No.It is not the oldest – the one in Boston born in 1897 – nor the one with the best world records – recorded on flat routes, Like those in London or Berlin.but the magnetism that surrounds the New York marathon makes it a unique race, an event that again this Sunday will bring together 50,000 runners on the streets of the Big Apple.
That’s why the stories generated by this marathon are endless, with protagonists in the elite but also among the thousands of popular characters who have given themselves the personal challenge of running through the metropolis in the most special marathon.
Gebreslase and the war: “Only God knows when to talk to my parents”
It has been almost a year since Gotytom Gebreslase, the marathon world champion, spoke to her parents, an absence that intensifies before the races. Ethiopian athlete talked to her family before tests, but a phone and internet outage in Ethiopia prevented her from doing so sooner of the Eugene Marathon, where he won the trial.
It was his biggest achievement so far, gold and personal best (2,18,11), but he couldn’t share it with his family, in the midst of the military conflict in northern Ethiopia, a conflict that now seems to be approaching the its end, after the principle of agreement between the Ethiopian government and the rebels of the Tigr region.
Now Gebreslase arrives in New York a little more serene and with the hope of being able to talk to her parents soon, when the country returns to normal. In the “Big Apple” she will run her fourth big marathon in two years later having won in Berlin in 2021.
More than 60 runners in the non-binary category
The New York Marathon like those of Boston and London, They already include a category for non-binary runners, i.e. those runners who do not identify with either the male or female category.
In this edition of the New York race, More than 60 riders will compete in the non-binary category event. “For someone who does not identify as male or female, having to register with no other options already creates a mental barrier or just another obstacle to fully participate,” said Kerin Hempel, director of the New York Road Runners.
According to a 2021 study by the Williams Institute of the University of California, approximately 1.2 million people identify as non-binary in the United States. This has led to numerous races establishing an additional category, so that there are more than 200 road or track races in the United States that now offer three genre categories.
Helen Obiri’s debut
It is one of the attractions of this New York marathon, witnessing Hellen Obiri’s long distance debut, Olympic runner-up and double world champion of the 5000 meters. And despite being her first contact with the marathon, the Kenyan is looking for victory. “I’m excited,” said Obiri, already in New York. “It’s my first marathon, I’m training well and I hope to run at my best. I want to work hard to win.”
Since traveling from his training ground to Kenya, Obiri has trained alongside his coach, Datan Ritzenhein, a 2008 and 2012 marathon Olympian who won bronze at the 2009 World Half Marathon Championships.
His biggest rival will be the world champion on distance, Gotytom Gebreslase, who will also fight for the victory, after the absence of the winner of last year Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir.
Kenyan Evans Chebet, one of the favorites
In the male category, it is the Kenyan Evans Chebet, who ran in Valencia on 2.03.00 in 2020, is that the part with the best time among those recorded, ahead of the Ethiopian Shura Kitata (2:04:49). Chebet could have the ‘honor’ of adding another win for Kenya in the big marathons of the year after Kipchoge will win in Tokyo and Berlin, Chebet himself prevailed in Boston, and Amos and Benson Kipruto in London and Chicago respectively.
Galen Rupp will be the local protagonist and will try to surprise the Africans, aware of the difficulty of the challenge. “I’d rather win in 2:20:00 than run in 2:07:00 and finish 10th,” Rupp said. “This has always been my mentality in every race and this is how I will approach Sunday as well.”
The New York Marathon, in the data
There is a lot of data around the marathon with the most magnetism of all that are disputed. This edition will see the presence of 50,000 runners, 60 of them in the non-binary category.
Warmer than usual temperatures are expected in New York at this time, which the organization has warned runners, especially so that refueling is done correctly.
Since 2006, over $ 400 million has been raised for charitable causes, one of the goals pursued by many of the runners starting in the ‘Big Apple’.
