Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola, 32, won Sunday’s 2023 NYC Marathon men’s race in 2:04:58, breaking Geoffrey Mutai’s 2011 record by eight seconds as he crossed the finish line just over two minutes ahead of Albert Korir, who finished in second place.
Sunday’s win was a redemption of sorts for Tola who had a disappointing showing at the World Athletic Championships in Berlin where he was forced to drop out of the marathon because of stomach issues.
“The people of New York [are] amazing to give me moral support every kilometer,” said Tola. “Thank you all people. It was a few long kilometers to run alone.”
Tola was healthy as he ran a masterful race and notched his first World Marathon Major win. Tola led the pack through the half marathon split and he and his countryman, Jemal Yimer, began to surge ahead of the other competitors after the Queensboro Bridge.
With about eight miles to go Tola began to pull away from Yimer and his lead continued to grow. By the time Tola reached Central Park he had outdistanced his competitors to cross the finish line completely alone in his record-setting performance.
Marcel Hug captures the Marathon men’s wheelchair title
Marcel “The Silver Bullet” Hug, of Switzerland won Sunday’s NYC Marathon Men’s Wheelchair race in 1:25:29, just missing the course record he set last year by three seconds. Hug led the race most of the way and by the half marathon mark was more than four minutes ahead of his nearest competitor.
The second half of the race was a solo effort by Hug as he raced against himself to beat his 2022 course record. Hug’s victory was a record-setting sixth career win at the NYC Marathon. With the win, Hug also swept all six World Marathon Majors races this season, becoming the first man to ever do so.
“It’s incredible,” Hug said after his history-making victory. “At the moment, I’m just so, so tired. It was really tough. But I’m happy as well.”