022 world marathon champion Gotytom Gebreslase and two-time Boston champion Edna Kiplagat.

Three other notable athletes who are making their Boston debuts are 2022 world championship bronze medallist Lonah Salpeter of Israel, 2022 NYC Marathon champion Sharon Lokedi, and 2022 Valencia Marathon champion (and third fastest woman of all-time 2:14:58) Amane Beriso of Ethiopia.

“I am very excited to run the B.A.A. Boston Marathon this year,” said Salpeter in a press release. “It has always been my dream to run on this course and to experience the incredible atmosphere.” Salpeter is coming off a second-place finish at the New York City Marathon in November and a bronze medal in the 10,000m at the European Championships in August.  

Last year’s second and third-place finishers in Boston, Ababel Yeshaneh of Ethiopia and Mary Ngugi of Kenya, both return with hopes of claiming the top spot on the podium. Yeshaneh came within four seconds of victory, while Ngugi placed second and third in Boston in back-to-back years.

Also back is Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya, a past winner of the New York City and London Marathons. Jepkosgei fell shy of her expectations in her 2022 debut, with a seventh-place finish. She will look to better her time of 2:24:43 in 2023.

Among the American contingent are Sara Hall, Aliphine Tuliamuk, Emma Bates, Nell Rojas and 2018 champion Des Linden. Rojas has finished as the top American at Boston two years in a row (fifth in 2021 and 10th, 2:25:57 in April 2022), while Hall and Bates were fifth and seventh in the marathon at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore.

Canada will be well represented in Boston with three athletes on the elite list. Liza Howard, the top Canadian at the 2022 Chicago Marathon, will lead the way with the top qualifying mark of 2:35:29. Howard is an up-and-coming marathoner out of Toronto, who had a breakthrough 2022 with a 19th-place finish in Chicago and a 12th-place result at the Canadian 10K Championships in Ottawa last May. 

Other Canadians on the elite list are 2004 1,500m Olympian and masters athlete Carmen Hussar, who has returned to racing recently, coming off a Boxing Day 10 Miler win in Hamilton, Ont., and Julie Lajeunesse of Montreal, with a personal best of 2:44:49 from the 2022 Chicago Marathon.

Kenyan Edna Kiplagat eyes second title in Boston

Former champion Edna Kiplagat is the only elite Kenyan female athlete invited for the Boston Marathon due for April 17, next year.

Kiplagat returns to the Boston Marathon course for the sixth time, having won in 2017 in two hours, 21 minutes and 52 second besides finishing second twice in 2019 in 2:24:13 and 2021 in 2:25:09.

However, the organisers of the Boston Marathon have now scaled Kiplagat to winner’s position this year after the initial winner Diana Kipyokei failed a doping test in October this year.

Kiplagat, 43, settled ninth in 2018 (2:47:14) behind winner, home athlete Desiree Linden and fourth in 2:21:52 this year where Olympic marathon champion, Peres Jepchirchir, reigned supreme 2:21:02.

Kiplagat, the 2011 and 2013 world champion, will face the reigning world marathon champion Gotytom Gebreslase from Ethiopia, Linden, who is eying to recapture the crown, and 2016 champion Atsede Baysa of Ethiopia.

Injured Jepchirchir will be missing in action.

Kiplagat set a new Masters Division record on her way to finishing fourth at the 2022 Boston Marathon in 2:21:40, and shows no signs of stopping.

While this will be Gotytom Gebreslase’s first Boston Marathon, it is far from her first time racing in Boston.

The Ethiopian world champion has finished runner-up at the Boston Half Marathon twice and has placed in the top-five three times at the Boston 5km.

Beyond winning a world title in 2022, Gebreslase placed third at both the Berlin Marathon and New York City Marathons this year.

“I am very happy to compete in the Boston Marathon 2023, as Boston is one of the most famous races in the world,” Gebreslase told the Boston Marathon website.

Gebreslasem said it has long been her dream to win the race.

" I raced many times in Boston in indoor races and then on the roads. So, I am happy to bring my career full circle as the World Champion with a chance to add the Boston Marathon title,” said Gebreslase.

Kipchoge, Gebreslase and Chebet confirmed for Boston Marathon

World record-holder and double Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge and world champion Gotytom Gebreslase will make their Boston Marathon debuts on 17 April 2023, joining six former winners of the World Athletics Elite Platinum Label road race.

Defending champion Evans Chebet, 2021 winner Benson Kipruto, and two-time victor Lelisa Desisa will be part of a historically deep men’s elite race. Among the returning champions in the women’s field are Edna Kiplagat, Atsede Baysa and Desiree Linden.

As the fastest marathon runner in history, Kipchoge will take on the challenging Boston Marathon course with hopes of earning his 11th win in an Abbott World Marathon Majors event. Kipchoge’s last marathon resulted in a world record of 2:01:09 at the Berlin Marathon.

“I am happy to announce in April I will compete in the Boston Marathon, a new chapter in my Abbott World Marathon Majors journey,” said Kipchoge. “Good luck to all the runners running Boston in 2023.”

Chebet stormed to a 2:06:51 win at the Boston Marathon earlier this year then ran to victory at the New York City Marathon in November. In 2022, Chebet became just the sixth man in history to win the Boston and New York City Marathons in the same year.

“To be a champion in Boston is something very special and for me it has even more meaning because it took me quite some time during my career to be competitive enough to finally win the oldest marathon in the world,” said Chebet. “I can’t wait to be back and to enjoy the great atmosphere of such a unique and historical race!”

Kipruto, a training partner of Chebet, also returns. Almost exactly one year after winning the 2021 Boston Marathon, he won the Chicago Marathon in a PB of 2:04:24.

Desisa enters Boston with vital experience, having placed in the top two four times at the Boston Marathon (wins in 2013 and 2015 and second-place finishes in 2016 and 2019). April marks the 10-year anniversary of his first victory, one in which he donated his champion’s medal back to the City of Boston in recognition of the tragedy of 15 April 2013.

While this will be Gebreslase’s first Boston Marathon, it is far from her first time racing in Boston. The Ethiopian world champion has finished runner-up at the Boston Half Marathon twice and has placed in the top five three times at the Boston 5K. Along with winning the world title, Gebreslase placed third at both the Berlin Marathon and New York City Marathons this year.

“I am very happy to compete in the Boston Marathon 2023, as Boston is one of the most famous races in the world,” said Gebreslase. “It has long been a dream of mine to win the race. When I was a young track athlete, I raced many times in Boston in indoor races and then on the roads, so I am very excited and happy to bring my career full circle and come back to Boston now as the world champion.”

Kiplagat, a two-time world champion, is still highly competitive at the age of 43. She finished fourth at this year’s Boston Marathon in 2:21:40 – 12 seconds faster than her winning time in Boston in 2017.

Baysa, the 2016 Boston Marathon winner, also returns. Also a past winner in Chicago and Paris, Baysa finished eighth at the 2021 Boston Marathon. Linden, the winner in 2018, will be racing in her 10th Boston Marathon.

The complete elite field – including additional Boston Marathon champions, Abbott World Marathon Majors winners and global medallists – will be announced in the coming months.

Who Wore Which Shoes at the New York City Marathon?

The running shoe hype train was high in New York City with a few fast yet-to-be-released shoes in the men’s and women’s elite fields.

For a few miles early in the New York City Marathon, Desi Linden surged into the lead of the women’s elite field. The two-time Olympian and 2018 Boston Marathon champion didn’t think she’d run away and win the race that way, but she was just trying to keep the pace honest.

However, hiding in plain sight on her feet as she was off the front of the pack was a yet-to-be-released pair of orange, white and black Brooks prototype racing shoes. A day later, no one is willing to give up any details of the shoe, except that, like all of the other top-tier racing shoes in both the men’s and women’s elite fields, it features a carbon plate embedded in a hyper-responsive foam midsole. And although it’s all in accordance with World Athletics regulations, it won’t be released in Spring 2024 … so we’ll all have to wait a bit to see what that shoe is all about.

Linden’s shoes weren’t the only speedy outliers among the top 25 men’s and women’s finishers. While Nike, Adidas and ASICS shoes were the most prevalent brands among elite runners, there were several shoes that aren’t yet available to the public.

For example, the first runner to cross the finish line of this year’s New York City Marathon, women’s winner Sharon Lokedi, was wearing a pair of Under Armour Velociti Elite shoes. That’s notable for several reasons—because it was Lokedi’s first marathon, because the shoe won’t become available until early 2023 and because it’s the first podium finish at a major international marathon for a runner wearing Under Armour shoes.

There were also three pairs of yet-to-be-released Hoka Rocket X 2 shoes on the feet of three Hoka NAZ Elite runners — two of whom set new personal best times, Aliphine Tuliamuk (7th, 2:26:18) Matthew Baxter (12th, 2:17:15). Those fluorescent yellow shoes with orange, white and blue accents and blue laces were on the feet of Hoka pros at the Boston Marathon in April and Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in October, but they won’t be released to the public until late February or early March.

Meanwhile, the winner of the men’s race, Evans Chebet, was wearing a pair of Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3, a shoe worn by four other runners in the top 25 of the men’s race and six among the women’s top 25, making it the second most prevalent model among the elites. Oddly, that was the same shoe worn by Brazil’s Daniel do Nascimento, who went out at record-setting sub-2:03 pace on his own, only to crumple to the ground at mile 21 after succumbing to fatigue and cramping.

The most common shoe among the top finishers was the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2, which was on the feet of 11 of the 50 runners among the women’s and men’s top 25 finishers. There were eight runners wearing either the first or second version of the ASICS MetaSpeed Sky.

Six runners wore Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Flyknit shoes, three wore Nike Air Zoom Alphalfy NEXT% 2. There were two pairs of On Cloudboom Echo 3 in the field, including those worn by Hellen Obiri who finished sixth while running a 2:25:49 in her marathon debut, while three runners wore Puma Fast R Nitro Elite.

And what about actor Ashton Kutcher? He wore a pair of purple Nike Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT% Flyknit shoes and finished in a very respectable 3:54:01.

Matt James, the former lead of the Bachelor, finished in 3:46:45 with Shalane Flanagan as his guide wearing a pair of New Balance FuelCell Comp Trainer shoes. Flanagan wore Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next% Flyknit shoes, as did Meghan Duggan, an Olympic gold medalist hockey player who ran a solid 3:52:03. Lauren Ridloff, actress from “The Walking Dead,” ran in a pair of Brooks Glycerin 20 and finished in 4:05:48, while Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton finished in 4:20:34 wearing a pair of Brooks Ghost 14 and Tommy Rivers Puzey (aka “Tommy Rivs,” a former elite runner who survived a deadly bout of cancer in 2020, wore a pair of Craft CTM Ultra Carbon Race Rebel and finished in 6:13:54.

Here’s a rundown of what was on the feet of the top 25 women’s and men’s finishers in the Big Apple.

1. Sharon Lokedi (Kenya) 2:23:23 — Under Armour Velociti Elite

2. Lonah Salpeter (Israel) 2:23:30 — Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

3. Gotytom Gebreslase (Ethiopia) 2:23:39 – Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

4. Edna Kiplagat (Kenya) 2:24:16 — Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

5. Viola Cheptoo (Kenya) 2:25:34 — Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3

6. Hellen Obiri (Kenya) 2:25:49 — On Cloudboom Echo 3

7. Aliphine Tuliamuk (USA) 2:26:18 — Hoka Rocket X 2

8. Emma Bates (USA) 2:26:53 — ASICS MetaSpeed Sky+

9. Jessica Stenson (Australia) 2:27:27 – ASICS MetaSpeed Sky

10. Nell Rojas (USA) 2:28:32 — Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Flyknit

11. Lindsay Flanagan (USA) 2:29:28 – ASICS MetaSpeed Sky

12. Gerda Steyn (South Africa) 2:30:22 — Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3

13. Stephanie Bruce (USA) 2:30:34 — Hoka Rocket X 2

14. Caroline Rotich (Kenya) 2:30:59  — ASICS MetaSpeed Sky+

15. Keira D’Amato (USA) 2:31:31 — Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Flyknit

16. Des Linden (USA) 2:32:37 — Brooks Prototype

17. Mao Uesugi (Japan) 2:32:56 — Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3

18. Eloise Wellings (Australia) 2:34:50 — Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3

19. Sarah Pagano (USA) 2:35:03 — Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3

20. Grace Kahura (Kenya) 2:35:32 — Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

21. Annie Frisbie (USA) 2:35:35 — Puma Fast R Nitro Elite

22. Molly Grabill (USA) 2:39:45 — Nike Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT% Flyknit

23. Kayla Lampe (USA) 2:40:42 — ASICS MetaSpeed Sky+

24. Maegan Krifchin (USA) 2:40:52 — Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3

25. Roberta Groner (USA) 2:43:06 — Nike Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT% 2

1. Evans Chebet (Kenya) 2:08:41 — Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3

2. Shura Kitata (Ethiopia) 2:08:54 — Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

3. Abdi Nageeye (Netherlands) 2:10:31 — Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

4. Mohamed El Aaraby (Morocco) 2:11:00 — ASICS MetaSpeed Sky+

5. Suguru Osako (Japan) 2:11:31 — Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

6. Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Japan) 2:12:12  — Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

