NEW YORK — Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia broke the 12-year old course record to win the New York City Marathon on Sunday. Tola finished the 26.2-mile race in 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 58 seconds, beating the previous record set by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011 by eight seconds.
Tola expressed gratitude for the support he received from the people of New York throughout the race and said his main focus was on winning. He pulled away from his countrymate, Jemal Yimer, at mile 20 and continued to widen the gap until he crossed the finish line. Tola, who finished fourth in the race in 2018 and 2019, was a late addition to the field, joining just three weeks ago.
Albert Korir of Kenya, the winner of the 2021 NYC Marathon, finished second, nearly two minutes behind Tola.
In the women’s race, Hellen Obiri of Kenya emerged as the champion. She made a decisive move in the final 400 meters to secure the victory. Obiri, who ran New York for the first time last year and finished sixth, expressed her determination to improve upon her previous performance. She finished this year’s race in 2 hours, 27 minutes, and 23 seconds. Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia finished second, six seconds behind Obiri.
This year’s women’s field was expected to challenge the course record set in 2003 by Margaret Okayo, but the race turned out to be tactical, with 11 runners vying for the lead. American runners Kellyn Taylor and Molly Huddle were among the leaders for the first 20 miles before falling back and finishing eighth and ninth, respectively.
The men’s and women’s winners finished within a few minutes of each other. The weather conditions for the race were ideal for record-breaking times, with temperatures in the 50s.
