Kenya's Hellen Obiri held off Letesenbet Gidey to wins the New York City Marathon Race 2023

— Kenyan runner Hellen Obiri won the women’s division at the 2023 New York City Marathon on Sunday in two hours, 27 minutes and 23 seconds.

The 33-year-old Obiri, who won the 2023 Boston Marathon, outsprinted Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey (2:27:29) in the home stretch to win the famously difficult race that crosses into all of New York’s five boroughs.

Obiri, who earned the last two Olympic 5000m silver medals, She is the first woman to win the Boston and New York City races in the same year since 1989, when Norwegian Ingrid Kristiansen pulled off the double, per NBC Sports.

Defending champion Sharon Lokedi finished third in 2:27:33. The stacked field marked one of the most star-studded women’s races in history, and also included former world record holder Brigid Kosgei (2:27:45). Gidey ran the fastest debut marathon ever last year.

Kenyan Margaret Okayo set the women’s course record at 2:22:31 in 2003. Tokyo Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir threatened the mark in 2021 with her 2:22:39 and Lokedi ran a 2:23:23 for the win last year.

Ethiopian runner Tamirat Tola won the men’s race Sunday in 2:04:58, a course record. Switzerland’s Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner won the men’s and women’s wheelchair events. Hug’s win was his third straight and sixth overall in New York — he finished in 1:25:29, just three seconds shy of his course record — while Debrunner set a women’s course record with her time of 1:39:32.

New York is the sixth and final World Marathon Major of the year. It wraps up a busy fall for the sport, which saw the men’s and women’s marathon world records fall in the span of two weeks in September and October.

The men's open-division winner is Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia, in a course-record time of 2:04:58, a course record.

Last year’s champion Evans Chebet, a Kenyan, did not participate in the race.

First, Ethiopian Tigst Assefa broke the women’s record on Sept. 24 with her time of 2:11:53 in Berlin. Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum shattered the men’s record with his 2:00:35 in Chicago on Oct. 8, 34 seconds better than Eliud Kipchoge’s previous record.

Since 2017, the men’s and women’s records have been broken three times each.

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