The annual New York City Marathon (NYC) took place this Sunday, an event that has happened for 51 years. Tamirat Tola and Helen Obiri were the overall winners, both runners obtained the rewards for winning their races, and also set records for themselves.
The first NYC Marathon took place on Sept. 13, 1970, with 127 registered runners, while the 2023 NYC Marathon has some 50,000 amateur and professional runners according to TCS. This race has taken place every year since 1970 with the exception of 2, being 2012 due to Hurricane Sandy, and 2020 due to Covid-19.
“I can imagine the feeling of being a part of this huge event,” said junior Annika Carpenter. “It is stressful because it is a race but this is such an amazing event to participate in that I feel like the excitement would trump the nerves,”
Following the Boston Marathon, the NYC Marathon is the last major world marathon of the year according to WorldMarathons. This course winds through all five boroughs of New York City, challenging the runners with rolling hills and windy bridgecrossing, according to sophomore Juliette Wu.
“I think that running in the wind is very frustrating because you can’t find a rhythm, which is vital when running for that long,” said Wu. “This year it was supposed to be sunny so that is definitely a plus,”
From Kenya, 33 year old Hellen Obiri won her first NYC Marathon with a time of 2:27:23, sprinting to the finish line with a 6 second lead to second place according to Sportico. After winning the Boston Marathon earlier this year, the 2-time Olympic Champion adds another major win to her name.
“Hellen Obiri is such an amazing athlete that I have been following for so long,” said junior Elle Andrejeck. “I am so happy for her because she has won so many things, but winning the NYC Marathon is always a huge achievement,”
Tamirat Tola broke the course record that had stood strong for over a decade. The Ethiopian runner’s time was 2:04:58, 8 seconds faster than the record set by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011 according to Olympic Records. While Tola was alone for the last couple miles, he beat the man in second place by just under two minutes, an admirable feat according to Carpenter.
“Personally, I hate when I am alone during a race because it is harder to sustain the race mentality,” said Carpenter. “The time Tola ran is incredibly impressive but the fact he also did the last part alone is just another incredible feat.”
