OBIRI, KIPRUTO TAKE TCS NYC MARATHON TITLES IN CLOSE FINISHES
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permission.

NEW YORK (02-Nov) -- On a near-perfect day for running with bright skies and cool temperatures, Hellen Obiri and Benson Kipruto won the 54th edition of the TCS New York City Marathon in close finishes.  Obiri, 35, won the race for the second time and beat her long-time Kenyan rival Sharon Lokedi, the 2022 champion here, with an explosive surge in the 26th mile.  Obiri smashed Margaret Okayo's 2003 course record of 2:22:31, clocking 2:19:51 on the strength of a blistering 1:08:50 (uphill) second half.  Kipruto, 34, edged his Kenyan compatriot Alexander Mutiso by just 3/100ths of a second, the closest finish in the history of the race. Both winners won $100,000 in prize money and Obiri collected an extra $50,000 for setting a new course record.

WOMEN START OUT FAST

The first mile of this notoriously hilly marathon is completely uphill on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and is often the slowest mile of the race.

Not today.

American Susanna Sullivan, recently fourth at the World Athletics Championships marathon in Tokyo in September, went right to the front and split the first mile in 5:30.  That didn't deter the race's top competitors, and after a 5:22 downhill mile on the other side of the bridge a lead pack of 16 formed and the pace settled down.  In the group was the reigning champion, Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya, and she was the first athlete to try to break up the race. She ran the fifth mile in a crisp 5:19 and the sixth in 5:22.  That still left a dozen women in contention, including the fastest American in the field, Fiona O'Keeffe, the 2024 Olympic Trials champion.

"It's definitely exciting," said O'Keeffe when asked what it was like to run at the front of an Abbott World Marathon Majors race.  She added: "It was really exciting to be up there with those women."

Through 10 km (33:53) and 15 km (50:52) the pack whittled down to nine: Obiri, Lokedi, Chepkirui, O'Keeffe, Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN), Sara Vaughn (USA), Annie Frisbie (USA), Sifan Hassan (NED), and Emily Sisson (USA).  American debutante Amanda Vestri was just a few seconds back.

Between 20 km and the halfway point the race finally broke up.  As the leaders crossed the halfway mark in 1:11:01, only Chepkirui, Lokedi, Obiri and O'Keeffe remained on the front.  Hassan --who had missed her bottle at the 20-K drink station and had to go back to pick it up-- was now four seconds back.  Sisson, the USA record holder who was making her New York City Marathon debut, also fell back (she would finish eight in 2:25:05).  

When the leaders started to ascend the Queensboro Bridge, which spans the East River between Queens and Manhattan, O'Keeffe started to struggle.  At the 25-K point near the peak of the bridge (1:23:59) O'Keeffe was four seconds back, and Hassan was 18 seconds behind.  It looked like both women were out of the fight for the podium.

But after descending the bridge ramp on the Manhattan side, O'Keeffe and Hassan were lifted up by the huge crowds that lined First Avenue.  Remarkably, both women caught up, and by 30-K (1:40:11) the five women were back together.  They were on pace for a 2:21 finish, and it became obvious that Okayo's course record --the oldest in the World Marathon Majors-- would finally be broken.  

Soon, O'Keeffe and Hassan would be dropped for good.  Still, O'Keeffe would have a great day, finishing fourth in 2:22:49, the fastest-ever time by an American woman here.  Hassan continued to slow and finished sixth in 2:24:43.

"I felt pretty strong for a while," said O'Keeffe.  She continued: "I can't really take too much credit for the time; that was the women up ahead of me."

After the long uphill in the 24th mile on Fifth Avenue, Chepkirui, Lokedi and Obiri were still together.  They turned into Central Park, ran past the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and on the next downhill --called "Cat Hill" by the locals-- Obiri and Lokedi got away from Chepkirui.  Turning right onto Central Park South, Obiri and Lokedi were side-by-side.  They ran together for just a few hundred meters before Obiri hit the gas and scooted away.  She looked back twice, but Lokedi wasn't responding.

"My coach told me to be patient and make your move with two miles (to go)," Obiri said, referring to Dathan Ritzenhein at the On Athletics Club in Boulder, Colo.  She continued: "With about 1 K to go I felt so strong, I had something left in my tank."

Obiri ran to the tape alone, but both Lokedi (2:20:07) and Chepkirui (2:20:24) had also smashed the course record.

"With Hellen you never know," said Lokedi, marveling at her rival's final move.

Another American, Annie Frisbie, passed Hassan and finished fifth in 2:24:12, a two-minute personal best.  Britain's Jessica Warner-Judd finished seventh (behind Hassan) in her marathon debut in 2:24:45.

"I thought 2:24 might get on the podium, but not today," Warner-Judd told Race Results Weekly just after stepping off the course.


