Lanni Marchant targets New York City as her next marathon challenge

The elite athlete field of the upcoming TCS New York City Marathon includes a world-class selection of new and returning participants. Included on that list is recent Rio Olympian and Canadian marathon record holder Lanni Marchant.

Marchant represented Canada in both the marathon and the 10,000m–events that took place within the span of only two days–in Rio where she finished 24th and 25th respectively. She ran 2:33:08 in Rio but her 2:28:00 personal best from 2013 is also the Canadian record.

RELATED: Lanni Marchant caps off double in 24th, Krista DuChene places a superb 35th in Olympic marathon

Marchant will however be in tough against a sensational field that includes the two defending champions of the New York City Marathon, Stanley Biwott and Mary Keitany, both of Kenya. Keitany will be looking to win her third consecutive title in New York. In addition to her two titles in New York, Keitany has won London twice (2011 and 2012) and with a personal best of 2:18:37 is the second fastest female marathoner of all time and the Kenyan record holder.

Other elite females to watch will be Gladys Cherono of Kenya who won the 2015 Berlin Marathon and is the seventh fastest marathoner of all time (2:19:25). Joyce Chepkirui, also of Kenya, finished third at this year’s Boston marathon. Molly Huddle of the U.S. will also be making her much anticipated marathon debut. She recently set the American record at 10,000m in Rio and has previously won the NYC Half the past two years.

In addition to finishing first in New York last year, Biwott has also places second in London in both 2014 and 2016. He started but did not finish the Rio Olympic Marathon last month. Other notable male elites include Ghirmay Ghebreslassie of Eritrea who was the marathon gold medalist at the 2015 IAAF World Championships and finished fourth at the Rio Olympic Marathon. Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia finished second in New York in 2014 and was third in 2015. He has previously won the Boston Marathon twice (in 2013 and 2015). American Dathan Ritzenheim is a three-time Olympian and will be running the New York City Marathon for the third time. His personal best of 2:07:47 is the fifth fastest in the entire field.

RELATED: 2015 New York City Marathon still world’s largest with more than 49,000 finishers

The 2016 TCS New York Marathon is set to take place on Sunday, November 6th. First run as loops of Central Park in 1970, this will be the 40th year that the race is run through the city’s five boroughs–Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan.

More than 50,000 participants are expected to take part making it the world’s largest marathon event.