7. Albert Korir (Kenya) 2:13:27 — Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3

8. Daniele Meucci (Italy) 2:13:29 — ASICS MetaSpeed Sky+

9. Scott Fauble (USA) 2:13:35 — Nike Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT% 2

10. Reed Fischer (USA) 2:15:23 — Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3

11. Jared Ward (USA) 2:17:09 — Saucony Endorphin Pro 3

12. Matthew Baxter (New Zealand) 2:17:15 — Hoka Rocket X 2

13. Leonard Korir (USA) 2:17:29 — Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

14. Matthew Llano (USA) 2:20:04 — Under Armour Velociti Elite

15. Olivier Irabaruta (Burundi)  2:20:14 — On Cloudboom Echo 3

16. Hendrik Pfeiffer (Germany) 2:22:31 — Puma Fast R Nitro Elite

17. Jonas Hampton (USA) 2:22:58 — Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3

18. Alberto Mena (USA) 2:23:10 — Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

19. Jacob Shiohira (USA) 2:23:33 — Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Flyknit

20. Edward Mulder (USA) 2:23:42 — Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Flyknit

21. Jordan Daniel (USA) 2:24:27 — Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

22. Nathan Martin (USA) 2:25:27 — ASICS MetaSpeed Sky+

23. Jeff Thies (USA) 2:25:45 — Nike Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT% 2

24. Shadrack Kipchirchir (USA) 2:28:15 — Puma Fast R Nitro Elite

25. Abi Joseph (USA) 2:29:16 — Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Flyknit

The Kenyan duo won the elite races in 2:23:23 and 2:08:41 at the NYC Marathon having to make up significant ground on the long-time leaders

Sharon Lokedi displayed remarkable discipline to win the TCS New York City Marathon on her debut at the distance, while Evans Chebet’s patience paid off to win the men’s contest at the World Athletics Elite Platinum Label road race on Sunday March 6.

Lokedi flew under the radar heading into the women’s race as most of the focus was on world champion Gotytom Gebreslase, two-time world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri, who was making her marathon debut, and world bronze medallist Lonah Chemtai Salpeter.

All four women featured in the large lead pack for the first half of the race as they passed through 10km in a conservative 34:24 before reaching the half-way point in 1:12:17. A few kilometres later, the pack had been whittled down to eight women, with two-time world champion Edna Kiplagat among them.

By 30km, however, three women had broken away from the rest of the field as Gebreslase, Obiri and Kenya’s Viola Cheptoo reached that checkpoint 1:42:27. At that point, Salpeter, Lokedi and Kiplagat were in a five-woman chase pack about 11 seconds adrift.

A few kilometres later, Salpeter and Lokedi caught the lead trio, then Cheptoo began to fade. It left Obiri, Gebreslase, Lokedi and Salpeter as the only four women in contention as they raced through Central Park in the closing stages.

Of those four, Obiri was the first to fall back, but she was far enough into the race to know that her debut marathon would not be a bad one. Somewhat surprisingly, Gebreslase was the next to slip out of contention, the world champion resigning herself to the third step on the podium.

It then left Salpeter and Lokedi to duel for the victory and for a moment it seemed as though Salpeter was the more comfortable. But with one mile to go, Lokedi dug deep and started to pull away from the Israeli runner.

Lokedi reached the finish line in 2:23:23 to win by seven seconds from Salpeter. Gebreslase took third place in 2:23:39 with Kiplagat, nine days shy of her 43rd birthday, coming through to take fourth place in 2:24:16 – more than four minutes quicker than her winning time in this race in 2010.

Cheptoo held on for fifth place in 2:25:34 and Obiri finished sixth in 2:25:49. Olympian Aliphine Tuliamuk was the top US finisher in seventh, 2:26:18.

“It was amazing,” said the US-based Lokedi. “I came in just wanting to be in the thick of the race. I knew I was strong and had really good training, so I wanted to go in and put myself in it and see where I ended up. I expected to run well, but it ended up being an even better outcome than I had hoped for.”

The men’s race played out quite differently, as South American record-holder Daniel Do Nascimento made an early break from the rest of the field.

The Brazilian led by 97 seconds at 10km, reached in 28:42 – just two seconds slower than his 10,000m track PB – and went on to reach half way in 1:01:22, more than two minutes ahead of the rest of the field and well inside course record pace.

A six-man chase pack – which included Chebet, Olympic silver medallist Abdi Nageeye, and 2020 London Marathon champion Shura Kitata – went through the half-way point in a more comfortable 1:03:35.

Do Nascimento continued to lead, although his lead started to wane – especially when he had to briefly take a visit to one of the road-side portable toilets. He passed through 30km in 1:29:09, now just over a minute ahead of Chebet, who had broken away from the rest of the chasers. By 20 miles, Do Nascimento’s lead was down to just 40 seconds. Not long after, and clearly struggling, he stopped running and crashed to the ground.

While medics helped Do Nascimento, Chebet cruised past. The Kenyan, who had won the Boston Marathon earlier this year, found himself with a 30-second lead over a three-man chasing group which included Kitata and Nageeye.

Despite a strong finish from Kitata, Chebet managed to hold on to the lead and crossed the finish line in 2:08:41. Kitata followed 13 seconds later, while Nageeye took third place in 2:10:31.

“The race was hard for me, but I was thankful for my team and have so much gratitude toward my coach,” Chebet said. “My team gave me motivation and I know that after winning Boston I could come to New York and also do well.”

Leading results

Women

1 Sharon Lokedi (KEN) 2:23:232 Lonah Salpeter (ISR) 2:23:303 Gotytom Gebreslase (ETH) 2:23:394 Edna Kiplagat (KEN) 2:24:165 Viola Cheptoo (KEN) 2:25:346 Hellen Obiri (KEN) 2:25:497 Aliphine Tuliamuk (USA) 2:26:188 Emma Bates (USA) 2:26:539 Jessica Stenson (AUS) 2:27:2710 Nell Rojas (USA) 2:28:32

Men

1 Evans Chebet (KEN) 2:08:412 Shura Kitata (ETH) 2:08:543 Abdi Nageeye (NED) 2:10:314 Mohamed El Aaraby (MAR) 2:11:005 Suguru Osako (JPN) 2:11:316 Tetsuya Yoroizaka (JPN) 2:12:127 Albert Korir (KEN) 2:13:278 Daniele Meucci (ITA) 2:13:299 Scott Fauble (USA) 2:13:3510 Reed Fischer 2:15:23

New York City Marathon was a tough race for many because of the heat

3rd place in the 2022 NYC Marathon goes to Gotytom Tekilezeg of Ethiopia with the time of 2:23:29.  She was able to handle the challenging weather.  

She was hoping for a win since she won the World Championship this year with the time of 2:18:11. 

At 16 Gotytom Gebreslase won the gold medal in the girls' 3000 metres at the 2011 World Youth Championships in Athletics held in Lille Métropole, France.

The next year, she earned the bronze medal in the women's 5000 meters event at the 2012 African Championships in Athletics in Porto-Novo, Benin.

In 2013, Gebreslase competed in the junior women's race at the World Cross Country Championships held in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

In 2015, she finished in fourth place in the women's 5000 metres at the African Games in Brazzaville, Congo.

2022 New York City Marathon Sharon Lokedi and Evans Chebet Complete a Kenyan Sweep

In record heat for November, Kenyans dominate the New York City Marathon.

Evans Chebet was among the runners who watched as Daniel do Nascimento separated himself from the rest of the men’s field at the New York City Marathon on Sunday. Do Nascimento, a 24-year-old Brazilian who is known for being — what is the word? — assertive, was a blur as he surged into the lead, then a speck off in the distance, and then gone from view entirely.

Chebet, a soft-spoken Kenyan who arrived in New York having already won the Boston Marathon this year, opted to exercise patience. Sure enough, as he approached the 21st mile of Sunday’s race, he saw do Nascimento again: face down by the side of the road, being tended to by medical personnel.

“I felt bad for him,” Chebet said in Swahili through a translator, “but I had to continue the race.”

On an unseasonably warm day, Chebet survived both the conditions and the competition, winning in 2 hours 8 minutes 41 seconds to complete a clean sweep for Kenyan men in all six of the world marathon majors this year. Chebet, 33, did his part by winning two of them — and two of the toughest. Of course, considering what Chebet had done in Boston, no one was surprised to see him tackle New York with great composure.

“Boston was actually harder,” said Chebet, who wore his laurel wreath to his news conference.

The women’s finish was much more unexpected. Sharon Lokedi, a Kenyan who raced in college at Kansas, was fearless in her marathon debut, breaking free from a celebrated field to win in 2:23:23.“Perfect weather for me,” said Lokedi, 28, who splits her time between Kenya and Flagstaff, Ariz., where she trains with the Under Armour-sponsored Dark Sky Distance group. “I didn’t expect to win. I expected to run well. But it ended up being a good outcome.”

Lokedi left an all-star cast in her wake. Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, a Kenyan-born Israeli who arrived in New York with the fastest time in the field, finished second. Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia, the reigning world champion, was third. Edna Kiplagat of Kenya, who, at 42, is one of the world’s most decorated marathoners, was fourth. And Viola Cheptoo of Kenya, last year’s runner-up, was fifth.

“It was hot, but I was really prepared,” said Lokedi, who was the N.C.A.A. champion in the 10,000 meters in 2018. “I picked up water at every station to pour on myself.”Do Nascimento, who set a South American record when he finished third in the Seoul Marathon this year in 2:04:51, was the story in New York for much of the morning — until it all began to go poorly for him. Easily recognizable in his lavender tights and space-age sunglasses, he built a two-minute lead more than halfway through the race. But others in the field had seen him try that sort of bold strategy before.In brutal conditions at the Tokyo Olympics last year, do Nascimento was among the leaders when he collapsed in scenes that were vaguely horrifying and was forced to withdraw.

On Sunday, his superhuman pace was beginning to slow when he pulled off the course for an 18-second pit stop at a portable toilet. He emerged with his lead intact, albeit narrower, but it was clear that he was in trouble. About six miles short of the finish, he sank to the pavement and was forced to abandon the race.

“I want to feel sorry for him when I saw him on the ground,” said Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands, who finished third. “But I was like, ‘Come on, man, this is the second time. You did that in the Olympics.’ ”

A spokesman for the marathon said do Nascimento was recovering at his hotel.

It was not an easy day for anyone. Galen Rupp, a two-time Olympic medalist who was making his long-awaited New York debut, dropped out about 18 miles into the race with a hip injury. And Shura Kitata of Ethiopia, who finished second behind Chebet, lumbered onto the stage for his news conference as if his legs were made of concrete. A race official handed Kitata a giant bag of ice, which he placed on his thighs.“It was very hot,” he said through a translator, “and that made it very tough.”

It was the warmest marathon on record since the race was moved to its traditional early November date in 1986. The temperature in Central Park was 73 degrees Fahrenheit at 11 a.m., shortly before the elite runners began to cross the finish line.

Scott Fauble, 31, was the top American on the men’s side, finishing ninth — a solid result coming the morning after he signed a new sponsorship deal with Nike. Fauble, who was also the top American finisher at the Boston Marathon this year, had been without a sponsor for months.

After agreeing to terms on a contract at dinner on Saturday night, Fauble took an Uber to the Nike store in Manhattan to pick up sneakers. The rest of his racing gear arrived at his hotel later that night.

“It’s quite a rush to get your singlet for the next day at 10 p.m. the night before the race,” he said.

On the women’s side, three Americans finished in the top 10. Aliphine Tuliamuk was seventh, Emma Bates was eighth and Nell Rojas was 10th. Tuliamuk, 33, who won the marathon at the U.S. Olympic trials in 2020 and gave birth to her daughter, Zoe, in January 2021, had not raced in a marathon since she injured herself at the Tokyo Games last year. On Sunday, she finished in a personal-best time of 2:26:18.

“I think that I excel when the conditions are not perfect,” Tuliamuk said. “I rise to the occasion, and I believe that today that was the case.”

Still, she had to overcome some adversity. In early September, she said, she experienced swelling in one of her ankles that forced her to take a couple of weeks off from training.

“In the back of my mind, I wished that I had a few more weeks” to train, she said. “But I also decided to focus on gratitude because I didn’t know that I was going to be here. And the fact that I was able to put in some solid training and had a chance to be competitive, I was just very grateful for that.”Gina Gregorio always watches the race from the corner of Warren Street and Fourth Avenue. This year she held signs that read, “Run to the Polls.”

“I love it when we’re right before the election because we can actually ask people to get out to vote, and it’s like nonpartisan, although I have had partisan signs before because I feel like it’s a great place to have your voice heard,” Gregorio said.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of Sunday's TCS New York City Marathon

The world’s top marathoners have assembled in NYC for the 51st running of the TCS New York City Marathon this Sunday, Nov 6. The 2022 race returns to full capacity of 50,000 runners with a stacked field of elites in the men’s, women’s and wheelchair events. Defending champion Albert Korir of Kenya returns to defend the men’s title across the five boroughs and 2022 world champion Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia headlines the women’s field. 