MEN START CAUTIOUSLY

Unlike the women, the men were not in much of a hurry today.  More than 20 men were together at 10-K (30:22) and 15-K (46:01).  Even by halfway (1:05:18), there were still 20 men in contention.

The climb up the Queensboro Bridge to the 25-K mark (1:17:53) stretched the field out a little, but it wasn't until the northbound stretch on First Avenue in Manhattan that the race finally got going.  After a 4:40 split for the 17th mile, the field was down to eight: Kipruto, Mutiso, Tsegay Weldlibanos (ERI), Albert Korir (KEN), Hillary Bor (USA), Biya Simbassa (USA), Patrick Dever (GBR), and Abel Kipchumba (KEN).  The eight stayed together through 30-K (1:32:21), and 35-K (1:47:37) but a surge by Korir in the next five-kilometer segment dropped Simbassa, Kipchumba, and Weldlibanos.  By the time the leaders reached Central Park in the 24th mile, only Kipruto, Mutiso, Korir and Dever remained in contention.

Moments after entering the park, Kipruto put in the race's most important surge.  Korir and Dever were dropped, but Mutiso stayed with his adidas teammate.  Kipruto ran the 25th mile in 4:30, the fastest of the race.  That set up an incredible battle for the win after the two leaders re-entered Central Park with about 600 meters to go.  Kipruto was leading, and it seemed as if he had a big enough gap to claim a clear victory.  But Mutiso mounted an surprising final sprint, running on Kipruto's left.

"I was aware that Mutiso was there and so close," Kipruto told reporters after the race.  "I know Mutiso is strong guy.  I knew it was going to be a tight race."

Kipruto raised his arms just before hitting the tape in 2:08:09, and so did Mutiso, but there was no dispute as to who had won.  The the two men immediately congratulated each other

"I'm very happy to be in the podium in New York and to be motivated by Benson," said Mutiso.

With his win here today, Kipruto has now won four Abbott World Marathon Majors: Boston in 2021, Chicago in 2022, Tokyo in 2024, and now New York.  He was also the bronze medalist in the 2024 Paris Olympic marathon.

Korir, who finished third in 2:08:57, has made the podium in New York five times (he was also second in 2019, first in 2021, second in 2023, and third in 2024).  Dever, a Briton who trains in the United States, took fourth in his debut in 2:08:58.  Matthias Kyburz of Switzerland, who is coached by former European marathon champion Viktor Röthlin and was only in 14th position at halfway, finished fifth in 2:09:55.

The top American today, Joel Reichow of Minnesota Distance Elite, was a surprise.  Reichow moved up from the 19th place at the halfway mark, to 11th at 30-K, to fifth at 40-K.  Although he was passed by Kyburz, he nonetheless finished sixth in a personal best 2:09:56.  He won a total of $35,000 in prize money, more than three times what he earned when he won Grandma's Marathon last June.

"It definitely feels good," said Reichow, who is coached by Chris Lundstrom  "I just wanted to prove I can compete with the top Americans and I proved that today."

Former marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya finally competed in the TCS New York City Marathon today, and was never a factor in the race.  After finishing ninth in the Sydney Marathon in 2:08:31, the two-time Olympic gold medalist finished 17th here today in 2:14:36, the slowest marathon of his career.  He received his Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star medal in the post-race press conference where he said he would be running seven marathons on seven continents in the next two years. It wasn't clear whether he would attempt to run at an elite level again.

"It was really wonderful running through the streets of New York with all of the crowds cheering," Kipchoge told reporters.  He added: "It was really a beautiful thing for me."

In the professional wheelchair races Marcel Hug of Switzerland and Susannah Scaroni of the United States totally dominated, just as they did in Chicago last month.  Hug got away from his chief rival, David Weir of Great Britain, in the second five-kilometer segment where he already had a 20 second lead.  That lead would increase to nearly four minutes by the finish.  It was Hug's seventh win in New York.

"It's overwhelming to win here in New York," said Hug, who earned $50,000 in prize money.  "It's so meaningful to me to be back on the podium."

Scaroni had a 25-second lead by the 5-K point, and won by nearly six minutes in 1:42:10. It was her third victory here, and her second in a row.

"It feels incredible," said Scaroni, who pushed to her fastest time in the New York course.  She added: "I tried to keep my pace efficient and strong to the finish."

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New York Road Runners, the race founders and organizers, expect about 55,000 runners to cross the finish line today.  Last year's race had 55,643 finishers and was the largest marathon in history.



PHOTO: Hellen Obiri, Sharon Lokedi and Sheila Chepkirui after descending the Queensboro Bridge in the 17th mile of the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon (Photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

PHOTO: Benson Kipruto and Alexander Mutiso near the 40-K mark at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon (Photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

PHOTO: Fiona O'Keeffe, the top American woman at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon, near the 40-K mark (Photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

PHOTO: Joel Reichow, the top American man at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon, just as he entered Manhattan in the 17th mile (Photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)