‘I’m So Happy’: Peres Jepchirchir Dominates the Sydney Marathon—and Wins Her 4th World Marathon Major

For the first 16 miles of the women’s race at the Sydney Marathon, an unexpected competitor was out in front.Priscah Cherono of Kenya—who is 46 and has a marathon personal best of 2:25:17 from last year’s Marathon Project in Chandler, Arizona—built a sizable lead in the race’s early miles. She went through halfway in 1:07:59, faster than her official half marathon best by 36 seconds.Meanwhile, lurking 20 seconds back was Peres Jepchirchir, the reigning world champion and the 2021 Olympic gold medalist in the marathon.Jepchirchir, 32, has won three of the seven World Marathon Majors, including London (2024), Boston (2022), and New York City (2021). She has a personal best of 2:14:43 from the Valencia Marathon last year, seventh on the all-time list.And now she has Sydney to add to her list of majors.Jepchirchir moved into the lead around 18 miles, built a 10-second lead over Irine Cheptai, also of Kenya, by 21 miles, and pushed the gap to almost four minutes by the finish. Jepchirchir won in 2:18:31, narrowly missing the course record (2:18:22) that Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands set last year. Although there were several men running near her pace in the first part of the race, by the end there was only one visible male competitor to push her.Jeremy Ng//Getty ImagesJepchirchir takes home $139,000 Australian dollars ($100,000 U.S. dollars) for the win. In a finish line interview, she said the course was “tough” for its hills in the first half.“All the ladies were prepared,” she said. “I was prepared. But I was not sure if I'm going to come and win. But I'm so glad, and I'm so happy.”Cheptai was visibly suffering over the race’s final stretch. She finished second in 2:22:11 and vomited at the finish line. Shure Demise of Ethiopia was third in 2:22:33.Although Cherono did not fall back immediately when Jepchirchir and Cheptai caught up with her—they ran together as a pack for several minutes—by the finish Cherono had faded to sixth place.Her time, 2:23:49, was still a large PR on a difficult course.Women’s top 10Peres Jepchirchir (KEN) — 2:18:31Irine Cheptai (KEN) — 2:22:11Shure Demise Ware (ETH) — 2:22:33Haven Hailu Desse (ETH) — 2:22:57Meseret Abebayehu (ETH) — 2:23:40Priscah Cherono (KEN) — 2:23:49Stella Chesang (UGA) — 2:23:52Fikrte Wereta Admasu (ETH) — 2:25:18Ellie Pashley (AUS) — 2:28:27Aberu Ayana Mulisa (ETH) — 2:28:30Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!