Hellen Obiri makes history

Words by Laura Markwardt. Photography by Kevin Morris, Colin Wong.

“It's not easy to become Hellen Obiri,” says Hellen Obiri.

“It’s about knowing who you want to be. If you want to be somebody in the future, you need to work to be that somebody.” 

With two Olympic silver medals, seven World Championship medals, a World Cross Country Championship title and the Kenyan 3,000-meter record among her many accolades, it’s safe to say Obiri takes her own advice.

“If you are a runner, you can make yourself a winner,” she continues, “and to be a winner, you have to work hard.”

Obiri repeats “hard work” like a mantra. 

When we first speak in 2023, Obiri’s fresh from a hard, 14 mile (22.5km) fartlek [where pace changes at random to keep an athlete hovering on the red line], in Boulder, Colo, where she trains with the On Athletics Club (OAC). 

It’s been just four weeks–including ten recovery days and three interval sessions – since she topped the podium at the Marathon in New York.

“I was so excited. Everybody wanted to win. Everybody was watching,” says Obiri, 34, recalling the noise and elation of that tape-break moment in Central Park.

For Obiri, 2023 was a winning year from start to finish. Taking the Marathon in Boston [2:21:38], followed by New York [2:27:23], she fuelled her legacy with a career-defining double victory – the first woman to take both those majors in the same year since former world record holder, Ingrid Kristiansen, in 1989. 

The Norwegian, Kristiansen, also relocated to train at altitude in Boulder, and at the pinnacle of her career, told Track & Field News, “The sport is tough. It’s not easy. You have to keep going if you want to be on top.” 

Obiri herself credits fellow Kenyan, Vivian Cheruiyot, 40, [elite distance runner and cross-country champion, who won women’s 5000m Olympic gold in 2016], as her all-time running hero. “I used to admire Vivian so much. I didn’t know I could achieve half of what she did. Looking at my profile, I have. Now I’ve got the chance, I want to be extraordinary."

Fast-forward to April 2024: Obiri raced Boston again. This time, she was not there as a challenger, but as a favorite–pushing the pace to retain her crown, “I’m the champion. I want to defend my title,” she told me, before making a break at the final mile and taking the Marathon for a second, consecutive year in a time of 2:22:37. 

“Defending the title was not easy…I had to work extra hard.” she told the post-race press conference.

Obiri has fine-tuned her race strategy. Back in November 2022, when she ran her world marathon debut, she was competing in the unseasonal heat of New York City. Racing under-fueled and pushing the pace as the mercury rose, she underperformed. Timing is everything, and Obiri came sixth, just over two minutes behind the winner. 

“You have your tactics, but somebody else has theirs,” she reflects. “For me now, the most important thing about championships is only to sit back, enjoy the race and see how the other ladies are doing. From there, it's about patience.”

Since switching from track to marathon, Obiri reveres patience. Distance runners often talk about the marathon as a 20-mile (32 km) run, followed immediately by a 10K race. Any heroics in those first 20 miles typically count for nothing.

Today, Obiri’s patience is measured by a heightened awareness across the field. However the race unfolds, she’s putting in the work to build her strength and intuition, ready to take advantage of any weaknesses her competitors may show.

“At the end of the day, a marathon starts at 38K. I’m going to work up to that and think, can I make the move? If there’s only 4K to go, then it’s about speed,” she says. “In training, I’m concentrating on speed, mileage and lots of hill reps. That helps me a lot.” 

In spring 2022, Obiri made the move from Kenya to Boulder – alongside her husband, Tom Nyaundi and their young daughter, Tania – to train with the guidance of the OAC’s Coach, Dathan Ritzenhein. 

One of the all-time, top-five fastest Americans in the half-marathon, Ritzenhein, says Obiri is “one of a kind” and “the ultimate competitor.” For her part, Obiri says he’s been instrumental in channeling her energy to polish her world-leading potential. 

“Dathan’s experience helped to show me I can do more because I had no idea. He shows me how I need to recover, eat well, and when to see the physio,” she says. 

“He tells me when to reduce my pace and not go too crazy. To be a good athlete, you have to listen to the coach – the coach gives you the program.”

Ritzenhein’s program meant a “challenging” escalation in weekly mileage from 120km (75 miles) to closer to 200km (125 miles). And while a weekly 200k training load isn’t unusual for most pro runners, for Obiri, it was a canyon-sized leap from the speed-focused efforts of the track to the endurance focus of the roads.

“At first, I said that the marathon program was too hard. It was weird for me to do such high mileage,” she says. “But everything's about how you prepare your mind. So then I asked myself, ‘can I go back to the track?’ No, I have to work and stick to my program.”

Alongside Ritzenhein’s program, self-talk propels Obiri forward. She credits that voice for keeping her one stride ahead. “In a race, my legs will say they’re tired, but why should I give up my chance to win? I tell my body that I'm always a winner – let me keep pushing. Let me keep working hard. My mind contributes a lot, maybe more than 50 percent of my work.” 

Decorated as she is, Obiri is multifaceted beyond the medals. She shifts her focus away from the sport by spending time with her daughter, “When I play with Tania, I’m not thinking about running. It takes my mind off training.”

Her wider network is chosen with elite intent. The “strong, supportive” relationships she’s forged with her OAC teammates, support her on her journey, and she describes them as “like family.” 

“Hellen does all the right things. She stays really positive. She's an incredible athlete and you can tell she’s been a professional for a long time,” says the OAC’s Assistant Coach, Kelsey Quinn. Obiri’s experience elevates the rest of the team too, with US record-breaking distance runner, Alicia Monson, praising Obiri as, “an exciting person to learn from.” 

When Obiri first came to stay in Boulder in 2022 before her relocation, the Italian middle-distance runner, Sinta Vissa was her roommate, “I stayed with Sinta for two months, now she is my friend. Sport is about the team, and the friendships.” Vissa in turn, calls Obiri her “role model” and “inspiration.

Alongside Vissa, Obiri namechecks the OAC’s American distance runner, Joe Klecker, who motivates her to keep going. “You can do a lot of mileage with Joe. He tells me to keep pushing – it’s been wonderful to train with him.”

This April, Athletics Kenya announced Obiri as part of their Olympic Marathon team for 2024. Obiri is well aware that–provided she stays in good health and injury-free–the race presents a “good opportunity” and aligns with her strengths.

Other athletes may feel trepidation, but Obiri keeps things in perspective, “You need to focus when you race because anything can happen. I don't go there to fear anybody.” 

The route–a 26.2-mile (42.2km) loop passing through nine districts and linking Paris and Versailles–will run on the competition's final day, 11 August 2024, just hours before the closing ceremony.

Obiri says that the steep relief of the route will be a challenge. But for her, perhaps, less so than for others. It’s a hilly course, with a positive elevation of 436 meters, mirroring similarly tough inclines in Boston and New York that she’s already mastered.

“Going into Paris, I won’t change anything. In training, we're going to do the exact same thing. We did it before Boston, and we did it before New York. We want to stick to our main program.” 

This spring, Obiri will run Boston again, “I'm the champion. I want to defend my title.”

 “This year, [2024] will be a great year for me,” she smiles. “I want to upgrade my medals. That’s my dream now–my biggest dream.” 

To become Hellen Obiri? It’s as simple – and as hard – as that.