Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele (left) and Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge. They will take part in the 2025 New York City Marathon.
The 26.2 mile (42 km) New York City Marathon takes place on Sunday, November 2, from 8am Eastern Daylight Time (4pm Kenyan time).
The race starts in Staten Island, from where athletes will go past the imperious Statue of Liberty. The course then winds through Brooklyn and into Long Island City before crossing the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, ending in Central Park.
The New York City Marathon was established 55 years ago in 1970. The men’s course record of 2 hours, four minutes and 58 seconds has been held by Ethiopian Tamirat Tola from the 2023 edition.
Margaret Okayo of Kenya holds the women’s course record of 2:22:31 from her victory in 2003. The race is held on the first Sunday of November each year. It attracts professional competitors and amateurs from all over the world. Because the marathon is so popular, participation is not open to anyone. Participants are chosen largely on a lottery system. For the 2025 race, there have been more than 200,000 applications. Only two to three percent of the applicants were accepted.
The NYC marathon is the world’s largest marathon. Dubbed the TCS New York City Marathon, the five-Borough race is the world’s largest marathon, with a total of 55,646 finishers. Each year, nearly two million spectators line up along the course.
Professional runners
It is also among the pre-eminent long-distance annual running events in the United States of America, and is one of the World Marathon Majors. The World Marathon Majors are a series of seven of the most prestigious marathon races in the world. They are the Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon, London Marathon, Sydney Marathon, Berlin Marathon, Chicago Marathon, and New York City Marathon. A runner can earn a "Six Star Finisher Medal" by completing the original six majors (Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York City).
Kenya's Hellen Obiri competes the women's elite race during the New York City Marathon on November 3, 2024.
This year’s marathon has attracted several top-tier professional runners. These include two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya, Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele, Olympic champion Sifan Hasan from the Netherlands and Helen Obiri and Sharon Lokedi from Kenya. Other notable professional athletes participating include Benson Kipruto and Albert Korir - both from Kenya.
They will face formidable competition from defending champions Abdi Nageeye and Sheila Chepkirui. The 2025 Marathon will be a course debut for Sifan Hassan and Eliud Kipchoge. Defending champions and 2024 winners, Abdi Nageeye and Sheila Chepkirui, will be returning to defend their titles.
The men’s marathon also highlights the explosive rivalry between Kipchoge and Bekele.
Kipchoge, a two-time Olympic champion, has competed and won five times in Berlin, won four times in London, once each in Tokyo and Chicago, finished sixth in Boston, and most recently, finished ninth in Sydney. He will face stiff competition from 2024 London marathon champion Alexander Munyao and the defending champion, Somali-born Dutch runner Abdi Nageeye. The 2024 Tokyo Marathon champion, Benson Kipruto from Kenya, is also a major player in this race.
Retired Kenyan professional marathoner and coach Haron Lagat reflects on the Kipchoge-Bekele rivalry.
Kenya's Hellen Obiri (centre) poses on the podium with the gold medal after winning the women's elite race alongside silver medalist Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey (left) and bronze medalist Kenya's Sharon Lokedi (right) at the 52nd Edition of the New York City Marathon on November 5, 2023.
He says, “The meeting itself is historic. It will feature two of the greatest distance runners of their generation. I have been fortunate to be one of Kipchoge's really close friends. I've been lucky to have seen how he is so professional in what he does."
"Their rivalry stretches back to track, where Bekele dominated Kipchoge. On the roads, however, Kipchoge has had the edge. The New York City Marathon marks another chapter of that rivalry. Because of their ages (41 for Kipchoge, 43 for Bekele) it might indeed be among their last head-to-heads at the marathon level."
Defending champion
Lagat thinks that the best contenders for this year’s marathon are Abdi Nageeye from the Netherlands, who is the 2024 defending champion. He trains in Kenya. He also thinks that Benson Kipruto from Kenya who is a bronze medallist from the 2024 Olympic Games, and Alexander Mutiso, with a personal best of (2:03:11), are potential dark horses.
Analysing the race, Lagat made a prediction.
"The win might come from an athlete who executes well. Expect a big break-up of the group at 30km when they enter Central Park and the hills get tough. However, the headline will still be the race between the legend Kipchoge and Bekele."
On the women's race, he says: “I think Hellen Obiri is one of the stand-out women in the field. She was sixth here in 2022, won it in 2023, and finished second in 2024. But the 2025 women’s field might be the toughest ever at the New York City Marathon, with a strong depth. Obiri's consistency is remarkable. Since her debut in New York in 2022, only four women have beaten her. Obiri is both favourite and is being hunted by her rivals."
He feels that Obiri's main rivals are Sharon Lokedi and Hassan Sifan. He notes that tactics in NYC matter a lot. "It's not always about the fastest time, but rather the smartest to navigate the tough course, and finishing strength. Obiri has those skills."
Kenya's Hellen Obiri celebrates winning the 52nd Edition of the New York City Marathon on November 5, 2023.
The winner of the marathon in both categories takes home USD 100,000 (approximately Sh12.9m), while the second-place finisher gets USD 60,000 (Sh7.7m). Those who finish in third place will walk away with USD 40,000 (Sh5.1m).
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