Six-time national champion Weini Kelati, 29, makes her long-awaited marathon debut at Sunday's TCS New York City Marathon.

Speaking to reporters from the race's media center, she was deliberate and composed: "I don't have a pressure because I don't know what it's going to feel like. Of course, I'm moving up to a new distance. I'm a little nervous, but very excited."

RunBlogRun reports she has been logging trouble-free 100-mile training weeks in Flagstaff, Arizona, up from 60 miles per week, with long runs reaching 25 miles — work she says surprised even her, adapting faster to mileage than she expected as a former middle-distance runner.

Kelati joins a proud lineage of American women who debuted at the marathon distance in New York, including Deena Kastor (2001), Kara Goucher (2008), Shalane Flanagan (2010) and Molly Huddle (2016).

RunBlogRun notes that Goucher, Flanagan and Huddle all made the podium in their debuts, and Kelati called following in their footsteps "very inspiring."

Her credentials back the ambition: she is the American half-marathon record holder at 1:06:04, and last month finished sixth at the World Athletics Road Running Championships half-marathon in Copenhagen in 1:06:35.

Manager and coach Stephen Haas said flatly, "She's got the ability to get on the podium for sure."

New York's all-women's elite race runs without pacemakers, forcing Kelati to read her rivals and decide which moves to cover. RunBlogRun reports Haas has a simple tactical plan: "We won't be doing any leading."

Her team deliberately avoided a flat, paced race like Chicago so she would not fixate on a time target, reasoning that the 2028 Marathon Trials will be a race, not a clock-chase.

Kelati herself stressed patience on the hilly five-borough course: "You have to stay patient... My job is to stay focused and not get too excited early." Recent women's winners have passed halfway between 1:11:01 and 1:14:23, times well within her range.

Kelati faces a loaded women's field led by two former champions: Hellen Obiri, who won in 2023 and 2025 and took second in 2024, and Sheila Chepkirui, who won in 2024 and finished third in 2025, per RunBlogRun.

Yahoo Sports reports the professional field features three defending champions — Obiri, Benson Kipruto and Marcel Hug — plus 40 Olympians and Paralympians, 25 medalists and 22 national record holders.

According to NYRR CEO Rob Simmelkjaer, cited by RunBlogRun, Sunday's race will likely exceed 60,000 finishers, making it the largest marathon in history, broadcast to nearly 500 million homes across 160-plus countries.

ABC7 New York reports runners will start in the upper 40s with nearly calm winds — conditions many consider ideal for distance running — under a mix of sun and passing clouds. Temperatures climb into the 50s during the race and reach about 60 to 61 degrees by afternoon with only a light breeze.

Spectators standing outside for hours are advised to dress in layers for the chilly start. It is, as ABC7 puts it, a classic fall marathon day: cool, dry and comfortable from start to finish.

The Olympic stakes are explicit: Kelati says she is targeting the marathon for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, and the qualifying window opens on Sunday.

RunBlogRun notes that under World Athletics rules, any top-five finish at an Abbott World Marathon Majors race credits her with an Olympic Games qualifying mark regardless of time — making a patient, place-based New York debut a strategically smart opening move. The race began at 8:00 a.m.

ET with the wheelchair and handcycle divisions, per Yahoo Sports, with the pro fields and five waves of amateur runners following over a course adjusted in the South Bronx for the first time in 15 years.