The Hellen Obiri-Sharon Lokedi rivalry is GREAT for the sport.

For the second time this year, Hellen Obiri and Sharon Lokedi claimed the top two spots on a World Marathon Major podium. In April, Lokedi held off Obiri to claim her first Boston Marathon title as both shattered the course record. Once again, Obiri and Lokedi (plus third-placer Sheila Chepkirui, the 2024 champ) worked together to run the fastest time in New York history. Only this time, Obiri turned the tables on her rival with a blistering final 800 meters and a 2:19:51 victory. Their early teamwork paid off in several ways: Kenya swept the podium spots, all three women broke Margaret Okayo’s 2003 record by 2+ minutes, and Olympic champ Sifan Hassan was run out of contention early into the second half of the race.

Obiri improves to 5-2 against Lokedi in their careers, and in four of those seven races, the two women—who, despite their epic battles, are quite friendly with one another—finished one place apart. Obiri returns to the top step of a marathon podium for the first time since her 2024 Boston victory, which isn’t a particularly long drought, until you realize that the 35-year-old has won four of her eight career marathons. Very few runners can claim a 50% win rate at this level, and it’s made more impressive by the fact that Obiri has often taken on the very best in the world to earn those wins.

Lokedi, for her part, has only finished lower than fourth in one of seven marathons, and she picks up her fifth WMM podium finish. The longer these two go at it, the more exciting each major finish is going to be.

Chris Chavez nearly jinxes Benson Kipruto… but he makes history anyway.

For those watching along on the CITIUS MAG YouTube broadcast, Chris Chavez came very close to ending up on “Old Takes Exposed.” With about half a mile to go in the men’s race, he called Benson Kipruto as the race winner. Kipruto, the Paris bronze medalist and a three-time World Marathon Major winner, had survived the whittling down of the lead pack over the second half and found himself in the driver’s seat in Central Park, putting the hurt on 2024 London champ Alexander Mutiso Munyao. There was only one problem: with 200 meters left in the race, Mutiso found one last gear and began to reel Kipruto back in. Kipruto was focused on navigating the slight uphill finish of New York’s and only realized Mutiso was so close in the final steps, turning on one last burst of speed to stay ahead of his challenger. It was a true photo finish, as 0.3 seconds separated the duo and both men were credited with a time of 2:08:09.

Ultimately, Kipruto remained in front and Chris’s call held up, which also meant history was made: Kipruto became the first man ever to complete the U.S. major career sweep, winning Boston in 2021 and Chicago in 2022 along with his 2025 victory in New York. He’s now only got London, Berlin, and Sydney on his list as he’s last year’s Tokyo champion (at least, until Abbott keeps adding races to its circuit).

Kenyan runners continued their dominant streak, as 2021 champ Albert Korir rounded out the podium to complete the sweep on the men’s side as well. Mutiso, for his part, proved he’s a versatile marathoner, as up until this point his best races had only been on the flat courses like Valencia.