From Iten to Central Park: the Kenyans to watch in New York on Sunday
On Sunday 1 November more than 50,000 runners will cross the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge for the TCS New York City Marathon. This year is special: it is 50 years since the race first ran through all five boroughs. And once again, the runners most likely to reach Central Park first learned their trade on the red-dirt roads of Kenya's Rift Valley.
Here is who to watch, why so many of them come from one small town, and how to wear the colours on race day.
The women: Obiri goes for three
Hellen Obiri is the defending champion and is chasing a third New York title. She has been in form all year: second at the London Marathon in April in 2:15:53, then a win at the New York City Half. She knows every bridge and every hill on this course.
Her biggest threat may be a fellow Kenyan. Sheila Chepkirui won New York in 2024 and finished third last year, so she is going for a third podium in a row.
The race opened up two weeks ago when Olympic champion Sifan Hassan pulled out through illness. That leaves Obiri as the clear favourite, but New York's late hills in the Bronx and on Fifth Avenue have undone favourites before.
The men: Kipruto against two former champions
Benson Kipruto won last year by three hundredths of a second, one of the closest finishes in the race's history. He was third at Boston in April and comes back as the man to beat.
Geoffrey Kamworor has won New York twice, in 2017 and 2019, and is a three-time world cross-country champion. He ran 2:05:38 in London this spring, and a third New York title would be a fitting way to mark the race's 50th year on the five-borough course.
Watch too for CyBrian Kotut, and for Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands, who won here in 2024.
Cheering for Britain too?
Patrick Dever returns after finishing third last year, and ran a personal best of 2:06:18 in London in April. Jack Rowe and Phily Bowden are also in the men's race. In the wheelchair races, look out for David Weir, the 2010 champion, and Eden Rainbow-Cooper.
Why Iten?
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Drive into Iten and you pass under an arch that reads "Welcome to Iten, Home of Champions". The town sits about 2,400 metres up on the edge of the Kerio Valley, and every morning its dirt roads fill with groups of runners. The thin air, the soft trails and a culture where running is a real way to change a family's life have made this corner of Kenya the world's distance-running capital.
Plenty of the athletes on the start line in New York have trained in Iten or in the camps around nearby Eldoret. Our running bands come from there too.
Wear the colours on Sunday
Every Artisan running band is beaded by hand by Maasai artisans in Iten, from genuine African glass beads. Each one takes about two hours to make. For a race that starts in New York and is so often won by Kenyans, our USA–Kenya band was made for Sunday. Or go all in with the Kenya flag band.
For each running band sold we make a donation that helps young Kenyan runners. Shop the running bands.
How to follow the race
Results and live tracking are on the New York Road Runners website and app. We'll add the results to this post on Monday.
Who are you backing? Tell us on Instagram at @artisandesignbracelets.
Top photo: the start on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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