Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui wins the women’s race at the New York City Marathon

NEW YORK (AP) — Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui won the women’s race at the New York City Marathon on Sunday, pulling away from defending champion Hellen Obiri in the final mile.

It was Chepkirui’s first time running the New York race after starting to run marathons in 2022. She finished the race in 2 hours, 24 minutes, 35 seconds. Obiri finished nearly 15 seconds behind.

Obiri was looking to be the first repeat champion since Mary Keitany of Kenya won three in a row from 2014-16. Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya finished third, giving the African nation the top three spots.

Sara Vaughn, the top American women’s finisher, was in the lead group heading into Mile 20 when they entered the Bronx before she dropped off the lead pack. She finished sixth.

Vaughn was geared up to run Chicago before COVID-19 kept her from competing in that race. She was a late addition to this marathon.

The day got started with an upset in the men’s wheelchair race as three-time defending champion Marcel Hug was beaten by Daniel Romanchuk, who won in 2018 and 2019. Susannah Scaroni won the women’s wheelchair race. It was her second victory in New York, also taking the 2022 race and giving Americans winners in both events — the first time that has happened.

The 26.2-mile course took runners through all five boroughs of New York, starting in Staten Island and ending in Central Park. This is the 48th year the race has been in all five boroughs. Before that, the route was completely in Central Park when it began in 1970. The first race had only 55 finishers while more than 50,000 are expected to compete this year.

The weather was perfect to run in with temperatures in the lower 40s when the race started. Last year, it was 61 degrees when the race started.

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