How to watch:

Unless you live on the west coast, the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon will be easy to stream and follow online. The professional women’s field will begin at 8:40 a.m. E.T. and the professional men’s field at 9:05 a.m. E.T. Viewers should note that Daylight Savings Time ends in the early hours of Sunday morning, so viewers need to remember to change their clocks back an hour.

Follow @CanadianRunning on Twitter for live tweets and up-to-date news on the 2022 TCS NYC Marathon. 

Women’s elite field

At only 27, Ethiopia’s Gebreslase has achieved much success in the marathon. In 2021, she won Berlin in her debut and followed it up with a podium finish at the 2022 Tokyo Marathon and world championship gold in Eugene this past July. Gebreslase put her talent on display in Eugene, showing that she can run at a fast pace and hold her own against the world’s best marathoners. She will be the likely favourite to win NYC Sunday.

Lonah Chemtai Salpeter is the fastest woman in the field, with a personal best of 2:17:45 from the 2020 Tokyo Marathon. Salpeter was close to an Olympic medal in Tokyo 2020 but hit a wall late and ended-up 66th. She finally got her hands on a bronze medal in Eugene this summer but was bested by Gebreslase in a late surge. Since worlds and European championships earlier this summer, Salpeter has taken some downtime to prepare for a bid at her second Abbott World Marathon Major title in NYC.

Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat will also be one to watch, with the 2011 and 2013 marathon world champion hoping to extend her record of four World Marathon Major wins to five (Boston 2021, 2017, New York 2010, and London 2014). Kiplagat was awarded the 2021 Boston Marathon title after her compatriot Diana Kipyokei was disqualified due to a positive doping test. 

Many fans of the sport have long awaited the marathon debut of two-time 5,000m Olympic medallist and world champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya. She has gone through a lot of transition this year, switching training groups and moving from Kenya to Boulder, Colo., after worlds to train with On Athletics Club (OAC). It will be interesting to see how the speedy 14:18 5K runner can handle the hilly NYC course, but she could be a dark horse for the win.  

Outside of the top big names, the U.S. will be well represented in NYC by former national record holder Keira D’Amato, who ran both the 2022 Berlin Marathon and World Championships only eight weeks apart, and Aliphine Tuliamuk, who won U.S. marathon Olympic Trials in 2020 and holds a personal best of 2:26:50.

Canadian Running prediction: Gotytom Gebreslase (ETH) – 2:21:42 *CR*

Men’s elite field

Kenya’s Korir has a tough job ahead of him on Sunday as he aims to defend his 2021 NYC Marathon title. In his two trips to the Big Apple, Korir has achieved a lot of success. In 2019, he finished runner-up to his compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor in 2:08:36, then followed it up with a win and 14-second course PB (2:08:22) in 2021 for his first world major win. One thing Korir has going for him is that he is consistent. In his last six of eight races, Korir has dipped under the 2:10-mark, which is a speedy time for New York’s hilly course. 

Korir will face stiff competition from his Kenyan compatriot, 2022 Boston Marathon champion Evans Chebet, who will be hoping for a second major marathon win of the year. Chebet, 33, holds the fastest time in the field of 2:03-flat from the 2020 Valencia Marathon.

Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata will be another name to look out for, having finished second in 2018. Since his 2020 win at the London Marathon, Kitata has struggled to reach the podium in his last three races. His last race came in March, where he was sixth at the 2022 Tokyo Marathon in 2:06:12 for fifth. Can Kitata bounce back in NYC?

Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands was second to Eliud Kipchoge in the marathon at the 2022 Olympics and set the Dutch national record of 2:04:56 at the Rotterdam Marathon in April. Nageeye has shown he has the experience to be there late, but it will be interesting to see how he handles the course in his debut.

The U.S. men’s field in New York is one of its best in years, with five sub-2:09 marathoners. The 2016 Olympic bronze medallist, Galen Rupp, will make his NYC debut and lead the way for the Americans with a personal best of 2:06:07. Leonard Korir (2:07:56), Scott Fauble (2:08:52), and Marty Hehir (2:08:59) are three others to keep your eye on. Fauble had a sensational run at the 2022 Boston Marathon, where he placed seventh in a personal best time of 2:08:52.

Canadian Running prediction: Evans Chebet (KEN) – 2:07:43

New York City Marathon: Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir out, Keira D’Amato in

Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir withdrew from defending her New York City Marathon title on Nov. 6, citing an unspecified injury.

Keira D’Amato, the second-fastest American female marathoner in history, was also added to the field in Friday’s announcement.

Jepchirchir, 29, is the only person to win the Olympic, Boston and New York City Marathons in a career, doing so in a nine-month span in 2021 and 2022. She won New York City last November in 2:22:39, prevailing by five seconds over countrywoman Viola Cheptoo.

D’Amato, a 37-year-old mother of two, broke a 16-year-old American record in the women’s marathon on Jan. 16 by clocking 2:19:12 in Houston. Emily Sisson took the record last Sunday in Chicago in 2:18:29.

D’Amato, who went nearly a decade between competitive races after a middle-distance stint at American University, will make her New York City Marathon debut six weeks after running the Berlin Marathon in 2:21:48.

Elkanah Kibet also withdrew from the Nov. 6 race, a year after he was the top finisher among American male runners in fourth place. Kibet, a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, received orders to report overseas, according to the New York Road Runners.

Other race headliners include: 2018 Boston Marathon winner Des Linden and world champions Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia and Edna Kiplagat of Kenya for the women. And two-time Olympic medalist Galen Rupp, defending champion Albert Korir of Kenya, reigning Boston Marathon champion Evans Chebet, Olympic silver medalist Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands and 2020 London Marathon winner Shura Kitata for the men.

Two-time Vienna champion Vibian Chepkurui now targets Berlin glory

Two-time Vienna Marathon champion Vibian Chepkurui has set her sights firmly on successfully graduating to the World Marathon Majors and claiming the Berlin title this Sunday.

Chepkurui, who trains in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County, has been preparing for the Berlin Marathon for the last three months and is confident of a good outing on the streets of Germany’s political capital.

Kenya will be seeking to recapture the title that Ethiopia bagged in the last two editions with Gotytom Gebreslase having won last year while Ashete Bekere bagged victory in 2019.

The last Kenyan athlete to win the race was Gladys Cherono who ran a course record two hours, 18 minutes and 11 seconds in 2018. Cherono has since retired from elite running.

“My target in Berlin is to run my personal best from 2:20:59 to 2:18 and I believe if the weather conditions will allow, I will be able to hit the target,” Chepkurui, who is managed by Ikaika Sports Management, told Nation Sport at her home.

She said that after running well in this year’s Vienna Marathon in April where she clocked a course record, she is confident of an “impressive race” in her first major marathon. 

Gelete Burka will be running the 2022 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 16th

A three-time Olympian for her country, Gelete was also the 2008 World Indoor 1,500m champion and 2006 World Cross Country champion. But when she won the 2017 Ethiopian World Championships 10,000m trials and was not selected for London, she turned to the marathon. Her results in the classic distance have been sublime.

Her curriculum vitae includes a personal best time of 2:20:45 (2018 Dubai Marathon) and a splendid 3rd place finish in the 2019 Chicago marathon (2:20:55). Dipping under 2 hours 20 minutes remains a tangible objective.

This will be only the second time the 36-year-old star has raced in Canada. On her previous occasion in 2018 she set a Canadian All Comers’ marathon record of 2:22:17 in Ottawa, despite running with stomach cramps and completely alone for much of the race.

That record was beaten by one second at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon by Kenya’s Magdalyne Masai in 2019. The pair will battle in Toronto.

“My training is going well and I am so happy with my training,” Burka says from her home in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. The WhatsApp call had been delayed by a couple of hours when the lights went off during a power outage.

“We have two months until the race and I’m just working hard,” she adds. “It is sometimes raining here. We look at the weather and choose training places. We are working hard in Sendafa, Entoto, Sululta, Arafat. We train in five or six different places.”

Coached by Getamesay Molla, the group of elite runners she belongs to meet in those various locations all within half an hour of Addis by car. In a radical departure, Gelete even spent most of the month of July in Colorado Springs, Colorado where she joined Kenyan born US coach Haron Lagat. It is the rainy season in Ethiopia and heavy rains adversely affected the dirt roads back home.

“It’s nice for training there,” she says of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. “I was with some friends in the US Army Athletics (group). Do you know Haron Lagat? I was with him working there in Colorado Springs before the marathon training.”

Gelete had expected to race Ottawa earlier in May but although her Canadian visa was approved, she did not receive her passport in time to travel to Canada. After training for six months specifically for the race, the disappointment was enormous. It is not easy to train to peak for a specific marathon and then have to find an alternative. In any case, Ottawa is among the final spring marathons.

“One week I was sick. I was so heartbroken,” she reveals with a smile. “I haven’t any business, my only business is working in athletics. I just focus on my running. A little bit I was angry because I worked so hard. It is not like track racing.

“It was a big disappointment but sometimes you forget something that happened in life. I have forgotten it and now am only focused on Toronto.”

Gelete comes from Kofele in Arsi district of south-central Ethiopia. It’s the same region from where national hero, Haile Gebrselassie, originates.

Family is everything to her and currently her youngest sister together with her niece, Deborah, and nephew, Muse, share her home in Addis. After returning from Colorado, one of the first things she did was travel back to visit her mother and her other siblings in Shashamane, one of the main towns in Arsi. It is also known for its large Rastafarian community.

A devoted Christian, Gelete is also a member of the 40-member choir at the Glorious Life Church in Addis. They sing in Amharic, Oromo and English at two weekly services. In addition, she is an usher at the church and so must attend meetings and choir practices when called. Her faith is important enough that following her 2018 Ottawa victory she sought out an Ethiopian church to attend.

Given the news that Magdalyne Masai shaved a second off her Canadian All Comers record in 2019 - and will face her on the Toronto starting line - Gelete smiles. Asked whether Masai’s 2:22:16 standard will now be a target, she thinks for a moment.

“You have to see in the race how you are feeling and also what she is feeling,” Gelete explains. “In a race you think of records when your body feels ok. For now I am not sure. I will look inside the race for what I can do.”

Ethiopians were overjoyed with the performance of their 2022 World Championships team in Eugene, Oregon. With 10 medals, Ethiopia finished second in the medal table behind the host USA. Seeing her compatriot Gotytom Gebreslase take the women’s marathon gold was extra special.

“It is still in my head that I want to run under 2:20,” she says, “because you see the world championships I am so happy (Gotyom) ran 2:18. After you see in championships they are running 2:18 then I think under 2:20 (is possible) if the body is ok and the weather is ok. And, if the others want to run a very good time.”

Clearly this Ethiopian superstar has bold intentions for her future. Her race against Masai in this World Athletics Elite Label race is a tantalizing prospect.

About the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon

One of only two World Athletics Elite Label races in Canada, the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon is Canada’s premier running event and the grand finale of the Canada Running Series (CRS). Since 2017, the race has served as the Athletics Canada Canadian Marathon Championship and has doubled as the Olympic trials. During the 2021 event, participants raised over $3.08 million for 151 community charities. Using innovation and organization as guiding principles, Canada Running Series stages great experiences for runners of all levels, from Canadian Olympians to recreational and charity runners. With a mission of “building community through the sport of running,” CRS is committed to making sport part of sustainable communities and the city-building process.

US record holder Keira d’Amato and Kenyan Nancy Jelagat Meto head Women’s Field At BMW Berlin Marathon Sept 25

The American record holder Keira d’Amato and Kenya’s Nancy Jelagat Meto lead a high quality women’s field for the 48th edition of the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON on Sunday, September 25. Keira d’Amato improved the US record to 2:19:12 which also gives her the accolade of the fastest in the women’s field, announced by the organisers today. Eight women will be on the start line with personal bests of under 2:21.

The return of Kenya’s double Olympic champion and world record holder Eliud Kipchoge had already been announced some weeks ago as well as the participation of the current BMW BERLIN-MARATHON champion Guye Adola of Ethiopia. Six men on the start lists have personal bests of under 2:06while the organisers SCC EVENTS expect more than 45,000 runners from around 150 countries for Germany’s top road race. The BMW BERLIN-MARATHON is an Abbott World Marathon Majors race and a Platinum Label Road Race, awarded by World Athletics, the international governing body of the sport.

“After securing the presence of Eliud Kipchoge and Guye Adola, we are delighted also to have a very strong women’s field on the start line. With the right weather conditions there is certainly a good chance of very fast times,” said race director Mark Milde.

The presence of Keira d’Amato and Nancy Jelagat Meto brings to the event two women who have already run sub-2:20. At the age of 37, Keira d’Amato sprang a major surprise to break the American record with 2:19:12 in winning the Houston Marathon. That led to her late nomination for the World Championships in Eugene where she ran impressively to finish eighth. Sara Hall, who plans to run Berlin and then New York as well, went even better, finishing fifth.

