By Miguel Rapetti
05 Nov 2023, 19:11 PM EST
The Kenyan Hellen Obiri, who won this Sunday in the New York Marathon after an exciting sprint in the last kilometer, assured that her intention is always to win the competition regardless of the time in which she achieves it.
After an epic finish in which three runners arrived with a chance of winning in the last kilometer, it was Obiri who took the lead and all thanks to her initiative of not giving up.
“Sometimes when you’re a track runner you have to have that speed. Even when you are a marathon runner, that sprint speed (…) you have to have it in your legs,” she said at the press conference after the test.
“I am a marathon runner who comes from track, so I can do well in the last 400 meters,” she added.
Obiri, 33 years old and also winner of the Boston Marathon in 2023, won the victory thanks to a slow and deliberate pace, managing her energy to close with a time of 2h27:23 (the women’s record in New York is the Kenyan Margaret Okayo with 2h22:31 in 2003) after leaving the Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey behind with a great sprint in the last meters (2h27:29).
Obiri thus took over from her compatriot Sharon Lokedi, who was the champion in 2022 and who finished third this year very close to the winner (2h27:33).
“In New York it’s not about the time: it’s about winning the race. I told myself I had to be patient until the last few miles. So when I walked into Central Park I said, ‘Can I make a move?’ That’s how I started picking up the pace,” he explained.
Double silver medalist in 5,000 meters at the Olympic Games (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020) and double world champion in the same distance (London 2017 and Doha 2019), Obiri also became the first woman to win the Boston and Doha marathons. New York in the same season since the Norwegian Ingrid Kristiansen in 1989.
“It is an honor for me to be here for the second year,” said Obiri, who was sixth at its premiere in 2022 in New York.
“My debut was terrible and I said to myself: ‘I don’t want to come back next year.’ After that I said, ‘Here I am again.’ Sometimes you learn from your mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes last year and I wanted to try to do my best (this year). I was prepared. I worked with my coaches and with my family and finally I got it,” she closed.
Regarding the slow pace of the race and how to know when to attack, Obiri said that in a marathon like the New York one “patience” is key.