NEW YORK CITY, March 15 — Hellen Obiri and Adriaan Wildschutt used decisive surges over the last 5K to win titles (and $20,000 each) at the United Airlines NYC Half on a cold and windy morning. Double Olympic medalist Grant Fisher made his much-anticipated debut on the roads, finishing well back but learning valuable lessons for the future.
The race features a hilly (but not record-eligible) point-to-point course that starts in Brookyln’s Prospect Park, crosses the Brooklyn Bridge then works its way up the east side of Manhattan before winding through Times Square and eventually finishing in Central Park. Temperatures were barely above freezing (36F/2C at the start), which added another challenge.
Agnes Ngetich, coming off a dominating world cross country title in January, was undaunted and set out at a blistering pace — 4:47 first mile! Within the first minutes of the race only her fellow Kenyans Sharon Lokedi (the defending champion) and Hellen Obiri (the ’23 winner), Fantaye Belayneh of Ethiopia and Diane van Es of the Netherlands had decided to go with her. Van Es soon fell back and the leading quartet passed 5K in 15:15 — roughly 64:20 pace on a route in which Lokedi’s 67:04 from last year stood as the course record.
By 10K (30:50) only Obiri could match Ngetich’s ambition. Obiri, who has had considerable success in New York (winning the marathon in both ’23 and ’25), patiently sat on Ngetich’s heels. Finally, and suddenly, in the ninth mile the 36-year-old veteran shifted gears and effortlessly moved ahead. Ngetich had no response and quickly drifted back. Obiri hit 15K in 46:51 and already had a 30-second lead.
Obiri, who is preparing for the London Marathon in April, continued to push hard up front and passed 20K in 63:02 before finishing in 66:33, a course record.
“I said to myself let me try to make a move and see if she if could respond,” said Obiri, whose three Olympic medals include a bronze from the ’24 marathon along with silvers in the 5000 in both ’16 and ‘21. “When you make a move and you see they aren’t responding, you get that energy to keep pushing.”
Ngetich continued to struggle and eventually finished 13th in 70:25. Lokedi (67:10) took 2nd, pulling away late from Britain’s Megan Keith (67:13), who ran most of the early miles solo but rallied in the second half. “Started out too quick,” Lokedi said with a laugh. “Too, too quick, but closed it up and got into the rhythm and just went with it.”
Van Es (68:21) and Belayneh (68:22) placed 4th and 5th, while Emily Sisson (69:06) was the top American in 6th, just ahead of countrywomen Amanda Vestri (69:22) and Annie Frisbie (69:25).
The early stages of the men’s race were quick, but not quite as daunting. American Joe Klecker led a huge group through 5K in 13:57. Zouhair Talbi, an American citizen since last year and the winner of January’s Houston Marathon, was the nominal leader at 10K (27:56), but 14 athletes were still in contact, including Wildschutt, a South African who ran collegiately at Coastal Carolina and then Florida State. Among those who could not handle the tempo was two-time defending champion Abel Kipchumba of Kenya.
Several athletes made brief attempts to break away, but the same 14 men remained together at 15K (42:24). Finally, in the 11th mile, Wildschutt made his move running down 42nd Street. The pack quickly splintered, with Fisher among those who could not respond.
Wildschutt led Talbi by 11 seconds at 20K (56:26) and held that margin to the finish, crossing the line in 59:30. Talbi (59:41) took 2nd just ahead of India’s Gulveer Singh (59:42), while Alex Maier (59:51) was the second American in 4th overall, followed by his training partners Peter Lynch (59:52) of Ireland and Patrick Dever (59:56) of Great Britain.
“I was just trying to conserve as much energy as possible and really run smart,” said Wildschutt, who finished 13th at the World Cross Country Championships in January and took 10th in the 10,000 at both the ’24 Olympics and ’25 Worlds. “One thing I really learned on the track was just to be tactically astute and wait for your time and relax. A half marathon is not won in the first couple of miles, but the last 5K if you run smart.… I was able to pull that off and I’m very happy about that.”
Fisher found himself in no-man’s land over the closing miles and finished 14th in 60:53 (fifth American). The result was both frustrating and encouraging for a man who won bronze in both the 5000 and 10,000 at the Paris Olympics and had attracted considerable attention for his debut over 13.1 miles.
“That did not feel terrific. That was hard, really, really hard,” said Fisher, who holds the World Indoor Records in the 3000 and 5000. “I was hoping my legs would be a little more resilient out there, but I think I wasn’t quite prepared for the pounding of the hills.… Aerobically I felt good, felt really prepared, but I think the leg pounding, the impact, I think for my next one it’ll be a slightly different preparation with probably just longer efforts on the roads, intentionally looking for some surges within some reps.”
He says he will return to the track for the outdoor season, targeting the Diamond League and World Ultimate Championships, and indicated that he currently has no plans to give the roads another try until next year. “Those last few miles I was crawling pretty bad,” he admitted. “That leaves a pretty bitter taste in my mouth, makes me want to get in another one and maybe change the preparation a little bit and hopefully have a better result. But for now that’s what I have to start with.”
NYC HALF MEN’S RESULTS
1. Adriaan Wildschutt (SA) 59:30 ($20,000); 2. Zouhair Talbi (US) 59:41 PR (4, 4 A); 3. Gulveer Singh (Ind) 59:42 NR; 4. Alex Maier (US) 59:51 (x, 8 A); 5. Peter Lynch (Ire) 59:52 NR; 6. Patrick Dever (GB) 59:56 PR; 7. Rory Linkletter (Can) 60:00; 8. Patrick Kiprop (Ken) 60:01; 9. Joe Klecker (US) 60:02 PR; 10. Syunsuke Kuwata (Jpn) 60:13 PR; 11. Jack Rowe (GB) 60:17 PR; 12. Ryan Ford (US) 60:22; 13. Daniel Simiyu (Ken) 60:50; 14. Grant Fisher (US) 60:53 (debut); 15. Camren Todd (US) 62:06;… 25. Galen Rupp (US) 64:28.
NYC HALF WOMEN’S RESULTS
1. Hellen Obiri (Ken) 66:33 ($20,000); 2. Sharon Lokedi (Ken) 67:10; 3. Megan Keith (GB) 67:13 PR; 4. Diane van Es (Neth) 68:21; 5. Fantaye Belayneh (Eth) 68:22; 6. Emily Sisson (US) 69:06; 7. Amanda Vestri (US) 69:22; 8. Anne Frisbie (US) 69:25; 9. Susanna Sullivan (US) 69:38; 10. Emily Venters (US) 69:46; 11. Konstanze Klosterhalfen (Ger) 70:04; 12. Dakotah Popehn (US) 70:06; 13. Agnes Ngetich (Ken) 70:25; 14. Lauren Gregory (US) 71:12; 15. Elena Hayday (US) 71:21. ◻︎
