Tamirat Tola and Hellen Obiri look to defend titles in New York City Marathon

AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Tamirat Tola and Hellen Obiri will look to defend their New York City Marathon titles this November. The pair headline strong fields in the annual race around New York’s five boroughs. Tola is coming off a win at the Paris Games where he set an Olympic record in the race. The Ethiopian broke the New York course record last year. Other top runners in the men’s field include past winners Geoffrey Kamworor, Albert Korir and Evans Chebet, who all are from Kenya. Belgium’s Bashir Abdi won the silver medal in Paris and is also in the race. Conner Mantz and Clayton Young, who finished eighth and ninth in Paris, are the top American men. The women’s field features past champions Sharon Lokedi and Edna Kiplagat of Kenya.