The New York City Marathon took Stuart down memory lane!
When I looked at the results of the women’s New York Marathon it looked like a gathering of old friends!
Hellen Obiri finished second.
I got to know Helen when she was regularly running 3k and 5K at Diamond Leagues. I remember one year at Birmingham when I went to the gym in the evening and there on the treadmill next to me was Hellen – OK going a little faster than me! Next morning, feeling virtuous, I went to the gym again, and there again was Hellen on another treadmill. Thereafter we always refer to each other as training partners! It actively happened a third time in Doha in the gym!
In is interesting to look back to an interview that I did with Hellen in 2017 when she told me: “I do not want to do the longer distances so I will probably stay at 5000 but also run some 1500s. For the world championships I am focused on 5000. I have not yet achieved everything I want to on the track but perhaps in the future I might do a marathon”.
Last year I interviewed Mary Moraa, who told me that as a young runner she didn’t have proper shoes and when Hellen discovered this she immediately got Mary a pair of proper shoes.
Vivian Cheruiyot finished third
I first met Vivian at the World Championships in Daegu in 2011 when she won the 5K and 10k. I actually met her at a tree planting ceremony! Then in 2013 she took a year off to have a baby before returning to win the 10K in the 2015 World Champs. During the 2016 Olympics I was based in the Olympic village and I remember bumping into Vivian the morning after she won the 5000m gold medal – her fourth Olympic medal and finally a gold. After taking up marathons she won London in 2018.
Photo: Thomas Lovelock for Virgin Money London Marathon
Vivian explained to me her reasons for the switch to marathon, the process and the adjustment: “I have been running for almost 18 years – track and cross country. I decided because of my age – at 33 –…
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