Hall’s best time is 2:20:32. Nancy Jelagat Meto showed fine form in the past year, winning the prestigious Valencia title with a major improvement of 2:19:31. Four months previously she made a strong showing with second place in 65:21 at the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON.

Quite a few women runners will hope to put Berlin’s fast course, where Eliud Kipchoge set the current men’s world record of 2:01:39 in 2018, to good use in their bid to break 2:20: Gutemi Shone Imana has a best of 2:20:11 while Workenesh Edesa has run 2:20:24 and a third Ethiopian,  Sisay Gola, has clocked 2:20:50. The Kenyans also have their contenders to break this landmark time in Maurine Chepkemoi, currently with a best of 2:20:18 and Vibian Chepkirui, who won the Vienna City Marathon in 2:20:59 in April.

Nor should marathon debutants be overlooked in the search for potential women winners, given that the Ethiopian Gotytom Gebreslase did just that to win last year’s BMW BERLIN-MARATHON title. Two possible contenders are Rosemary Wanjiru of Kenya and Ethiopia’s Nigisti Haftu. Both have strong performances at half marathon to their credit which could make them realistic challengers.

Fit-again Peres Jepchirchir to debut at Great North Run

Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir will make her return from injury when she debuts at the Great North Run Half Marathon on September 11 in England.

Jepchirchir, who resumed training three weeks ago, said the pain from the hip injury that locked her out of the World Athletics Championships in July in Oregon, United States, had eased.

“I feel much better now with the pain having subsided. My doctor advised me to return to training gradually and all is well as for now,” said Jepchirchir, ahead of the race that will start at Newcastle upon Tyne before ending at South Shields.

Jepchirchir was a late inclusion in the women’s marathon team for the World Athletics Championships, but withdrew days before the start of the event on July 15 with the advice from Team Kenya physician Victor Bargoria.

“It was disappointing, but I would rather not aggravate the injury since we still have another world event next year before my Olympic title defence at the 2024 Paris Summer Games,” said Jepchirchir, who hopes to use the Great North Run as part of her preparations for her New York City Marathon title defense on November 6 this year.

Judith Jeptum went on to claim silver for Kenya in Oregon, clocking a personal best of two hours, 18 minutes and 20 seconds, as Ethiopian Gotytom Gebreslase won the race in a Championship Record time of 2:18:11.

Another Kenyan Angela Tanui settled sixth in 2:22:15 as defending champion Ruth Chepngétich pulled out during the race with stomach problems.

Jepchirchir became the second Kenyan woman to win the Olympic title when she swept to victory in the streets of Sapporo, Japan in 2:27:20 seconds on August 7, 2021.

Kenyan women have won the last eight editions of the Great North Run with Hellen Obiri claiming victory last year in one hour, 07 minutes and 42 seconds.

Women’s world marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei holds the Great North Run course record with her victory of 1:04:28 in 2019.

The 2020 event was canceled due to Covid-19.

Kenya's Hellen Obiri to train in US for New York Marathon

World 10,000 meters silver medalist Hellen Obiri plans to travel to America ahead of time before making her debut in New York Marathon race on November 6.

In an interview with Nation Sport, the double 5,000m world champion said that she will be heading to Colorado, USA to acclimatize.

Obiri said that she will be depending on her new coach Dathan Ritzenhein, who heads On Athletics Club, for guidance.

Ritzenhein is a former athlete who has previously competed in the New York Marathon.

Obiri, who has plans to relocate to the US, said that she is not moving yet.

“There is still some paperwork that I’m working on before finalizing my move to the US. But, I will be going to Colorado for training because I want to acclimatize before the race. I look forward to a good race, but the most important thing for me is to learn,” she said.

The World Athletics Cross Country Championships title holder, who has been training in Ngong, Kajiado County, said that when she stepped up to marathon racing, it was not easy because the training is different.

“Marathon training is different from what I was used to while competing in track races. At fast it was tricky, but I persevered and I am now used to it,” she said.

The Olympic 5,000m silver medalist said that she was inspired to switch to marathon by two-time world marathon champion Edna Kiplagat.

“I was really inspired by Edna Kiplagat who has been doing well for long and is still competing. I have interacted with her, and when I learned that she was part of the elite field at New York Marathon, I felt encouraged that she will be racing with me,” said Obiri.

“Before the competition, I look forward to train with Edna in the US.”

The Istanbul Half Marathon champion said that she took a leap of faith to compete in full marathon after performing well in half marathon races.

Obiri clocked 64:38 to win this year’s Istanbul Half Marathon after having triumphed in the same race last year in 64:51.

The former 5,000m African champion has had a good season which climaxed in her winning a 10,000m silver medal at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA on July 16.

In New York, Obiri will be up against defending champion and Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir, Edna, debutante Sharon Lokedi, Caroline Rotich and US-based Viola Lagat, who was second last year.

Other top names in the race are newly crowned world champion Ethiopian Gotytom Gebreslase and her compatriot Senbere Teferi, world bronze medalist Israel’s Lorna Chemtai Salpeter, USA’s Sara Hall and Aliphine Tuliamuk.

World Championships Medalists Gotytom Gebreslase, Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, and Hellen Obiri to Join Women’s Field at 2022 TCS New York

Sara Hall, Emma Bates, Aliphine Tuliamuk, Des Linden, Nell Rojas, and Stephanie Bruce to anchor star-studded contingent of American women.

World Championships medalists Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia, Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel, and Hellen Obiri of Kenya will join previously announced New York City and Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir in the women’s professional athlete division at this year’s TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday November 6. All three will make their TCS New York City Marathon debuts, with Obiri making her 26.2-mile debut across any course, and will line up against a star-studded contingent of American women that includes Sara Hall, Emma Bates, Aliphine Tuliamuk, Des Linden, Nell Rojas, and Stephanie Bruce. The 2022 TCS New York City Marathon women’s professional athlete field is presented by Mastercard®.

Women’s Open Division

Fresh off her victory at the world championships marathon, where she finished the course in a championship-record time of 2:18:11, Gebreslase will make New York City her next stop. She will look to add a five-borough title to her resume, having previously won the 2021 Berlin Marathon and finished third at the 2022 Tokyo Marathon.

“Winning the World Championships was like a dream, and I am honored to run my next marathon in New York City,” Gebreslase said. “It’s home to the biggest marathon in the world, and many of the top athletes have run there. I understand it’s a challenging course, and I’m looking forward to seeing further success there.”

Two-time Olympian Salpeter, a Kenyan-born Israeli who won the bronze medal at the world championships marathon and was the 2020 Tokyo Marathon winner, will challenge Gebreslase once again. Obiri, a two-time Olympic medalist and seven-time individual world championships medalist, will make her highly anticipated marathon debut shortly after winning a world championships silver over 10,000 meters.

“I’m very excited to make my marathon debut at the TCS New York City Marathon,” Obiri said. “I have watched the race many times on TV and have seen my Kenyan colleagues compete there. I know New York is a tough course, but I hope my experience on track, road, and cross-country will help me navigate the ups and downs. I also plan to get advice and tips from coach Dathan Ritzenhein, who competed in the race several times in the past.”

In addition to Jepchirchir, the group will be racing against Ethiopia’s Senbere Teferi, who will look to become the first athlete to win the United Airlines NYC Half, Mastercard New York Mini 10K, and TCS New York City Marathon in one year. Three other Kenyans will also be strong contenders for podium places, including the 2010 New York City, 2014 London and 2017 Boston Marathon champion Edna Kiplagat, last year’s runner-up Viola Cheptoo, and newcomer Sharon Lokedi.

The American effort will be led by 10-time national champion Hall, who was the top world championships marathon finisher from the U.S. last month in Oregon, where she placed fifth. She is also the former half marathon national record holder, the runner-up from the 2020 London Marathon, and a two-time winner of the Mastercard New York Mini 10K. She will be joined at the Staten Island start line by Bates, who clocked a personal best to finish seventh at the world championships and was the runner-up at last year’s Chicago Marathon.

“From winning the Millrose mile to back-to-back Mini 10K wins, most of my favorite career moments have happened in NYC,” Hall said. “I’m all-in to add to that by having my best marathon yet at the TCS New York City Marathon. I can’t wait to be back racing my heart out in the five boroughs of my favorite city.”

Tokyo 2020 Olympian Aliphine Tuliamuk, and two-time Olympian and 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden, will also return to New York, as will national champion Stephanie Bruce, who will race the five boroughs for the final time before retiring. The deep U.S. women’s group will additionally include Nell Rojas, the top American finisher from the last two Boston Marathons, Lindsay Flanagan, the top American finisher from the 2022 United Airlines NYC Half, Annie Frisbie, last year’s seventh-place finisher, and her training partner Dakotah Lindwurm, who won Grandma’s Marathon in June. Emily Durgin, the sixth-fastest U.S. half marathoner of all-time, will make her marathon debut.

Americans Hall, Bates, D’Amato Shine in World Championships Marathon A team effort pushed the Americans to three top-eight finishes

Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase ran the fastest, but Sara Hall, Emma Bates, and Keira D’Amato got the biggest cheers from the crowd at Monday morning’s world championship marathon in Eugene, Oregon.

Running in front of the home crowd, Hall, Bates, and D’Amato smartly hung back in the chase back for the first half of the race and then began to work their way up as some of the runners in the original lead pack began to blow up.

Hall (39, Crested Butte, Colorado) was the best of the bunch, surging throughout the final 8 miles of the race to place fifth in a season-best 2:22:10. She passed Kenya’s Angela Tanui (6th, 2:22:15) in the final mile but ran out of room in her pursuit of fourth-place finisher Nazaret Weldu of Eritrea (2:20:29). Hall’s finish was the best showing by an American woman in the world championships marathon since Amy Cragg earned the bronze in 2017 in London.

Bates (29, Boulder, Colorado) followed a similar strategy and wasn’t far behind in seventh in a new personal best of 2:23:18. D’Amato (37, Richmond, Virginia), who originally had gone out a bit harder only to get stuck in between the first two packs, eventually settled in with the chase pack alongside Hall, Bates, and British runner Jess Piasecki and Uganda’s Immaculate Chemutai.

Hall, Bates, and D’Amato received roaring cheers from the crowd along the course that sent runners between Eugene and nearby Springfield, especially along the finish chute on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. None had represented Team USA at a global outdoor championship before.

They were greeted at the finish line by American running legend Joan Benoit Samuelson, who won the 1984 Olympic marathon and served as the official starter of the women’s world championships race.

Gotytom Gebreslase Wins World Marathon Gold in Championship Record

With a strong downhill surge in the 41st kilometer, Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia won the 2022 world marathon title in 2:18:11. The time set a new championship record; the previous mark of 2:20:57 was held by Paula Radcliffe.

Judith Korir of Kenya, who led Gebreslase by half a step for most of the closing miles, finished second in 2:18:18, and Lonah Salpeter of Israel took the bronze medal in 2:20:18.

Sara Hall was the top American finisher, placing fifth in 2:22:10. Emma Bates placed seventh in a personal best of 2:23:18, and U.S. record-holder Keira D’Amato finished eighth in 2:23:34. D’Amato was added to the team at the beginning of the month after Molly Seidel withdrew because of injury. The three ran together through the middle miles until Hall, ninth at halfway, pulled away and started picking off former members of the lead pack.

Today’s 5-7-8 is the best team performance by a U.S. squad, male or female, since the marathon world championship was first run in 1983. They succeeded thanks to just the right mixture of aggressiveness and patience.

“I went out with the leaders, but then I could tell it was a little too fast,” Hall said. “So fortunately I had talked to Emma and Keira and been like,‘Hey, I’d love to work with you guys. I don’t want to mess up your mojo, but if we’re together somewhere I’d love to work together.’ So thankfully Emma and I found each other.

"I was checking our splits and we were running plenty fast out there, so I didn’t really want to run faster than that,” Hall continued. “It was awesome to get to work with [Emma] for so much of the race.”

Bates, who was the top American at Chicago last October, said, “My coach and I had decided that I go out in 70-minute pace for the first half. Which I had never done before, that’s close to my PR for the half marathon. We knew I could be in 2:20 range, fitness-wise.

“I went out with Sara. We were planning on working together before the race, so it was great the first lap to be with each other and then the second lap. Sara took off the later portion of the second lap. So proud of her today for going after it. She really pulled me along that first bit.

“I’m very happy,” Bates continued. “I always want more, we always want more. But to be top 10 in the world is something really really cool, especially on U.S. soil. And to run a PR doing it, it’s something that I won’t forget.”

Well past 30K, Hall was still acknowledging cheering spectators (including Olympian and fellow Flagstaff resident Rachel Schneider).

“I think this is the most fun I’ve ever had in a marathon,” Hall said. “I wanted to smile as much as I could early on, ’cause you know its gonna turn to a grimace eventually. But I was even smiling that last lap. I’m really thankful for everyone that turned out, ’cause I knew that this would be so special. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the opportunity to run a championship like this in the U.S. again.”

