Chebet doubles Boston, NYC; Lokedi wins debut

Evans Chebet won the New York City Marathon men’s race Sunday, adding the victory to his triumph at the Boston Marathon earlier this year, and Sharon Lokedi won the women’s race as the pair of Kenyan runners made a splash in their Big Apple debuts.

Chebet finished in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 41 seconds — 13 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Shura Kitata of Ethiopia — to become the first man since Geoffrey Mutai in 2011 to sweep the pair of prestigious 26.2-mile races. Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands was third in 2:10:31.

“Boston was actually harder, and it prepared him for the win for New York,” Chebet said through an interpreter. “He’s very thankful.”

There was a scary moment in the men’s race when Daniel Do Nascimento, who had been leading the entire way, collapsed 21 miles in. The Brazilian ran the first half of the race in a blistering 1:01.22, which put him 2 minutes ahead of course record pace. He had been leading by nearly 2 minutes for the first 15 miles before he started to slow.

Do Nascimento went down right before heading back into Manhattan and was quickly attended to by medical professionals. A few miles earlier, he had taken a quick 20-second bathroom break and also had stopped to walk briefly a few minutes before he collapsed. Race officials said later that Do Nascimento was OK.

Chebet saw Do Nascimento on the ground and said he “felt bad for him, but had to continue to race.”

“He knew that it was hot and humid and [Do Nascimento] was going at a high pace,” Chebet said. “He has a lot of experience and he knew he was going to surpass him.”

Chebet, 33, pulled away from the pack chasing Do Nascimento as they headed over the bridge into Manhattan for the first time. After Do Nascimento’s collapse, Chebet took the lead and never was threatened the rest of the way.

The victory continued what is now a 13-year drought for American men in the race. The Americans’ top hope, Galen Rupp, was in the chase pack before withdrawing right before the 19-mile mark.

Lokedi finished her first-ever marathon in 2:23:23, just ahead of Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel.

“I’m just so happy that I just won, you know,” Lokedi said, laughing. “I’m really excited, just so happy that I did it here. The people out there, the course was amazing, the cheers, everything. I’m just thankful.”

The 28-year-old Lokedi was in a tight race before she pulled away from Chemtai Salpeter in the final two miles to win by seven seconds and finish about 50 seconds off the course record.

“I didn’t expect to win. I expected to run well,” Lokedi said. “It was a good outcome, and I’m really excited.”

An hour earlier, the men’s and women’s wheelchair races ended with course records being broken.

Marcel Hug of Switzerland was victorious in the men’s wheelchair race for the fifth time, shattering the course record and tying Kurt Fearnley for most victories in that event.

Hug finished the course that goes through all five boroughs of New York in 1:25:26 to break the previous mark of 1:29:22 set by Fearnley of Australia in 2006.

“The conditions were great for us. A tailwind the first half. It was very good conditions. I think that’s the reason,” Hug said of the record time. “I didn’t know the time. My goal was to go as fast as possible and didn’t focus on the time.”

Hug, who also won the race last year, earned $50,000 for besting the course record. He crossed the finish line more than two minutes ahead of second-place finisher Daniel Romanchuk of Illinois.

Susannah Scaroni also broke the course record in the women’s wheelchair race, finishing in 1:42.43. That was 21 seconds better than the old mark, which had been held by Tatyana McFadden.

A 31-year-old from Illinois, Scaroni pulled away from the field early and also earned the bonus money for topping the course record. She beat runner-up Manuela Schar of Switzerland by 2½ minutes. Last year’s winner, Madison de Rozario of Australia, finished third.

Scaroni won the Chicago Marathon last month and was victorious for the first time in New York after finishing third in 2019.

The 36-year-old Hug, nicknamed “The Silver Bullet,” has been on quite a streak, winning four gold medals at the Tokyo Paralympics last year as well as the Tokyo, Berlin, London and Chicago Marathons in 2022.

It was an unseasonably warm day in New York, with temperatures in the 70s making it one of the hottest in race history since the marathon was moved to November in 1986. The warm weather wasn’t ideal for the 50,000 runners who started the 51st edition of the marathon, which was back to full capacity for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Race organizers said there were nine misting stations on the course and plenty of water, bananas and energy gels available.

Several celebrities ran the race, including Ashton Kutcher and Chelsea Clinton, who completed it for a second straight year. Both were running for charity.

Samantha Judge, the wife of New York Yankees home run champion Aaron Judge, also ran the marathon. The baseball free agent presented her with her medal when she finished along with Yankees outfielder/designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.