Two-time World champion Hellen Obiri, will go up against bitter rival Senbere Teferi and Molly Huddle in the women’s race when the United Airlines NYC Half returns to the streets of New York City tomorrow, Sunday at 2pm (Kenyan time).
Obiri will battle Ethiopia’s Teferi who returns to defend her title that she broke last year when she won in 1:07.35.
Three months later, the 27-year-old was back to win the New York Mini 10K. As the contest draws closer to its start, she represents a significant threat to the Kenyan.
On the other side, Obiri will face a formidable opponent Molly Huddle, a three-time champion from the USA. Huddle returns to the NYC Half for the first time since claiming her third consecutive victory in 2017.
Obiri was in action on February 18, but instead of defending her title at the World Cross Country Championships, she was racing for victory at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon. She set her Personal Best of 1:04:22 in 2022. She also won the event this year in 1:05.05 and is now back on the roads.
The 33-year-old comes to this race with the fastest time of 1:04.22 that she got last year in UAE, where she crossed the line behind Ethiopia’s Girmawit Gebrzihair, who triumphed in a course record time of 1:04.14.
Des Linden, the 2018 Boston Marathon champion for the United States, Kenya’s Irine Cheptai, and Norway’s Karoline Bjerkeli-Grovdal are among the other strong contenders for the championship.
In the men’s category, world gold medalists Joshua Cheptegei and half-marathon world-record holder Jacob Kiplimo are set to renew their rivalry.
Joining them will be 2017 Chicago Marathon winner Galen Rupp and USA’s two-time Olympic medalist and his counterpart Teshome Mekonen, Kenya’s Kennedy Kimutai, Edward Cheserek, and Morocco’s Mourad Maroufit.