How the Race Was Won

Within the opening kilometer, it was obvious that the script for yesterday’s men’s marathon—a huge lead pack running cautiously for the first half—would be ignored. Headed by three Kenyans and three Ethiopians, the leaders took off at 2:17 marathon pace. D’Amato started with the pack but dropped back in the fifth kilometer; in the 12th kilometer, a chase pack led by Bates and Hall caught D’Amato, who then tucked in.

Toward the end of the first of three 14-kilometer loops, the chase pack got within 11 seconds of the leaders. Korir then spurted ahead just before an aid station. That reestablished a quicker tempo for the leaders, and the chase pack’s hope of joining the leaders was permanently ended.

The first significant event occurred in the 19th kilometer, when defending champion Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya stepped off the course, apparently looking for tall grass in which to make a pit stop. Sensing an opportunity, Gebreslase and fellow Ethiopian Ababel Yeshaneh surged on a downhill stretch. Subsequent kilometers of 3:05 and 3:09 (an average of roughly 5:00 mile pace) pared the group to four. They passed halfway in 69:01; the chase pack, including the three Americans, hit halfway in 70:17.

Toward the end of the second lap, Korir again surged approaching an aid station. Her teammate Angela Tanui briefly lost contact for the second time, clawed her way back, but was then dropped for good. In the 27th kilometer Yeshaneh started grabbing at her side and was left by the eventual gold and silver medalists.

Korir and Gebreslase ran within inches of each other for most of the third lap; the Ethiopian was usually just off of Korir’s right shoulder. Korir occasionally motioned to her rival to either help with the pace or back off a bit. It was hard to tell who was feeling more feisty or fatigued.

Or at least it was until the overpass over Route I-5. After cresting the summit, Gebreslase leaned into the long, gradual descent toward the finish. She almost immediately had two, then three, then five seconds on Korir. Gebreslase, who won Berlin last fall, had judged her effort perfectly. For the second day in a row, an Ethiopian won the world title in a championship record.

World Athletics Championships Oregon22 preview: marathon

Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor, whose career was traumatized in June 2020 when he was hit by a motorbike during a training run and required surgery on a broken tibia, is due to contest his first major championship marathon in Eugene on July 17.

The 29-year-old from Nyen was named on the Kenyan team for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 along with 33-year-old Lawrence Cherono – who missed a medal by one place in the marathon at last year’s Olympics – and 35-year-old Barnabas Kiptum.

Kamworor, confident and outgoing, was flying high when he had his accident.

Although he had performed to high levels on the track, where he earned 10,000m silver at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, it was on grass and roads that he had excelled, winning the world cross-country senior titles in 2015 and 2017, and world half marathon titles in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

In his first competitive marathon in 2012 he finished third in Berlin in 2:06:12, and he was a consistent presence on the podium at World Majors Marathons thereafter, particularly in New York, where he finished second in 2015, first in 2017, third in 2018 and first again in 2019.

Kamworor ran his first race since the accident in January 2021, winning the Kenyan Police Cross Country Championships before going on to secure a place on Kenya’s Olympic 10,000m team after winning the national trials, only to have to pull out with an ankle injury.

But at the Valencia Marathon last December he was able to perform to the peak of his ability once more as he set a personal best of 2:05:23 in finishing fourth.

At the previous year’s running in Valencia, Cherono was second in a personal best of 2:03:04, putting him eighth on the world all-time list, having made his World Marathon Majors breakthrough in 2019 when he won in Boston in 2:07:57 and then Chicago in 2:05:45.

Like Kamworor, Kiptum also set a personal best last year as he clocked 2:04:17 in placing third at the Milan Marathon and he has a solid top-three record in virtually every race he has contested.

Such is the depth of Kenyan talent that they can name 2017 world champion Geoffrey Kirui as a reserve.

Meanwhile Kenya’s perennial rivals Ethiopia will be looking to their current world champion Lelisa Desisa, who found the way to win in the steamy heat of Doha three years ago, to make the most of his wild card entry to this year’s competition.

Desisa had early track success, winning the African U20 10,000m title in 2009, and he has since become a highly consistent performer at the highest level, achieving podium finishes four times in New York, including victory in 2018, and four times in Boston, where he won in 2013 and 2015.

He also has championship pedigree, having earned world silver in 2013 six years before his Doha gold, and has a personal best from 2013 of 2:04:45.

The formidable talent Ethiopia can call upon was made clear when it was confirmed that Desisa will have as teammates Tamirat Tola, Mosinet Geremew and Seifa Tura.

Tola earned Olympic 10,000m bronze in 2016 and world marathon silver in 2017. He set his personal best of 2:03:38 last year.

Geremew took silver behind Desisa at the 2019 World Championships, having finished second at that year’s London Marathon in 2:02:55, the third-fastest time in history.

Tura set his personal best of 2:04:29 last year in Milan before going on to win the Chicago Marathon in 2:06:12.

Uganda, the rising nation in distance running, earned this title in 2013 thanks to their 2012 Olympic champion Stephen Kiprotich. But the 33-year-old hasn’t been selected for Oregon, nor have Stephen Kissa, who ran a national record of 2:04:48 in Hamburg earlier this year, and Victor Kiplangat who was third in the second-fastest time ever by a Ugandan, 2:05:09.

Instead, Filex Chemonges, Fred Musobo and Jackson Kiprop will run the World Championships marathon, according to the Uganda Athletics Federation. So Kiprop, who helped Kiprotich to win the 2013 world title, is back at the World Championships for the first time since 2015.

Kissa, meanwhile, is due to be in Oregon in the 10,000m, where he will run with fellow Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei, the world 5000m and 10,000m record-holder, while Kiplangat is reported to be running the Commonwealth Games marathon.

Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands and Belgium’s Bashir Abdi earned surprise silver and bronze medals respectively at the Olympics last year, but went on to confirm that their performance in Sapporo was anything but a fluke. Abdi set a European record of 2:03:36 to win the Rotterdam Marathon just two months later, while Nageeye was victorious at the Rotterdam Marathon earlier this year in a Dutch record of 2:04:56, finishing ahead of Abdi.

Both men will line up for the marathon in Oregon, only this time it will be less of a surprise if they reach the podium.

The United States will be looking to the highly consistent figure of Galen Rupp. After taking Olympic 10,000m silver in 2012, Rupp moved to the roads and earned Olympic bronze in 2016.

In 2017 he became the first US man to win the Chicago Marathon since 2002 and finished second at the Boston Marathon. He qualified for Oregon by finishing eighth at last year’s Olympics.

The championships will be in Rupp’s home state, in the same city where he made his first Olympic team in 2008 while he was a student at the University of Oregon.

The other US selections are Elkanah Kibet and Colin Mickow. Kibet, who is with the US military, finished 16th at the 2017 World Championships and set a personal best of 2:11:15 in finishing fourth at last year’s New York marathon.

Mickow is a 32-year-old full-time financial analyst for an organic and natural foods distributor who took up road running six years after finishing his college track career. He qualified for his first international vest after being the top US man home at last year’s Chicago Marathon, where he was sixth in 2:13:31.

Japan’s trio of male runners will be headed by Kengo Suzuki, who set a national record of 2:04:56 in February 2021 at the Lake Biwa marathon in Otsu. Daniel Do Nascimento of Brazil has run a 2:04:51 personal best this year and is another one to watch.

The three-loop World Athletics Championships marathon course only varies by about seven meters between its high and low points and the weather is likely to be considerably cooler than it was in Sapporo or Doha, where the men's marathon had to be held at midnight and the start time temperature was 29C/84F with 51% humidity.

Women's marathon

Ruth Chepngetich will defend her marathon title at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on July 18 by virtue of a wild card.

Chepngetich claimed the first gold medal of the 2019 World Championships, clocking 2:32:43 in the steamy heat to gain her first major gold.

She went on to finish third at the 2020 London Marathon before a roller coaster 2021, when she set a world record of 1:04:02 at the Istanbul Half Marathon, failed to finish the Tokyo 2020 Marathon in Sapporo but then won the Chicago Marathon.

At this year’s Nagoya Women's Marathon she won in 2:17:18, just 10 seconds off her personal best and the second-fastest ever women-only marathon.

She will be joined on the Kenyan team in Oregon by Judith Jeptum and Angela Tanui. Jeptum set a French all-comers’ record of 2:19:48 to win the Paris Marathon this year, while Tanui won the 2021 Amsterdam Marathon in 2:17:57.

Ethiopia will be represented by Gotytom Gebreslase, who won the 2021 Berlin Marathon on her debut and finished third in this year’s Tokyo Marathon in 2:18:18, Ababel Yeshaneh, second at the 2019 Chicago Marathon in a personal best of 2:20:51, and Ashete Bekere, third in last year’s London Marathon in 2:18:18, who has run 2:17:58 this year.

USA’s Keira D’Amato, who broke the North American record when winning January’s Houston Marathon in 2:19:12 – taking 24 seconds off the mark set by Deena Kastor in 2006 – has answered a late call to join the host nation’s team following the withdrawal of Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel.

Seidel has been suffering from a hip injury that forced her to drop out of the Boston Marathon in April and withdrew from the team after being unable to resolve her issue, giving the 37-year-old D’Amato, who only began serious marathon running in 2017, three weeks to prepare, but she is reported to be in “great shape”.

Her teammates will be Emma Bates, runner-up at last year’s Chicago Marathon, and Sara Hall, who finished second at the 2020 London Marathon and third at last year’s Chicago Marathon.

Japan has named Mizuki Matsuda, who has a personal best of 2:20:52, Mao Ichiyama, who has run 2:21:02, and Hitomi Niiya, who has a best of 2:21:17.

Britain will be represented by Rose Harvey, Olympian Jess Piasecki and Charlotte Purdue, who ran a personal best of 2:23:26 in finishing 10th at last year’s London Marathon.

Other names to watch out for are Bahrain’s Eunice Chumba, who ran 2:20:02 in Seoul in April this year, and Israel’s European 10,000m champion Lonah Salpeter, who won the 2020 Tokyo Marathon in 2:17:45 and was going well in the lead group at last year’s Olympic marathon before dropping down to 66th place in the closing stages.

After also dropping out of the 2019 World Championships marathon, Salpeter will be seeking to make the global impact her talent warrants.

Meanwhile Eritrea’s Nazret Weldu, who has run a personal best of 2:21:56 this year, is another one to watch.

Peres Jepchirchir, world’s top marathoner, withdraws from world championships

Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir, who in the last year won the Olympics, New York City and Boston marathons, withdrew from next Monday’s world championships marathon due to a right hip injury, her agent confirmed.

Jepchirchir, a 28-year-old mom, began feeling discomfort last week, according to the Daily Nation.

Last year, Jepchirchir became the first person to win the Olympic and New York City Marathons in a career, doing so in a span of three months. She then added a title in Boston on April 18, cementing her status as the world’s top marathoner.

In Jepchirchir’s absence, the marathon field at worlds in Eugene, Oregon, is led by defending champion Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya and Ethiopians Ababel Yeshaneh (second to Jepchirchir in Boston) and Gotytom Gebreslase (Berlin Marathon champion), plus American record holder Keira D’Amato.

D’Amato replaces Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel, who withdrew two weeks ago, citing a hip injury, an ongoing process seeking a therapeutic use exemption for ADHD medication and a focus on her mental health.

Ethiopia Has Changed Its Team Again for the 2022 Worlds

On Tuesday, the Ethiopian Athletics Federation announced its team for the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene. If this sounds familiar, that’s because Ethiopia already named its team on June 13…and then updated it four days later to sub in Dawit Seyaum after she ran 14:25 to win the Oslo Diamond League.

Tuesday’s list — which the federation says is the final roster (it pretty much has to be, since entries were due to World Athletics on Monday) — features even more changes, which will have a major impact on Worlds, which begin on July 15 at Hayward Field. Remember, at World Indoor Championships earlier this year in Belgrade, Ethiopian athletes won eight of the 12 available medals across the 1500 and 3000 meters — including all four golds and a 1-2-3 sweep in the women’s 1500. The country is a distance powerhouse.

Here is the full roster, with changes, followed by some analysis on what it all means.

