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Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir will be running the New York City Marathon Sunday, November 7 intent on winning the two-year Marathon Majors competition.

Jepchirchir will need to win to leapfrog fellow Kenyans Brigid Kosgei and Joyciline Jepkosgei who are currently tied with 50 points.

Jepchichir is the two-time World Half Marathon champion and holds the world record for the half-marathon distance in a women’s only race at 65:16. She also won the Tokyo Olympic Marathon on the streets of Sapporo in the oppressive heat over world marathon record holder Kosgei.

Kosgei earned her 50 points by winning the 2019 Chicago Marathon, where she bettered Paula Radcliffe’s world record with her 2:14:04 performance. She then won the 2020 London Marathon. Jepkosgei is the defending New York champion and won London in 2021.

Jepchirchir won the World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff 2016 and Gdynia 2020.

The New York City Marathon will be the final Marathon Majors event to happen in 2021, with five of the six taking place in a seven-week span (42 days)from late Sept., to Nov. 7. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Boston and London events were moved to the autumn. Tokyo was cancelled.

SHOESTRINGS: Worth watching is American Shalane Flanagan who will run NYC to make it six majors in seven weeks or 42 days, with a virtual version run in place of Tokyo in Oregon in the time of 2:35:14. So far she has run Chicago in the time of 2:46:39, Boston in 2:40:34. Her Sept. 26 Berlin time this year was 2:38:32, which was followed up by a 2:35:04 London Marathon. Her personal best is 2:21:14. She won New York in 2017.