{"id":167285,"date":"2026-03-18T15:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T15:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/167285\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T15:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T15:04:17","slug":"obiri-wildschutt-earn-united-nyc-half-victories-in-cold-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/167285\/","title":{"rendered":"OBIRI, WILDSCHUTT EARN UNITED NYC HALF VICTORIES IN COLD CONDITIONS"},"content":{"rendered":"

OBIRI, WILDSCHUTT EARN UNITED NYC HALF VICTORIES IN COLD CONDITIONS
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NEW YORK (15-Mar) \u2014 Successfully fighting off both world class competitors and near-freezing temperatures, Kenya\u2019s Hellen Obiri and South Africa\u2019s Adriaan Wildschutt won the elite divisions of the 19th United New York City Half this morning.\u00a0 Obiri, 36, and Wildschutt, 27, covered the 21.1-kilometer course from Prospect Park in Brooklyn to Central Park in Manhattan in 1:06:33 and 59:30, respectively.\u00a0 Obiri\u2019s time was a new event record, and this was the second time that she won the race.\u00a0 Wildschutt became the event\u2019s first South African winner, and he is now just the third South African man to cross a finish line first in Central Park joining TCS New York City Marathon winners Hendrick Ramaala (2004) and Willie Mtolo (1992).<\/p>\n

ELITE WOMEN HIT THE PACE HARD<\/p>\n

Even with all of the advances in training women distance runners, a 4:47 first mile is shockingly fast for a half-marathon.\u00a0 That was the split recorded by reigning World Athletics cross country champion Agnes Ngetich of Kenya, who was taking on this race for the fist time.\u00a0 Only four other women \u2013Obiri, her Kenyan compatriot Sharon Lokedi, Ethiopian Fentaye Belayneh, and Dutchwoman Diane Van Es\u2013 were brave enough to stay close to Ngetich.\u00a0 She split 5-K in 15:15, and Van Es was forced to drop back.<\/p>\n

The leading four stayed together on the ascent of the Brooklyn Bridge which crosses the East River, but on the downslope into Manhattan (about 8-K), Ngetich upped the pace.\u00a0 Obiri stayed locked on Ngetich, but Lokedi and Belayneh drifted back.\u00a0 Lokedi, the race\u2019s defending champion, took stock of the situation.\u00a0 She wanted to close the gap on the two leaders, but it was already too big.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"March 15, 2026: The 2026 United Airlines NYC Half Marathon is held in New York City. The course starts in Brooklyn and ends in Central Park in Manhattan. (Photo by Darrell Parks for New York Road Runners.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started out quick, too-too quick,\u201d a shivering Lokedi told reporters after the race.\u00a0 She continued: \u201cI tried a little bit, but it wasn\u2019t working out.\u00a0 I was like, at this point I just go with my own pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ngetich, with Obiri nearly touching her heels, went through 10-K in a sizzling 30:50.\u00a0 That put the Kenyan duo on pace for a 65-minute finish.\u00a0 But as Lokedi pointed out, the pace was too fast.\u00a0 Running north on the FDR Drive in Manhattan along the East River, Ngetich suddenly slowed.\u00a0 On the race\u2019s local broadcast it seemed as though she had vanished.\u00a0 In fact, she was just too cold.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgnes suffered from hypothermia,\u201d said her manager Davor Savija in a text message to Race Results Weekly.\u00a0 \u201cNot sure why she opted to run without a beanie, arm warmers or gloves.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the 15-K point on East 42nd Street in Manhattan, Obiri had a 30-second lead on Ngetich, who now had to turn her attention to the three women who were close behind her: Lokedi, Belayneh, and Scotland\u2019s Megan Keith.\u00a0 That trio was only six seconds back.\u00a0 Keith, who was running her first half-marathon, felt good.\u00a0 She had ignored the super-fast early pace and stayed with her race plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI normally take quite a lot of risks in my racing, but I\u2019m only used to racing between a mile and a 10-K on the track or cross country,\u201d Keith told Race Results Weekly.\u00a0 \u201cSo I\u2019m new to the roads, and then very new to the half-marathon.\u00a0 So me and my team decided that I had to be sensible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Obiri continued to pound away.\u00a0 The two-time TCS New York City Marathon winner ran through Times Square alone, and up Seventh Avenue to Central Park.\u00a0 The three-time world champion had a 39-second lead by the 20-K point and only gave away two seconds to her rivals at the finish.\u00a0 Her time of 1:06:33 took 31 seconds off of Lokedi\u2019s event record from last year.\u00a0 She will be running the London Marathon on April 26.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me it was an incredible moment,\u201d said Obiri when asked about the point on the FDR Drive where she pulled away from Ngetich.\u00a0 \u201cI told myself just to be patient and run my own race because I know the ladies are so strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obiri, who is a member of the On Athletics Club in Boulder, Colo., has now claimed four victories in New York City.\u00a0 In addition to winning the TCS New York City Marathon in 2023 and 2025 she has now won the half-marathon twice (2023 and 2026), and the Mastercard New York Mini 10-K (2025).\u00a0 She said she loves racing here.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York, it\u2019s been my second home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lokedi, who is training to defend her Boston Marathon title, worked with Keith in the second half of the race.\u00a0 They caught the struggling Ngetich just past 15-K (47:27) and were still together in the Park at 20-K (1:03:41).\u00a0 Lokedi was able to get away from her British rival in the park to finish second in 1:07:10 (still faster than her event record), and Keith finished just three seconds behind (1:07:13).\u00a0 van Es held on to take fourth (1:08:21) in a sprint against Belayneh, who finished one second behind her.\u00a0 Sixth place went to USA marathon record-holder Emily Sisson who, like Lokedi, incorporated this race into her Boston Marathon build-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just came down from altitude like three or four days ago,\u201d said Sisson, who now resides in Ireland but still does her high altitude work in Flagstaff, Arizona.\u00a0 \u201cI honestly needed that.\u00a0 I felt really strong, but I think that this will really bring me on, which is good.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to freshen up the next four weeks at sea level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ngetich finished 13th in 1:10:25 and required medical attention.\u00a0 \u201cShe was treated in the medical tent and has bounced back after 30 minutes or so,\u201d her manager reported.\u00a0 \u201cMassive headache and closing of the chest followed by some vomiting.\u00a0 She is physically OK now.\u201d<\/p>\n

