Hellen Obiri wins New York City Half Marathon in course record time

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ATHLETICS Hellen Obiri wins New York City Half Marathon in course record time

Abigael Wafula 16:30 - 19.03.2023

Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo won the men's race.

Two-time world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri is the 2023 New York City Half Marathon champion in a new course record time of 1:07:21.

Obiri, who has a personal best time of 1:04:22 over the 21km distance, obliterated a strong field to cut the tape ahead of Ethiopia’s Senberi Teferi who clocked 1:07:55. Norwegian Karoline Bjerkeli sealed the podium in 1:09:53.

The Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon champion showed her prowess as she led from gun to tape. Teferi was Obiri’s closest challenger throughout the race as she tried to close in and hopefully run past Obiri but all her efforts saw her settle for second place.

Obiri was also in a class of her own and after 15km, she looked poised and ready to go for the title. On her part, Bjerkeli maintained a fourth-place position throughout the race until the 15th km where she edged Diane Es of Netherlands to fourth place and maintained her momentum to cross the finish line third.

Meanwhile, the men’s race saw World Cross-country Champion Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda take top honours as compatriot Joshua Cheptegei settled for second place in respective times of 1:01:31 and 1:02:09.

https://twitter.com/AthleticsWeekly/status/1637430254577803265?s=20

Moroccan Zouhair Talbi settled for third place in 1:02:18. The first Kenyan to cross the finish line was Edward Cheserek (fifth-place in 1:02:58). Another Kenyan, Kennedy Kimutai placed 12th in 1:03:20.