Peres Jepchirchir, Albert Korir win New York City Marathon
Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya celebrates in winning the 2021 TCS NYC Marathon with a time of 2:22.39 on Sun. Nov. 7, 2021. Credit: Errol Anderson
The New York City Marathon has always been about resilience, but no more so than on this Sunday in its 50th running.
The 26.2 miles through the five boroughs is a test of mental and physical endurance — the ability to push through something the body isn’t naturally inclined to do. There are bridges, there are hills, there are stretches of silence and there are longer stretches of loud cheers that threaten to spike a runner’s adrenaline when consistency is the true key to victory.
There was American Molly Seidel, running despite having recently broken two ribs, and women’s winner Peres Jepchirchir, competing after having just lost her friend, runner Agnes Tirop, whose husband confessed to stabbing her and awaits trial in Kenya.
And then there was New York itself, coming back from the unmistakable horror of the last year — the pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people globally and shuttered a city known for its vibrancy and defiance. But on this brisk Sunday morning, a year after the marathon was canceled, there was no talk of fear or illness, just victory.
That came in the form of Jepchirchir, who became the first woman to win Olympic gold and a major fall marathon in the same season. The Kenyan, who pulled away in the final mile, finished in 2:22.39, four seconds ahead of countrywoman Viola Cheptoo.
After coming in second in 2019, men’s winner Albert Korir ran away with the victory. He finished in 2:08.22, close to a minute faster than second-place finisher Mohamed El Aaraby, making it a Kenyan sweep.
"It was fantastic," Korir said. "All the way when we are running, they cheer for us. So that was good. I enjoyed it."
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug won the men’s wheelchair division in 1:31.24 and Madison de Rozario (1:51.01) became the first Australian national to win the women’s wheelchair division.
Top American finishers were Seidel (fourth in the women’s race) and Elkanah Kibet (fourth in the men’s).
Because of the tight schedule — spring races were moved to fall because of the pandemic — the pack did lack some depth, including the 2019 women’s winner, Joyciline Jepkosgei, and Tokyo silver medalist Brigid Kosgei, both of whom opted to run in the London Marathon.
But for the rest, it was one of the few times in this past year that they’ve experienced the grassroots excitement of strangers rallying them through the streets.
"That was incredible," Seidel said. "I’ve never experienced anything like that. It was so cool going from neighborhood to neighborhood and just seeing it change and that energy and the number of people that were out. I think this is just really a testament to the city and being able to come back after a really, really tough year and be able to show that the New York Marathon is back. That was something that I will never forget."
There was a bittersweet tinge to it, though. Jepchirchir and Cheptoo trained while also going to their friend’s funeral and helping to create "Tirop’s Angels," which seeks to eradicate gender-based violence in Kenya.
"I run really hard having Agnes in my heart today," Cheptoo said. "I ran this race for Agnes. When it got really tough, I just kept thinking, you know, Agnes could be running in New York in a year or two because what she did in Germany [in the women’s 10-kilometer road race]. Running that world record in 10K, I knew she was soon going to be moving up to half marathon, and in a year or two, she would be debuting here just like me. So it was really difficult."
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