In all, five USA women finished in the top-10.\u00a0 Amanda Vestri was seventh in 1:09:22, Annie Frisbie eighth in 1:09:25, Susanna Sullivan ninth in 1:09:38 and Emily Venters tenth in 1:09:46.<\/p>\n

WILDSCHUTT SURGES TO VICTORY<\/p>\n

The men\u2019s race played out very differently.\u00a0 Like the women, they were running fast, early (13:57 at 5-K and 27:56 at 10-K), but the lead pack was still 14-strong at 15-K (42:24).\u00a0 There were a number of small surges by Ireland\u2019s Peter Lynch, Kenya\u2019s Patrick Kiprop, and America\u2019s Zouhair Talbi, but nothing stuck.<\/p>\n

That is until about the 10-mile (16-K) mark on East 42nd Street in front of Grand Central Terminal.\u00a0 Lynch went to the front again and the pack began to break up.\u00a0 Grant Fisher, who was making his road racing and half-marathon debut, fell off the pace (he would finish 14th in 1:00:53).\u00a0 Wildschutt saw his chance.<\/p>\n

\"\"Adriaan Wildschutt takes United Airlines NYC Half Marathon, photo by Jane Monti Race Results Weekly, used with permission.<\/p>\n

\u201cI talked to my coach yesterday, Jack Mullaney, and he was like if you want to win the race\u2026 you have to have the best last 5-K,\u201d Wildschutt said.\u00a0 \u201cI was biding my time and waiting\u2026 to make a big move and just see what was happening.\u00a0 So, I was able to separate myself from the pack and just keep pushing the pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wildschutt\u2019s move stuck.\u00a0 He made the left turn into Central Park with an 11-second lead on Talbi, and that lead held all the way to the finish.\u00a0 His time was 13 seconds off of his personal best, but considering the difficulty of the New York course and the very cold weather, it was probably his best-ever half-marathon.\u00a0 He also liked following in Ramaala\u2019s footsteps; the now 54 year-old won the New York City Marathon in 2004.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst time running in New York, and coming into Central Park I was so happy; it was beautiful,\u201d Wildschutt told reporters.\u00a0 He continued: \u201cI was glad that, even years after the fact (when Ramaala won), I was able to put a good performance on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talbi, who was active and near the front the entire race, took second in 59:41, his first sub-60:00 half-marathon.\u00a0 Shockingly, third place went to India\u2019s Gulveer Singh, who ran 59:42 in his debut.\u00a0 The 27 year-old, who became the first Indian man to break sixty minutes for a half-marathon, said that he would be returning to the track to focus on the Commonwealth Games this summer.\u00a0 Singh, who is coached by Scott Simmons of the American Distance Project in Colorado Springs, planned to run both the 5000m and 10,000m.<\/p>\n