Men’s 800 (no changes)Ermiyas GirmaTolosa Bodena

Women’s 800Habitam AlemuDiribe WeltejiHirut Meshesha (1:58.54 sb) replacing Freweyni Hailu (1:59.39 sb)

Men’s 1500Samuel TeferaTaddese Lemi (3:37.06 sb) replacing Melese Nberet (no races this year)Samuel Abate

Women’s 1500Gudaf Tsegay (3:54.21 sb) replacing Axumawit Embaye (3:58.80 sb)Freweyni Hailu (3:58.18 sb, 4th in Olympics) replacing Ayal Dagnachew (3:59.87 sb)Hirut Meshesha

Men’s 3000 steeple (no changes)Lamecha GirmaHailemariyam AmareGetnet Wale

Women’s 3000 steepleMekides AbebeWorkua GetachewSimbo Alemayehu (9:09.17 sb at age 18) replacing Zerfe Wondemagegn (9:27.75 sb)

Men’s 5,000Muktar EdrisBerihu AregawiYomif KejelchaSelemon Barega replacing Telahun Bekele

Women’s 5,000Ejgayehu TayeLetesenbet Gidey (14:24.59 sb) replacing Gudaf Tsegay (14:26.69 sb)Dawit Seyaum (14:25.84 sb) replacing Fantu Worku (14:47.37 sb)

Men’s 10,000Selemon BaregaTadese WorkuBerihu Aregawi (26:46.13 sb) replacing Milkesa Mengesha (27:00.24 sb)

Women’s 10,000Letesenbet GideyEjgayehu Taye (30:44.68 sb) replacing Girmawit Gebrzihair (30:47.72 sb)Bosena Mulate

Men’s marathonLelisa DesisaTamirat TolaMosinet GeremewSeifu Tura

Women’s marathonGotytom GebreslaseAbabel YeshanehAshete Bekere

Quick Takes

1) Ethiopia’s team just got A LOT stronger and Ethiopia went from no one doubling to a lot of doublers

In recent years, Ethiopia has been reluctant to allow its stars to double at global championships. Last year in Tokyo, Ethiopia had two huge 5,000m medal threats in Selemon Barega (Olympic 10,000 champ) and Berihu Aregawi (the 10,000 4th placer who would go on to win the Diamond League 5,000 title) but neglected to enter either in the 5,000 meters. Of the three men Ethiopia did enter, two failed to even make the final and the third, Milkesa Mengesha, wound up 10th.

The federation took criticism after that misstep and it looked as if it would double down in 2022 as the initial team named in June featured no doublers. But the final squad features five athletes double-entered: World Indoor bronze medalist Hirut Meshesha (800/1500) and Ejgayehu Taye (14:12 pb, #5 woman all-time), Letesenbet Gidey (women’s 5k/10k world record holder), Barega and Aregawi, all of whom are running the 5,000 and 10,000.

2) The meet is more interesting with the Ethiopians doubling; the men’s 5,000 final is now totally stacked

The World Championships are meant to be about the best against the best. When a world final is over, we don’t want to be asking ourselves, “What would have happened if Athlete X was in the race?” But that’s absolutely what we were thinking after the 2021 Olympic 5000 final without Barega. And it’s been an issue for a lot longer than that. Only once in his career did Haile Gebrselassie attempt the 5,000/10,000 double at a global champs (1993), in part because there were still prelims in the 10,000 in those days and in part because he didn’t want to tire himself for the lucrative post-championship meets in Europe.

That shouldn’t be an issue in 2022 (and if it is, it won’t have been the fault of the Ethiopian federation) as the distance finals are much stronger with Taye, Gidey, Barega, and Aregawi doubling up. The men’s 5,000 could be an all-timer. Not only do you have Olympic 5,000 champion Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, but now we have Olympic 10,000 champ Barega stepping down and Olympic 1500 champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen stepping up. It’s reminiscent of one of the most famous races in track history, the 2003 World Championship 5,000 final in Paris which featured Hicham El Guerrouj stepping up from the 1500 and Kenenisa Bekele stepping down from the 10,000 only for both of them to be defeated by an 18-year-old Eliud Kipchoge.

Having Aregawi in the 10,000 makes for a stronger race as well as he was 3rd at the Ethiopian trials in that event and set a Diamond League record for margin for victory when he ran 12:50 to win the Pre Classic 5,000 by 16 seconds.

3) Gudaf Tsegay’s medal odds went up but her gold medal odds went down

Tsegay is pretty clearly the #2 women’s 1500 runner in the world. She won World Indoors by 5+ seconds and is 3+ seconds faster than the #3 1500 woman in the world right now. But she’s also not close to double Olympic champ Faith Kipyegon, who beat her convincingly at Pre, 3:52.59 to 3:54.21.

Initially, Tsegay was entered in the 5,000 at Worlds (she ran the 5,000 only at the Olympics last year, earning the bronze medal) and while there’s no overwhelming favorite in that event like Kipyegon (well at least until we see how Sifan Hassan looks this weekend), Tsegay is not as good at the 5,000 as the 1500 (as evidenced by her defeat to countrywoman Dawit Seyaum in the 5,000 in Oslo). By running the 1500, Tsegay has a better shot at a medal but her odds at gold are worse.

4) It just got a WHOLE LOT harder for the Americans to medal

An American medal in the women’s 5,000 or 10,000 was already unlikely, so the Ethiopian roster changes didn’t make a huge impact on the chances of Karissa Schweizer or Elise Cranny. But the medal odds of Grant Fisher, who finished 5th in the Olympic 10,000 last year, are way lower today than they were a week ago (a statement also true for his US teammates Woody Kincaid and Joe Klecker).

Last Wednesday, two of the four men who finished ahead of Fisher in the 10,000 in Tokyo were major question marks. Bronze medalist Jacob Kiplimo hadn’t raced on the track all year, while Aregawi, the 4th placer, was named to Ethiopia’s team in the 5,000 only. Since then, Kiplimo ran 7:29 for 3,000 in Stockholm to show he’s very fit right now and Aregawi was added to Ethiopia’s 10,000 squad. Plus Barega was added to the 5,000.

Those developments will make it significantly harder for Fisher (or any American man in the 5,000 or 10,000) to earn a medal. That said, if an American can somehow medal, it will go down as a monumental achievement since no one can accuse these fields of being watered down.

Sinclaire Johnson‘s medal hopes in the 1500 also took a BIG hit. With Tsegay now in the 1500, two medals seem to be spoken for and new addition Freweyni Hailu, who was 4th in the Olympics last year at age 20, is better than Ayal Dagnachew (who is no slouch herself, world junior 800 champ last year and 3:59 this year).

5) Ethiopia needs to figure out a better way to do this

One of the most important jobs an athletics federation has is selecting national teams. And for countries that don’t use a “top 3 at the trials” model — which is to say, every country except for the US — things can get prickly as someone, inevitably, is going to be upset they’re missing out on the team.

There are ways to limit the outrage. The simplest solution is the one USATF has already discovered: hold a trials and just pick the top three finishers. Ethiopia actually did this ahead of the Olympics last year. The problem was, they held all the races on the same day, making it impossible for athletes to try out for both the 5,000 and 10,000 teams.

But even if you don’t want to stage a trials, a federation can avoid much of the backlash by announcing a clear criteria ahead of time and sticking to it. You want to pick the team based off season’s bests? Fine. Just let everyone know before the season starts and let them plan their races accordingly. Transparency and consistency are the keys.

Heck, even if you want to be subjective and use a selection panel, you can at least cut down on some of the drama by letting the athletes know in advance that they’ll have to run a few performances to impress the selectors.

What you don’t want to do is announce a team well before the entry deadline (and three days before two key Diamond League meets featuring most of your athletes) only to drastically change it three weeks later. Which is exactly what happened in Ethiopia, leaving athletes like Telahun Bekele (winner of the 5,000 in Oslo) to think they’re on the team only to yank it away less than a month later.

In the end, Ethiopia ended up picking the team by season’s best except in the 10,000, where it staged a trial race (and the top 3 there were the fastest 3 on the year). If it had just used that criteria throughout the year and stuck to it, there would be fewer angry people right now. The athletes deserve better.

Ethiopian Tsehay Gemechu outkicked Brigid Kosgei to retain her title in Lisbon

Tsehay Gemechu outkicked Brigid Kosgei to retain her title, while Keneth Kiprop Renju claimed a clear men’s race win at the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon, a World Athletics Elite Label event, on Sunday (8).

Ethiopia’s world 5000m fourth-place finisher Gemechu ran 1:06:44 to win by two seconds ahead of Kenya’s world marathon record-holder Kosgei, while Kosgei’s compatriot Renju ran solo to a time of 1:00:13, 47 seconds ahead of Ethiopia’s Mohamed Esa.

Gemechu, Kosgei and Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase had remained together until the closing kilometres, passing 10km in 31:37 and 15km in 47:25. Before they reached 20km in 1:03:27, Gemechu and Kosgei had managed to drop Gebreslase and the leading pair were seven seconds ahead at that point.

Their advantage only grew and as they kicked in battle it was Gemechu who had the best closing strength, winning in a sprint finish. The race came a couple of months after Kosgei’s Tokyo Marathon victory in 2:16:02, with Gebreslase third on that occasion.

“I am so happy for my win,” said Gemechu, who finished second in the Istanbul Half Marathon in April. “The weather is very hot. I am happy to win against a strong athlete like Brigid Kosgei.”

Israel’s Lonah Chemtai Salpeter finished fourth in 1:08:33 and Italy’s Sofiia Yaremchuk fifth in 1:10:35.

Renju, meanwhile, passed 10km in 28:11 and 15km in 42:15 in the men’s race before clocking 57:02 at 20km and continuing on untroubled to triumph.

The battle for the runner-up spot was much closer and Esa ran 1:01:00 to beat Kenya’s Elvis Kipchoge Cheboi by three seconds, with his compatriot Kipkemoi Kiprono another five seconds back.

Kipchoge and Kosgei race to Japanese all-comers' records in Tokyo

World record-holders Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei recorded another two of the fastest marathons of all time in Tokyo on Sunday (6), running 2:02:40 and 2:16:02 respectively on their return to Japan.

Back in the country where they claimed their respective Olympic gold and silver medals seven months ago, they both used their great experience to leave their rivals behind in the closing kilometres and break the Japanese all-comers' records in the Tokyo Marathon, the first World Athletics Elite Platinum Label road race of the 2022 calendar.

Kipchoge’s performance is the fourth-best ever behind his own world record of 2:01:39 set in Berlin in 2018, while Kosgei’s is a time that only she with her world record of 2:14:04 from Chicago in 2019 and Paula Radcliffe with her 2:15:25 from London in 2003 have ever beaten.

Kenya’s world bronze medallist Amos Kipruto had remained with Kipchoge until 36km and continued running solo to a PB of 2:03:13 in second, while Ethiopia’s Olympic and world medallist Tamirat Tola was third in the men's race in 2:04:14.

In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s 2019 Berlin Marathon winner Ashete Bekere was runner-up this time in a PB of 2:17:58, while another winner in Berlin – 2021 champion Gotytom Gebreslase – was third, 20 seconds behind her compatriot, in a PB of 2:18:18.

Although missing his targeted own Japanese record, Kengo Suzuki had another strong performance, running 2:05:28 to finish fourth as 22 athletes went sub-2:09. A total of 50 runners, including 43 Japanese athletes, dipped under 2:15, while in the women’s race the top five went sub-2:20, 13 went under 2:30 and Mao Ichiyama with 2:21:02 in sixth led the list of 13 Japanese athletes to go sub-2:40 on a sunny and cool morning.

Despite all he has achieved in the sport so far, marathon great Kipchoge has set himself another aim of winning each of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors. After four London wins, three Berlin victories and one Chicago triumph, he added Tokyo to the list on Sunday and will now aim for Boston and New York City at some point in the future to compete the set.

With his winning time in Tokyo, Kipchoge also extended his list of all-comers’ records, having now run the fastest ever marathons on German, British and Japanese soil with some of those majors wins. Only he with his world record and 2:02:37 run in London in 2019, plus Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele with 2:01:41 in Berlin in 2019, have ever gone faster than the Kenyan’s winning time in Japan’s capital.

The race had been fast from the start and the leaders – with Kipchoge in control at the front of the pack behind the pacemakers – were well under world record pace as they passed 5km in 14:17. That pointed to a predicted 2:00:13 finishing time, but one based on a first 5km featuring a substantial downhill. At 10km the clock showed 28:37, with Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata dropped by that point, the 2020 London Marathon winner having struggled to keep in touch from 8km. A course mishap that saw runners go slightly off track just after 10km gave Kitata the chance to close the gap but he was soon dropped again from a lead group that featured Kipchoge, Kipruto and Tola, together with Ethiopia’s world silver medallist Mosinet Geremew and Kenya’s Jonathan Korir.

That five-strong pack remained together through 15km in 43:16, 20km in 57:53 and half way in 1:01:03, with the world record looking less of a target.

Geremew had been right on Kipchoge’s shoulder up to that point but he dropped back slightly at around 23km and one kilometre later the world silver medallist – who sits fourth on the world marathon all-time list with the 2:02:55 he ran in London in 2019 – pulled up and started to walk, with his hands on his head.

When the final pacemaker stopped at 27km, Kipchoge continued to push ahead and the race was down to three: Kipchoge, Kipruto and Tola, who started to lose touch 2km later. Kipchoge led through 30km in 2:02:09 and at this point a determined Suzuki had caught Kitata and was a couple of minutes behind the leaders.

Kipchoge and Kipruto were side-by-side through 35km in 1:41:30 and then Kipchoge began to make his move. He was a stride ahead at 36km and that increased to around five seconds over the next kilometre as the athletes made a turn and began running into a headwind. But he hung on to record the fastest marathon ever run in Japan by over a minute and claim a 33-second victory.

