(New York) Kenyan Albert Korir won the men’s segment of the New York City Marathon on Sunday, two years after placing second.
Korir surprised Moroccan Mohamed El Aaraby and Italian Eyob Faniel around the 29the kilometer before heading for victory alone. Its unofficial time for the 50e edition of this race was two hours, eight minutes and 22 seconds.
It was Korir’s first victory in a major career event, and his first triumph since winning at the Ottawa Marathon in 2019.
In the ladies, the Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir dropped her opponents at the entrance to Central Park. She went on to become the first woman to win a major track and field event in the fall, after claiming gold at the Olympics.
Jepchirchir crossed the distance with an unofficial stopwatch of two hours, 22 minutes and 39 seconds.
The second oldest marathon in the world was back on Sunday, after being canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The peloton has been reduced by 40%, to around 30,000 participants, in the hope of ensuring social distancing for the starting and ending leads.