© Copyright – 2025 – Athletics Illustrated
Olympian Moh Ahmed from Canada will race his first half-marathon in New York on Sunday, March 16.
Also racing is fellow Olympian from the US, Conner Mantz, and marathon national record holder Emily Sisson. The three will be in the mix for the win in Gotham, but they will have competition.
Moh Ahmed in New York
The 34-year-old Canadian record holder, Ahmed, may be making his way toward the marathon in 2025. He currently holds the national 5000m (12:56.87) and 10,000m (26:34.14) records. Ahmed earned silver at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games and bronze at the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships.
Moh Ahmed 🇨🇦 (10k PB 28:22) will make his #HalfMarathon debut at the NYC Half 🇺🇸 (16 March).https://t.co/U8HE7BNU26
— Marathon News (@Marathon_N) February 19, 2025
Cameron Levins holds the Canadian half-marathon record with his 1:00:18 clocking from the Vancouver 2023 First Half Half Marathon. He also holds the national marathon record at 2:05:36 from the 2023 Tokyo Marathon.
If the weather is good and Ahmed races well, he could finish in 58:00 to 59:00 minutes.
Mantz and Sisson
The two American record holders, Mantz in the half-marathon with his 59:17 2025 performance in Houston and Sisson in the marathon with her 2:18:29 run in the 2022 Chicago Marathon fronting a deep field.
Sisson will be looking to improve her half-marathon best which she set in Houston in 2023 at 1:06:52. In 2022 she won the national half-marathon championships in Indianapolis.
Other top seeds
Other top seeds include Americans Hillary Bor who has a 1:00:20 best and Biya Simbassa with his 1:00:37 performance. There is also British runner Patrick Dever who has a 1:00:11 to his credit.
Reed Fischer (1:00:54), Eritrean Yemane Haileselassie (1:01:34), Kenyan Wesley Kiptoo (1:00:34), Eritrean Yemane Haileselassie (1:01:34), and Japan’s Yudai Kiyama (1:00:32) are all within two seconds of each other.
From Japan is Hibiki Murakami (1:01:46).
Two-time Olympian, Woody Kincaid, from the US is toeing the line. Both are running their debuts over the distance.
European cross-country champion, Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal of Norway, will be defending her title. She won the 2024 edition of the race in 1:09:09.
Lonah Salpeter of Israel (1:06:09), Calli Hauger-Thackery of Great Britain (1:06:58), Sara Hall of the US (1:07:15), Sharon Lokedi of Kenya (1:07:42), and Fiona O’Keeffe of the US (1:07:42) will all be racing.
