Reigning New York City Marathon champion Hellen Obiri admitted that this course was tougher compared to her Boston Marathon debut. The Kenyan made her classic distance debut in New York last year when she finished sixth in 2:25:49 hours. This year, she opened the season by winning the Boston Marathon in 2:21:38 hours.
However, her time will not be recognized by World Athletics as a personal best because the course in Boston does not meet the rules of a standardized World Athletics course.
“The course in New York is more difficult than the one in Boston. When you’re in Central Park, there’s a lot of hills and valleys, unlike Boston, where it was a little flat towards the end”, said Hellen Obiri.
Hellen Obiri is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. She is the only woman to have won world titles in indoor track, outdoor track and cross country. Hellen Obiri is a two-time Olympic 5,000m silver medalist from the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she also placed fourth over the 10,000m. She is a two-time world champion after winning the 5,000m in 2017 and again in 2019, when she set a new championship record. Hellen Obiri is the Kenyan national record holder for the mile, 3,000m both indoors and out, and 5,000m.