\"\"Joe Klecker, Grant Fisher in the United Airlines NYC Half, photo by NYRR<\/p>\n

As for Fisher, the two-time Olympic bronze medalist was disappointed despite running the third-fastest debut in race history behind only Olympic medalists Mo Farah of Great Britain (1:00:23, 2011) and Galen Rupp of the United States (1:00:30, 2011).\u00a0 Fisher said the fast downhills early in the race beat up his legs, and when the race broke up around the 10-mile mark he just had nothing left.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was hard, really, really hard,\u201d said Fisher.\u00a0 \u201cI was hoping my legs would be a little more resilient out there, but I think I wasn\u2019t quite prepared for the pounding of the hills.\u00a0 The guys really surged on some of those downhills, and it beat-up my legs.\u00a0 By the time we got into Manhattan my legs were really tired.\u201d\u00a0 He added: \u201cI think I ran decently well, but those last few miles I was hurting coming home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Maier (59:51), Peter Lynch (59:52), and Patrick Dever (59:56) finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.\u00a0 The three men are training partners in the Puma Elite Running group in North Carolina.<\/p>\n

Defending champion Abel Kipchumba of Kenya was unable to finish.\u00a0 His last split was 43:43 at 15-K.<\/p>\n

ROMANCHUK AND RAINBOW-COOPER ROLL AWAY WITH WHEELCHAIR TITLES<\/p>\n

The wheelchair races were not close.\u00a0 On the men\u2019s side Daniel Romanchuk built up a 47-second lead over his nearest rival by the 10-K mark, and that margin ballooned to two minutes and 12 seconds by the finish.\u00a0 Romanchuk, who was competing in his first race since enduring a bad crash at the Sydney Marathon last August, was clocked in 48:10.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really wasn\u2019t sure six months ago whether I would ever be on a starting line again,\u201d said Romanchuk, who dislocated and fractured his right shoulder in the crash.\u00a0 He added: \u201cThankful to God for the opportunity to race again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rainbow-Cooper, a Scotswoman who took second at the Tokyo Marathon earlier this month, won by a massive six-minute margin over American Paralympic legend Tatyana McFadden.\u00a0 She was clocked in 54:27.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to me,\u201d said Rainbow-Cooper, who will race at both the Boston and London Marathons later this month.\u00a0 She continued: \u201cGoing into the Boston and London I just want to carry my momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Eden Rainbow-Cooper (GBR) and Daniel Romanchuk (USA) were the winners of the professional wheelchair division of the 2026 United NYC Half in 54:27 and 48:10, respectively (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)<\/p>\n

AMERICA\u2019S LARGEST HALF-MARATHON<\/p>\n

Race founders and organizers New York Road Runners expected about 30,000 finishers today (official finisher counts were not yet available).\u00a0 Last year\u2019s edition saw 28,677 runners cross the finish line, which was a race record.\u00a0 The race is now the largest half-marathon in the United States (for context, the world\u2019s largest half-marathon is Hoka Semi-Marathon de Paris which had 49,244 finishers on March 8 of this year).<\/p>\n

The next elite running event hosted by New York Road Runners will be the Mastercard New York Mini 10-K on Saturday, June 6.\u00a0 That event is the world\u2019s oldest road race for women, founded in 1972.<\/p>\n

RACE RESULTS WEEKLY is sponsored by RunCzech, organizers of the Prague Marathon and a series of iconic running events, including the Prague Half Marathon, part of the SuperHalfs, and Italy\u2019s fastest half marathon, the Napoli City Half Marathon. Learn more at\u00a0runczech.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n

\"Race <\/p>\n

Race Results Weekly is the news service of record for global road racing, published by David and Jane Monti, with support of Chris Lotsbom. RunBlogRun publishes their stories with permission.<\/p>\n


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