“I am really happy,” said two-time Olympic marathon winner Kipchoge. “I am excited to be here in Japan, especially after winning the Olympic Games in Sapporo. I really appreciated the crowd.”

Before the race Kipchoge had written 'ST:RO:NG' instead of numbers on his finish time prediction card and the 37-year-old felt he had achieved his aim.

“I said I wanted to run strong in Japan and I did, I ran a course record,” he said. “I am really happy I won another major marathon.”

Kosgei, too, has multiple major marathon wins to her name, having triumphed twice in London and twice in Chicago. After securing silver at the Olympics behind her compatriot Peres Jepchirchir, she finished fourth in London just two months later but was back on top in Tokyo.

The women's race record had been held by Lonah Chemtai Salpeter with the 2:17:45 she set on a slightly different course in 2020 and that time always looked under threat. The leaders were on 2:15:44 pace for the first downhill 5km and then passed 10km in 32:14.

By that point, Kosgei was running as part of a larger mixed group along with fellow women’s race leaders Gebreslase and Bekere, plus Kenya’s Angela Tanui and Ethiopia’s Hiwot Gebrekidan. A chase group featuring Ichiyama and her compatriot Hitomi Niiya, who won the first Tokyo Marathon in 2007, plus Ethiopia’s Helen Bekele and the USA’s 2020 London Marathon runner-up Sara Hall was 30 seconds back.

The same group of five led through 15km in 48:21 and reached half way in 1:08:06. At 25km, passed by the leaders in 1:20:48, chase group athletes Ichiyama and Hall remained on national record pace but those aims began to move out of reach a short while later.

Kosgei was still in control with Gebreslase tracking her, and the pair had broken away by 35km, with 1:53:08 on the clock. Kosgei missed her drink at that point but she didn’t seem to mind as she forged ahead while Gebreslase dropped off the pace. Kosgei had broken away by 37km and went on unchallenged to record another magnificent mark.

Bekere – who ran 2:18:18 when finishing third at last year’s London Marathon – came through to claim the runner’s up spot and improve her PB by 20 seconds while Gebreslase also had the run of her life to match her compatriot’s former PB of 2:18:18, building on her 2:20:09 debut performance in Berlin.

Tanui was fourth in 2:18:42 and Gebrekidan fifth in 2:19:10, while Ichiyama secured sixth in 2:21:02, Niiya seventh in 2:21:17 and Hall eighth in 2:22:56.

With their respective 2:05:28 and 2:21:02 performances, Suzuki and Ichiyama achieved a combined time of 4:26:30 – the fastest recorded combined result for a married couple running in the same race.

Before the race, Kosgei had said her target time was “a secret” and although she went on to record the third-fastest ever women's marathon, she later explained how she felt the wind in the latter stages of the race had prevented her from again attacking 2:14.

2022 Tokyo Marathon Women's Preview

The women’s race at the 2022 Tokyo Marathon has a little something for everyone. There’s Brigid Kosgei, the Kenyan world record holder attempting to reassert herself as the world’s best marathoner after Peres Jepchirchir claimed that title in 2021.

There’s Angela Tanui, the breakout star who won three marathons last year, capped by a 2:17:57 course record in Amsterdam. And for American fans, there’s Sara Hall, fresh off setting a US half marathon record in Houston in January and ready to mix it up with the best in the world on a flat, fast course.

Women Elite Entries:

Brigid Kosgei (Kenya) – 2:14:04 (Chicago 2019)

Angela Tanui (Kenya) – 2:17:57 (Amsterdam 2021)

Ashete Bekere (Ethiopia) – 2:18:18 (London 2021)

Hiwot Gebrekidan (Ethiopia) – 2:19:35 (Milan 2021)

Gotytom Gebreslase (Ethiopia) – 2:20:09 (Berlin 2021)

Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) – 2:20:29 (Nagoya 2020)

Sara Hall (U.S.A.) – 2:20:32 (Marathon Project 2020)

Helen Bekele (Ethiopia) – 2:21:01 (Tokyo 2019)

Natsuki Omori (Daihatsu) – 2:28:38 (Nagoya 2021)

Shiho Kaneshige (GRlab Kanto) – 2:28:51 (Osaka Int’l 2020)

Hitomi Niiya (Sekisui Kagaku) – 2:30:58 (Nagoya 2009)

Miharu Shimokado (SID Group) – 2:32:48 (Osaka Int’l 2020)

Yui Okada (Otsuka Seiyaku) – 2:32:00 (Nagoya 2020)

Hitomi Mizuguchi (Uniqlo) – 2:32:33 (Osaka Int’l 2020)

Mai Fujisawa (Hokkaido Excel AC) – 2:35:52 (Kanazawa 2021)

Tomomi Sawahata (Sawahatters) – 2:36:45 (Osaka Int’l 2022)

Debut / Do-Over

Kaori Morita (Panasonic) – 1:10:28 (Nat’l Corp. Half 2021)

Rika Kaseda (Daihatsu) – 31:39.86 (Nat’l Championships 2020).

Can Brigid Kosgei Return to the Top?

From the fall of 2018 through the fall of 2020 — four marathon cycles — Brigid Kosgei was the best marathoner in the world. By the end of that stretch, the gap between Kosgei and everyone else was not close. Her 2:14:04 in Chicago in 2019 was 81 seconds faster than Paula Radcliffe‘s previous world record and almost three minutes faster than any active marathoner had ever run. In her next race, 2020 London, she ran 2:18:58 in miserable conditions on a day when none of the rest of the world’s best marathoners could crack 2:22. She was in her own marathon galaxy.

Last year, however, Kosgei came back to Earth. That’s usually what happens when someone becomes World #1 in the fickle event that is the marathon (well, unless your name is Eliud Kipchoge). Kosgei was far from ordinary in 2021 — she still claimed second at the Olympics and fourth in London (in 2:18:40) just eight weeks later — but she was not the all-conquering giant of the previous three years. By the end of last year, the discussion about the world’s greatest female marathoner featured two women, and Kosgei wasn’t among them (right now it’s Olympic/NYC champ Peres Jepchirchir or London champ Joyciline Jepkosgei, who will race each other next month in Boston).

A win in Tokyo would nudge Kosgei back into that conversation, and she will start as the favorite on Sunday. Remember, after that dominant stretch from 2018-20, talk was starting to heat up that Kosgei could be the best marathoner the world has ever seen. That’s the trajectory she was on, and she only just turned 28 years old. If she can return to that sort of form, she’ll be your champion in Tokyo.

The Other Women Who Could Win

The top challenger to Kosgei in Tokyo is Angel Tanui, who emerged from relative obscurity to become one of the world’s top marathoners in 2021. Tanui, now 29, began last year as a serviceable road runner with pbs of 31:51/67:16/2:25:18 but wound up winning marathons in Dhaka (Bangladesh), Tuscany, and Amsterdam and finish as LetsRun’s third-ranked marathoner in the world. Tanui was only in Amsterdam because visa issues had prevented her from running Boston the previous week, but it certainly didn’t affect her race as she ran 2:17:57 to smash the course record. 2:17 doesn’t mean what it used to — these days, it’s barely fast enough to rank in the top 10 all-time — but it’s still plenty quick and signals Tanui as a major player.

Another woman to watch on Sunday is Ethiopia’s Ashete Bekere. She was only 7th in her last visit to Tokyo in 2016, but since then she’s won big-time races in Valencia (2018), Rotterdam (2019), and Berlin (2019). In her last marathon, she ran a pb of 2:18:18 to finish third in London, defeating Kosgei in the process (though Kosgei was just eight weeks removed from the Olympics). Clearly, Bekere has what it takes to win a major.

The other two notables in the field outside of Sara Hall — we’ll get to her in a minute — are the women who went 1-2 in Berlin last fall. Berlin was one of the weaker majors in 2021, but it was hard not to be impressed by Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase, who won the race convincingly in her debut in 2:20:09. Gebreslase is coached by the famed Haji Adilo, and he told Women’s Running he’s been impressed by what he’s seen recently:

“[Gebreslase] has even made big advancements in her training since Berlin,” Adilo says. “She set a personal best in the half marathon in December [1:05:36 in Bahrain], and if the weather and conditions are good in Tokyo, she could do something very special there.”

The runner-up behind Gebreslase in Berlin, Hiwot Gebrekidan, also had a good year in 2021 as she ran a pb of 2:19:35 to win Milan in May. But against this Tokyo field, 2:19 may not be good enough to challenge for the win.

Sara Hall Chases a Fast Time

Sara Hall running Tokyo is something we don’t get often: one of America’s top marathoners racing against the best in the world in a fast international marathon. Last month, Molly Seidel told Track & Field News that American pros “are gonna get our asses handed to us nine times outta ten, if the course is fast.”

Top things to know about 2022 Tokyo Marathon

Eliud Kipchoge's addition to the elite list for the Tokyo Marathon has made it one of the key athletics races of the year.

The Kenyan heads back to Japan where, last August, he became the third man to retain the Olympic marathon title after Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila and Waldemar Cierpinski of Germany.

After being postponed in 2021 due to the global pandemic, Tokyo Marathon 2021 returns on March 6, with Kipchoge and fellow marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei part of a stellar field.

Here’s your guide to the top athletes to watch out for in the newest of six the World Marathon Majors, plus the route course and schedule.

After winning back-to-back Olympic golds with the largest victory margin since the 1972 Munich Games, Kipchoge cemented his reputation as the greatest marathon runner in history.

But the Kenyan, who ran the first sub-two-hour marathon in October 2019, says he wants to compete at Paris 2024 and become the first athlete to win three Olympic marathon titles.

“I still have something boiling in my stomach, that’s why I am looking forward to it… I want to be the first human to run and (win) three consecutive Olympics,” the 37-year-old star said on his plan for his fifth Olympics.

Kipchoge, a 5000m bronze and silver medalist on the track at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 respectively, has previously won the Marathon Majors in Chicago, Berlin (three times) and London (four times).

Tokyo will be his fourth stop, and he plans to complete the majors by running in Boston and New York City before he rounds off his marathon career that began in 2013.

With Tokyo boasting a fairly flat course, Kipchoge could go close to his world record of 2:01:39 although Wilson Kipsang's course record of 2:03:58 may be a more realistic target.

But it certainly will not be just a race against the clock.

Up against him will be the third-fastest marathon runner in history, Ethiopia's Birhanu Legese, who is a two-time Tokyo Marathon winner. His compatriot Mosinet Geremew, fourth on the all-time list, will also be in action. Geremew’s PB of 2:02:55 was from the 2019 London Marathon where he finished behind Kipchoge.

Shura Kitata, who ended Kipchoge's seven-year unbeaten run in the marathon at London in 2020, another high-class Ethiopian in the field along with Olympic bronze medalist Tamirat Tola and Kenya’s Amos Kipruto, a world bronze medalist.

Kosgei aiming for Tokyo Marathon after Olympic silver

After her silver behind Peres Jepchirchir, which earned Kenya a historic 1-2 at the Olympic marathon held in Sapporo, Kosgei returns to Japan seeking her first Marathon Major win in two years.

The 27-year-old set a world record of 2:14:04 in the 2019 Chicago Marathon.

Her four-race winning streak came to an end in the Olympic marathon and, two months later, she was only fourth in her unsuccessful bid for a third consecutive London title.

With Jepchirchir not competing, Kosgei will be expected to win although she faces significant opposition from her fellow Kenyan, Angela Tanui, who won last year's Amsterdam Marathon.

There are also two strong Ethiopians in 2021 Berlin Marathon winner Gotytom Gebreslase and Ashete Bekere who was third - one place ahead of Kosgei - in London last year.

USA's Sara Hall, who took a surprise second place behind Kosgei in the 2020 London Marathon is in the line-up, as is home favourite Niiya Hitomi who won the first Tokyo Marathon back in 2007 and was 21st at last year's Olympics.

There is plenty at stake for the home runners as the race serves as a trial for July's World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Tokyo Marathon 2021 course

The Tokyo Marathon runs on a flat course through the city’s famous tourist spots. What prevents it from being a super-fast course are at least a handful of 180-degree turns.

The runners will start outside the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office and then go downhill by about 30m in the first 5km.

They take on a winding route through the streets of the Japanese capital, crossing the Sumida River, going back through Nihombashi and then Minato City before the finish in between the Imperial Palace and Tokyo Station.

Kenya’s Philemon Kiplimo and Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase win Bahrain Half Marathon

Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase and Kenya’s Philemon Kiplimo claimed victory at the Bahrain Royal International Night Half Marathon – a World Athletics Label road race – when the event returned for its second edition on Sunday (12).

After running 2:20:09 to triumph when making her marathon debut in Berlin in September, Gebreslase achieved another impressive result as she improved her half marathon PB to 1:05:36 in Manama to win by 11 seconds ahead of home favorite Kalkidan Gezahegne – the Olympic 10,000m silver medalist who was making her half marathon debut after breaking the world 10km record with 29:38 in Geneva in October.

The men’s race was much closer, with Kiplimo outsprinting his compatriot Collins Koros to the tape – both athletes recording a time of 1:00:01.

