Pakistani runners shine at most challenging NYC Marathon

KARACHI: Pakistani runners made an impressive showing at the 2024 New York City Marathon, one of the world’s largest and most challenging courses.

Pennsylvania-based Pakistani-American Syed Ali Hamza completed the marathon in 2 hours 41 minutes and 42 seconds, finishing in 460th place out of 55,525 runners. He was at an impressive pace of 6.11 minutes per mile.

While Ali Hamza was on top of all Pakistan-origin runners, Karachi-based Danish Elahi emerged as the fastest Pakistan-based runner in the New York 2024, completing the marathon in an impressive 3 hours, 26 minutes, and 50 seconds. Following closely was Rufi Shehzada, who finished with a time of 3:32:22, while Pakistani-American Babar Ghias clocked in at 3:38:53. 

Other standout performances under four hours included Ammar Mumtaz, Prem Kumar, and Rehman Azhar.

Khoula Ahmed, a Norwegian-Pakistani runner, was the fastest female from Pakistan, finishing with a commendable time of 3:43:02. She was followed by Maheen Sheikh and Kaukab Sarwar, rounding out the top three Pakistani women in the marathon.

This year’s NYC Marathon saw around 40 Pakistani runners, both local and overseas nationals, competing alongside thousands from across the globe.

The contingent included Pakistani Americans, as well as Pakistani expats from Norway, the UAE, UK and Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, in the men’s elite category, Dutch runner Abdi Nageeye claimed first place, completing the course in 2 hours, 7 minutes, and 39 seconds. Kenya’s Evans Chebet and Albert Korir finished second and third, respectively. 

Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui led the women’s elite field with a time of 2:24:35, followed by compatriots Hellen Obiri and Vivian Cheruiyot.

Results of Pakistani (including diaspora) runners from NYC Marathon:

• Danish Elahi – 3:26:50
• Rufi Shehzada – 3:32:22
• Babar Ghias – 3:38:53
• Ammar Mumtaz – 3:39:42
• Prem Kumar – 3:42:44
• Rehman Azhar – 3:42:53
• Yawar Siddiqui – 3:42:58
• Khoula Ahmed – 3:43:02
• Shariq Samad – 3:43:31
• M Fasih ul Saleh – 3:44:44
• Salman Khan – 3:44:44
• Salman Cahudhary – 3:57:37
• Maheen Sheikh – 4:08:03
• Jamal Khan – 4:09:16
• Raja Arif – 4:14:31
• Nosherwan Ali – 4:14:52
• Kaukab Sarwar – 4:14:52
• Abbas Naqvi – 4:15:37
• Masood Mahdi – 4:24:10
• Atiq ul Hassan – 4:26:45
• Yasir Suleman Memon – 4:28:07
• Syed Fahim – 4:37:55
• Khalid Sheikh – 4:43:16
• Rizwan Ali – 4:47:03
• Jahanzeb Mughal – 4:51:10
• Jehanzeb Khan – 4:51:22
• Junaid Memon – 5:11:38
• Faraz Siddiqui – 5:12:59
• Mansoor Hussain – 5:13:11
• Abdul Karim – 5:17:09
• Shoaib Nizami – 5:35:46
• Anum Uzair – 5:38:31
• Ahmed Zubair – 5:42:50
• Usman Hasan – 5:49:30
• Shahid Nawaz – 5:50:45
• Shazia Nawaz – 5:50:49
• Ahmed Uzair – 6:01:28
• Faisal Shafi – 6:26:19
• M Zohair Hassan – 6:50:26