New York City Marathon: Mary Keitany runs away with women's title; Lelisa Desisa holds on

NEW YORK — Mary Keitany of Kenya and Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia won the New York City Marathon titles, with Keitany dominating the women’s side with a time of 2:22:48 and Desisa pulling away from a crowded lead pack at the event’s 25-mile mark to finish at 2:05:59.

The win was Keitany’s fourth in five years in one of the world’s premier distance events. Not since Norway’s Grete Waitz has a runner put together such a dominant stretch: Waitz won eight of nine marathons from 1978-86, the last six in a row. In addition to taking four of the past five events, Keitany finished second in last year’s marathon.

At the 2017 London Marathon, Keitany set a women’s world record with a time of 2:17:01. That paced Keitany’s third win in London since 2011, though she finished a disappointing fifth in this year’s event. Her time on Sunday was the second-best in New York City Marathon history.

“The course record was not on my mind,” Keitany said. “I was saying, OK, let me try to win. But I come to see that I missed by just 17 seconds. But it’s OK. For me, winning was very important.”

Keitany was followed by Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot (2:26:02). Last year’s winner, the USA’s Shalane Flanagan, surged ahead of Ethiopia’s Rahma Tusa near the 25-mile mark to take third with a time of 2:26:22.

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“I kept thinking, keep fighting, you never know what’s going to happen in front of you,” Flanagan said. “When I finally did get into that third place, I got another level of excitement and felt really proud for myself in that moment because I kept fighting.”

Keitany first began to pull away from the field at roughly the marathon’s 10-mile mark. By the 19-mile mark, Keitany stood nearly 27 seconds ahead of Tusa and Ethiopia’s Netsanet Gudeta. That distance grew to 54 seconds by the 20-mile mark. By mile 22, Keitany’s edge grew to an insurmountable 1:57.

“The pace of New York is not like other races,” Keitany said. “For me, it was not necessary to start (fast) at the beginning. It was OK. I didn’t want to rush at the beginning. I wanted to be comfortable throughout the race.”

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The women’s side was notable for the strong performance by U.S. runners. After Flanagan came Molly Huddle (2:26:44) in fourth and Desiree Linden (2:27:51) in sixth, marking the first time since 1976 that three American women had finished in the top six.

“It’s definitely a great group or runners and I think we’re consistently pushing the bar for each other,” said Linden. “It’s really an exciting time.”

The men’s side was far more competitive, highlighted by a blazing series of times from the top three finishers of Desisa, Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata (2:06:01) and Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor (2:06:26). Each of those times stand among the 10 fastest in the event’s history.

Mirroring Keitany’s finish, Desisa’s time was the second-fastest on the men’s side in the event’s history. It was his first win in New York, joining victories at the Boston Marathon in 2013 and 2015. He finished second in New York in 2014 and third in both 2015 and 2017.

“This year, I controlled myself and I managed myself with my teammate, with my coach, with my manager,” said Desisa.

Four American men cracked the top 10, led by Jared Ward (2:12:24) and Scott Fauble (2:12:28) in sixth and seventh, respectively. Shadrack Biwott (2:12:52) came in ninth and Chris Derrick (2:13:08) in 10th.

“It’s great to be back and running around with such a great American field,” Ward said. “I think I’m starting to love New York – I’ve always loved New York. The people were amazing all the way from the gun.”