The women’s race had got off to a blistering start, with Gebreslase and Gezahegne both part of a group which passed the 5km mark in 14:53, well inside world record pace. The race also featured Kenya’s former world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich, who had run 1:04:02 in Istanbul in April and won October’s Chicago Marathon in 2:22:31, but she ran to around 17km in Manama and did not finish.

Following the fast start, Gebreslase and Gezahegne maintained their pace through 10km, with the clock showing 29:49 – four seconds off the split recorded by Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey en route to the 1:02:52 women’s half marathon record she set in Valencia in October.

The wind had been behind them during the first half of the race and as they looped back the pace dropped, with Gebreslase passing 15km in 45:47 and Gezahegne following five seconds behind her. Chepngetich’s race came to an end a couple of kilometers later.

Gebreslase had increased her lead to 11 seconds by the finish, with the top two clear ahead of the rest of the field. Sheila Kiprotich secured third place in 1:07:01 and was followed by her Kenyan compatriots Irene Cheptai, who was four seconds back, and Daisy Cherotich, who ran 1:07:11, with a total of 11 athletes finishing inside 68 minutes.

Kiplimo led a Kenyan top five in the men’s race and had formed part of a lead group which followed the pacemakers through 5km in 13:58 and 10km in 27:35.

A seven-strong pack passed 15km in 42:24 and things remained close until the final stages, with Kiplimo edging ahead to deny Koros, and Mathew Kimeli finishing third just three seconds back.

Titus Mbishei finished fourth in 1:00:23, one second ahead of Geoffrey Koech, while Ethiopia’s Jemal Yimer was sixth in 1:00:29.

World Athletics, with assistance from Alberto Stretti

Leading results

Women1 Gotytom Gebreslase (ETH) 1:05:362 Kalkidan Gezahegne (BRN) 1:05:473 Sheila Kiprotich (KEN) 1:07:01 4 Irene Cheptai (KEN) 1:07:055 Daisy Cherotich (KEN) 1:07:11

Men1 Philemon Kiplimo (KEN) 1:00:012 Collins Koros (KEN) 1:00:013 Mathew Kimeli (KEN) 1:00:044 Titus Mbishei (KEN) 1:00:235 Geoffrey Koech (KEN) 1:00:24

Debutante Gebreslase and Adola triumph in Berlin

It may have been her marathon debut, but Gotytom Gebreslase looked anything but inexperienced on her way to winning the BMW Berlin Marathon, crossing the finish line of the World Athletics Elite Platinum Label road race in 2:20:09 on Sunday (26).

Just moments earlier, fellow Ethiopian Guye Adola won an enthralling tactical men’s race in 2:05:45, seeing off a late-race challenge from Kenya’s Bethwel Yegon after dropping Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele a few kilometres prior.

The 47th edition of the race, which is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series, took place under strict hygiene regulations. With 24,796 runners from 139 nations, the race was the biggest marathon in the world since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The men had been operating at world record pace for the first half, while the leading women were close to course record pace. With temperatures above 20C during the final part of the race, the pace dropped in the closing stages of both contests, but Gebreslase and Adola both had just enough in reserve to hold on to victory.

Gebreslase was part of a large lead pack that went through 5km in 16:30 and 10km in 33:03. Six women were in the group, including Ethiopia’s Hiwot Gebrekidan who was looking to improve on her world-leading 2:19:35 run from Milan earlier in the year.

By the time the pack reached half way in 1:09:19, just four women remained in contention: Gebrekidan, Gebreslase, fellow Ethiopian Helen Tola and Kenya’s Fancy Chemutai. Their split suggested a finishing time inside 2:19, but the conditions soon started to get tougher.

Within the space of a few kilometres, Chemutai and Tola had been dropped, reducing the race to a two-woman Ethiopian battle between Gebrekidan and Gebreslase. The latter, feeling surprisingly good on her debut marathon, started to test the water and edged ahead of her compatriot over the next few kilometres, opening up a 13-second gap by 35km, reached in 1:54:54.

Her split at that point still pointed towards a sub-2:19 finish, but Gebreslase’s pace dropped significantly over the next five kilometres, which she covered in 17:40. Lucky for her, Gebrekidan was struggling even more, widening the gap between the pair. And Tola was now more than two minutes adrift of Gebrekidan in third.

Gebreslase continued to pull away in the final few kilometres, winning comfortably in 2:20:09, the eighth fastest winning time recorded in Berlin. Gebrekidan held on to second place in 2:21:23 and Tola completed the Ethiopian podium sweep in 2:23:05.

The men’s race may not have resulted in a world record as had been hyped in the days leading up to the event, but it eventually became an enthralling three-way contest between Bekele, Adola and Yegon.

The opening pace was swift as the six-man lead pack breezed through 5km in 14:22 and 10km in 28:47. Bekele and Adola formed one third of that group, while Yegon bided his time further down the field, passing through 10km in 29:40 as part of the larger chase pack.

Shortly after passing through 15km in 43:12 – still well inside world record pace – Bekele started to lose contact with the rest of the lead group, who went on to reach the half-way point in 1:00:48. Bekele, meanwhile, covered the first half in 1:01:00, which was the pre-determined target for the pacemakers.

Over the course of the next five kilometres, though, Bekele worked his way back to the front. The 30km split of 1:27:48 (2:03:30 pace) essentially confirmed that the world record would live to see another day, but the race was shaping up to be a three-way battle between Bekele, Adola and Kenya’s Philemon Kacheran.

Kacheran didn’t last too much longer in that trio, however, and Bekele started to struggle again as Adola was gritting his teeth out in front. Further behind, however, Yegon continued to make his way through the field. Having been seventh at 20km and sixth at 25km, the Kenyan moved into fourth place at 35km, just 17 seconds behind Adola.

One mile later, Yegon passed Bekele to move into second place. Another kilometre after, he joined Adola at the front. But with the temperature now above 20C, Yegon was unable to maintain that momentum. A final surge from Adola at 40km was enough to see off Yegon’s challenge, allowing the Ethiopian to open up a decisive gap.

Adola, the runner-up in 2017, went on to win in 2:05:45 with Yegon following 29 seconds later to take the runner-up spot in a PB of 2:06:14. Bekele was third in 2:06:47.

“I thought before the race that I could beat Kenenisa,” said Adola, who finished second in Eliud Kipchoge in the German capital four years ago. “It was so hot, my feet were burning.”

Bekele, meanwhile, appeared slightly disappointed but confirmed there’s still more to come from the three-time Olympic gold medallist. “The big problem for me was the lack of training because of the pandemic,” he said. “I just couldn't do as well as I hoped. That does not mean my career is over.”

Gebrekidan sets sights on course record

An attack on the women’s course record – which currently stands to Gladys Cherono at 2:18:11 – is looking increasingly likely in Berlin on Sunday.

Three women with sub-2:22 PBs will take to the startline, including world leader Hiwot Gebrekidan of Ethiopia, who clocked a PB of 2:19:35 in Milan in May.

“I’ve been preparing for the BMW Berlin Marathon for a long time and want to run my personal best on Sunday,” said the 26-year-old, who will be contesting her first ever World Marathon Majors race.

When pressed as to what pace she would like, Gebrekidan said: “I’d actually like to hold back in the first half. But I nevertheless plan to go through halfway in just under 69 minutes.”

Such a split at halfway would put Gebrekidan not only in contention for the course record but also the Ethiopian record, currently held by Worknesh Degefa with her time of 2:17:41 in Dubai in 2019.

Fellow Ethiopian Shure Demise also has a personal best in her sights. She is a highly experienced marathon runner, having run a dozen of them. “I’ve spoken with other women runners and know what a fast course is Berlin. I have high expectations for myself and want to break my personal record,” said Demise, whose best currently stands at 2:20:59 and could well go under 2:20 for the first time.

“2:20 remains a breakthrough target for women in the marathon,” said race director Mark Milde. “We’ll have to wait and see what times are actually run. But a pace like that (69 minutes at half way) would certainly suit us. And a course record would be great.”

Fancy Chemutai, a late addition to the field, also has high hopes for Sunday’s race. The Kenyan has a best of 2:24:27 and will be running only her second marathon. Her half marathon best of 1:04:52 – which makes her the seventh fastest woman of all time – suggests she still has a lot of untapped potential at the full marathon distance. No other woman on the Berlin start list has such a fast half marathon performance.

Gotytom Gebreslase could be another one to watch on Sunday. The Ethiopian, who won the world U18 3000m title back in 2011, will be making her marathon debut. Given her PBs of 1:07:52 for the half marathon and 14:57.33 for 5000m, the 26-year-old could be in contention for a podium place.

About 25,000 runners from 139 countries are expected to take part in the 47th edition of the Berlin Marathon. Although more than 90% of participants have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, the race will take place under strict hygiene regulations.

“For months our challenge has been to organise a safe BMW Berlin Marathon, and we’ve achieved our objective,” said Jürgen Lock, the general manager of race organiser SCC Events. “It’s a very good feeling; we’ve arrived at the new reality.”

Bedan Karoki and Eunice Kirwa, both past winners of the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, will return to defend their titles this weekend

Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, Also known as the ‘Naoko Takahashi Cup’ as it is held in the home town of the 2000 Olympic marathon champion, the men’s course record of 1:00:02 was set by Karoki when he won in 2014, while the women’s course record of 1:07:44 was set by world record-holder Joyciline Jepkosgei in 2017.

Karoki, world ranked No.13 in road running, will be aiming to become just the second two-time men’s champion in Gifu. Since his last run in Gifu, Karoki earned world silver medals at cross-country in 2015 and at the half marathon in 2016.

He also improved his half marathon PB to 58:42 in 2018 and earlier this year clocked a marathon best of 2:06:48 to finish second in Tokyo.

His main challengers are Eritrea’s Samuel Tsegay, who has a best of 59:21, Abraham Kipyatich, world ranked No.79, and Uganda’s Abdallah Mande, world ranked No.30. Tsegay’s best was recorded back in 2014, but Kipyatich and Mande both set PBs at various distances in 2018 so will likely be bigger threats to Karoki.

Yuki Kawauchi, the 2018 Boston Marathon champion, is the most famous Japanese runner in the field, but national half marathon record-holder Yuta Shitara is the fastest of the domestic entrants. Shitara’s half marathon best is 60:17 recorded in 2017.

Two time Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon champion Eunice Kirwa Jepkirui leads the loaded women’s field. The Olympic marathon silver medallist set an Asian half marathon record of 1:06:46 in Istanbul in 2017 in what was her last race over the distance.

The 2015 world bronze medallist didn’t race at all in 2018, though, and she may need to be at her best if she hopes to win her third title in Gifu.

Joan Melly Chelimo, world ranked No.3 in road running, has the fastest PB of the field. The Kenyan clocked 1:05:04 in Prague last year, making her the fourth-fastest woman in history for the distance.

Ruth Chepngetich, world ranked No.1 in the marathon, heads to Gifu in the form of her life. She won this year’s Dubai Marathon in 2:17:08, the third-fastest time in history, and followed it with half marathon performances of 1:06:09 and 1:05:29.

World marathon champion Rose Chelimo will be aiming to improve on her PB of 1:08:08, while Ana Dulce Felix, Mimi Belete and Gotytom Gebreslase are also in the field.

Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru ran the fastest 10 miles on US soil in a women's-only race clocking 50:42 at Cherry Blossom

Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru won the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run on Sunday with 50:42, breaking the long-standing course record set 21 years ago by Colleen De Reuck.

Her winning time is also the best mark ever achieved on a record-eligible course in a women-only race.

Wanjiru, the 2015 African Games 5000m silver medallist, sped through the first five kilometres in 15:50 and 10 kilometres in 31:12 and had Ethiopia’s 2011 world U18 3000m champion Gotytom Gebreslase on her shoulder.

The pair were still side by side at 15 kilometres, reached in 47:13, but Wanjiru managed to edge ahead in the closing stages to win in 50:42.

Gebreslase finished second in 50:47, just one second shy of the Ethiopian record. Kenya’s Margaret Muriuki was third in 51:38.

Emma Bates (middle photo) nearly made it a double American record day, missing Janet Bawcom’s 52:12 from the 2014 Cherry Blossom race. That Bates ran 52:18 surprised her, given a rib-area muscle injury she suffered two weeks ago that has made breathing “excruciating.”

“To know I could run that close to the American record despite this is really exciting,” she said. Bates, 26, had just run 1:11:13 for fourth place at the NYC Half Marathon in March when she tried holding a plank while holding herself perpendicular to a vertical pole. On her third try, she tore some of her intercostal muscles, which

Bates, a Boise State alumna who lives in Western Idaho, has not had it easy during the last few cold weeks, but race temperatures in the 50s helped loosen things up. She also got a boost from her sister and her sister’s fiance, who cheered in the latter stages of the race, and from her relatively newfound fame, after running the U.S. marathon championships in December and signing a professional contract with Asics.

“I don’t think people realize what it means to hear your name out there,” she said.