Ethiopian runner Tamirat Tola won the men’s division at the 2023 New York City Marathon on Sunday in two hours, four minutes and 58 seconds, a course record.
The 32-year-old and 2022 world champion distanced himself from the field to win his first World Major Marathon in the grueling race that spans New York’s five boroughs. Albert Korir finished second in 2:06:57 and Shura Kitata was third in 2:07:11.
Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia is the men’s open-division winner, setting a course-record time of 2:04:58. #TCSNYCMarathon pic.twitter.com/VZRtRRrZxa
— TCS New York City Marathon (@nycmarathon) November 5, 2023
Futsum Zeinasellassie was the fastest American finisher on the men’s side, running a 2:12:09 for 10th place. The race was without defending champion Evans Chebet, who won in 2:08:41 last year, and Geoffrey Kamworor, who has won the race twice. Both men withdrew from the field in October.
Since Geoffrey Mutai set the previous course record in 2011 with a 2:05:06, only four men had run under 2:08 on the famously difficult course before Tola did so Sunday.
Kenyan runner Hellen Obiri won the women’s race Sunday in 2:27:23. Switzerland’s Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner won the men’s and women’s wheelchair events. Hug’s win was his third straight and sixth overall in New York — he finished in 1:25:29, just three seconds shy of his course record — while Debrunner set a women’s course record with her time of 1:39:32.
Tola’s win came in the sixth and final World Marathon Major of the year. It wraps up a busy fall for the sport, which saw the men’s and women’s marathon world records fall in the span of two weeks in September and October.
First, Ethiopian Tigst Assefa broke the women’s record on Sept. 24 with her time of 2:11:53 in Berlin. Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum shattered the men’s record with his 2:00:35 in Chicago on Oct. 8, 34 seconds better than Eliud Kipchoge’s previous record.
Since 2017, the men’s and women’s records have been broken three times each.
This story will be updated.
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(Photo: Alex Davidson / Getty Images)
