Kenyans Wilson Kipsang and Mary Keitany surged at the finish to win Sunday's New York City Marathon, holding off rivals over the closing strides in Central Park for narrow triumphs.
Kipsang, making his New York debut, held off Lelisa Desisa to win in an official time of two hours 10 minutes and 55 seconds, defeating the Ethiopian by 11 seconds with Ethiopia's Gebre Gebremariam third in 2:12:13.
Kipsang looked Desisa in the eyes in the final stretch and then pulled away to claim the $100,000 (80,000 euro) top prize and take the 2013-14 World Marathon Majors bonus top prize of $500,000 (400,000 euros).
"Towards the end, I saw Desisa was very close to me and very strong," Kipsang said. "I saved some energy for that final sprint. I knew in the final 100 meters he couldn't beat me."
Keitany, competing in her first marathon since finishing fourth at the 2012 London Olympics while one month pregnant with her second child, won in 2:25:07 with compatriot Jemima Sumgong three seconds back and Portugal's Sara Moreira third in 2:26:00.
"Towards the end, after 40k, I knew Jemima was there and I thought to close the gap with Jemima and I would see if I would go or she would go," Keitany said. "When I was a few kilometers away, I just closed the gap and said if I go I might win so I just tried my best."
Her winning margin matched the closest women's race in New York history, established by Britain's Paula Radcliffe in her 2004 victory over Kenya's Susan Chepkemei, the first of the English women's three New York crowns. In cold and cloudy conditions, runners battled headwinds or crosswinds over most of the hilly 26.2-mile course through America's largest city, creating the slowest men's winning time since Mexico's German Silva won in 2:11:00 in 1995.
It was the third victory in a row for Kipsang, who captured the Berlin title last year and won last April in London.
Kipsang had planned to make his New York debut in 2012, when the race was called off because of damage from Hurricane Sandy, making the triumph extra special. "I was really hoping to compete in this race," Kipsang said. "I love New York."
Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai, who won in 2011 and 2013, was seeking his third title in a row but settled for sixth in 2:13:44, foiled in his bid to match Alberto Salazar's victory streak from 1980-1982 and move one shy of American Bill Rodgers, who won a record four in a row from 1976-1979.
Comments
Comments are closed.