Belay Tilahun Surprises All With Come-from-Behind Win at NYC Half – Runner’s World

Runners took part in the New York City Half Marathon on Sunday, March 17.
Ethiopian Belay Tilahun won the men’s race in surprising fashion. American Paul Chelimo placed third in his half-marathon debut.
Joyciline Jepkosgei, the women’s half marathon world record holder, won easily in NYC. Americans Emma Bates and Desiree Linden ran strong in their tune-up races for later this spring.

Nearly 25,000 runners—including a stacked field of elite men and women—braved the blustery, mid-30s temperatures in the Big Apple on Sunday morning, March 17, to complete the New York City Half Marathon, which began in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and finished in Central Park. Here is a look at how both races played out.

Pro Men

Spectators standing near the finish line caught the major action of men’s pro race, where Ethiopia’s Belay Tilahun, 23, who was not entered in the elite field heading into the race, kicked past leader Daniel Mesfun of Eritrea with less than a mile to go in Central Park to break the tape in 1:02:10. Mesfun finished in 1:02:16, while Paul Chelimo, a 5,000-meter silver medalist at the 2016 Olympics making his half-marathon debut, placed third in 1:02:19. Tilahun takes home $20,000 for the victory.

All eyes were on Chelimo, who said prior to the race that he was “ready to show the long distance guys a thing or two on March 17.” The 5K specialist set the pace with Mesfun and Parker Stinson for the first few miles, splitting 14:17 at the 5K mark. Around the time the field crossed the Manhattan Bridge at the 6-mile mark, however, Mesfun had opened a wide gap on Chelimo and the rest of the competition, and the speedster couldn’t come back.

“I wanted to win, but I just came short,” Chelimo told Runner’s World after the race. “I think I’m very fit, but New York hills are no joke—it’s nothing like the track. The terrain here was hilly, flat, hilly. At some points, my legs felt dead, but then they recovered. I feel like I can do well at the long distances, but I have to build up my mileage and get my legs used to it.”

Chelimo said he’s still happy with his debut half performance and is looking forward to even longer races in the future. “I’m so tempted to go up to the marathon,” he said. “Maybe at the end of this year, or next year. But I definitely have to go under 60 [minutes] for the half marathon.”

“I think I’m very fit, but New York hills are no joke—it’s nothing like the track.”

Several pros were using the half marathon today as a tune-up for spring marathons, including Jared Ward, who is racing in the Boston Marathon on April 15. Ward, who was the top American finisher at the 2018 NYC Marathon, placed fourth in 1:02:33.

“It was a fun race and a fun opportunity to have so many Americans in there together,” Ward told Runner’s World. “My marathon training’s been fantastic. When you do shorter races like this, though, everything feels a little faster, and my legs feel a little heavier.

“To prepare for Boston, I’ve been doing a lot more hills,” Ward continued. “I’ve always been a decent downhill runner, but the hills have been something for me. On all of my treadmill runs this winter—I do about 30 to 40 miles per week on the treadmill—I put the incline up a bit.”

The Women’s Race

Amy Wolff

Kenyan Joyciline Jepkosgei, the reigning world record holder in the half marathon (1:04:51) and road 10K (29:43), won decisively in 1:10:07. The fight for 2nd place was a close one, with Mary Ngugi of Kenya barely edging out Buze Diriba of Ethiopia to cross the line in 1:11:07. Emma Bates, who won the 2018 California International Marathon champion, finished 4th in 1:11:13, while Des Linden, the 2018 Boston champion who’s returning to defend her title in Boston this April, placed 5th in 1:11:22. Jepkosgei also won $20,000 with her win.

For the first third of the race, the pros ran conservatively, splitting above 5:30 pace in the early miles. By mile six, however, Jepkosgei broke away from the lead pack, which was made up of Ngugi, Diriba, Bates, and Linden. The latter two dueled it out in Central Park, with Bates—who has been working on her speed to prepare the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile this spring—pulling away just before the finish line.

“I’m very pleased. My goal was to be top American if possible, so I just wanted to shoot for that spot,” Bates said. “I had nothing left in those last 800 meters. The Kenyan and Ethiopian women really kicked at the end, and I just couldn’t keep up. Still, I’m really proud of my efforts. I think I kept a pretty even pace the whole time. I felt great on the uphill, but the downhills really killed me.”

Bates continued, “This course is really hard, so I didn’t have a time goal coming into it. I didn’t wear a watch or anything. I just came to compete. I fed off of the other runners’ energy. I thought I would be behind [the lead runners] the whole time and pick it up at the end, but they were sort of yo-yoing the whole time, so I stayed with Des and the rest of them.”

Linden, like Ward, ran the race as a tune-up for Boston next month.

“It was a lot of fun,” Linden said. “I probably got in over my head a few times during the race, but it was really engaging. I was surging a bit, but they were putting some nice moves, too. Racing in New York is always really good practice, especially since the course here is tough. I think this is a positive step for the weeks leading up to Boston.

Overall, the marathoner feels optimistic about her training going into the marathon. “Every buildup is different, but I feel fresher this time,” said Linden, who’s been splitting her time training in the sunny Arizona cities of Phoenix and Tempe, as well as at her home in Michigan.

While the rolling hills and her competitors’ kicks made the NYC Half challenging for Linden, the woman who championed through last year’s storm in Boston paid no attention to today’s cold, gusting wind.

“It wasn’t a factor,” she said, smiling. “I’ve been in worse weather.”

You can watch a replay of the 2019 NYC Half on the YouTube player below.

Digital Editor Hailey first got hooked on running news as an intern with Running Times, and now she reports on elite runners and cyclists, feel-good stories, and training pieces for Runner’s World and Bicycling magazines.