The reigning Abbott World Marathon Majors champion Mary Keitany made it three in a row with a commanding win at the TCS New York City Marathon today while world champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie took victory in the men's race as both leapt to third on the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series X leaderboards.
Series IX champion Keitany claimed her first 25 points of the current campaign as she blew apart the women's elite field in the second half and ran alone to victory in 2:24:26, becoming the first woman to win three consecutive New York Marathons since the great Grete Waitz in 1980.
Ghebreslassie finally grabbed his first Series X win when he broke clear of two rivals in the 20th mile and strode clear to take the tape in 2:07:51. After finishing fourth at both the Virgin Money London Marathon this April and the Rio Olympic Games in August, the 20-year-old Eritrean now lies third on the men's leaderboard with 29 points, just five behind Kenenisa Bekele, with Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge still on top with 50.
Keitany also moved to third in the women's standings as she made amends for being left out of Kenya's Rio Olympic team after placing only ninth in London. The 34-year-old now shares third spot overall with Ethiopians Aberu Kebede and Atsede Baysa. With two races to go, only compatriots Jemima Sumgong and Florence Kiplagat are above her on 50 and 34 points respectively.
On a bright and breezy day in the Big Apple, it was USA's Dathan Ritzenhein who took the early lead in the men's event, pushing through 5k in 15:17 and 10k in 30:38 with a large group around him. One notable name missing from the pack was that of reigning champion Stanley Biwott whose title defense came to an early end when he dropped out before 15k.
A dozen were still together at 20k before Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa dragged Ghebreslassie and Lucas Rotich clear of the rest. The trio passed half way in 64:22 and in no time had half a minute's gap that slowly grew as the ever more confident Ghebreslassie led them up First Avenue, clocking up mile after mile at around 4:30 pace.
Looking fluid and comfortable alongside his laboring competitors, the world champion eventually moved away in the 20th mile, dropping first Desisa and then Rotich as he made his bid for victory.
It was a decisive break and he strode on powerfully to win by more than a minute. Rotich was second in 2:08:53 while USA's Abdi Abdirahman took third in 2:11:23.
In the women's race, it was Aselefech Mergia who led in the early stages as a large group of 15 went through 5k in 18:40 and 10k in 35:49, with Keitany one of many in close attendance just a few seconds behind. But the group soon whittled down to eight as Buzunesh Deba pushed on, the Ethiopian taking the strain at the front despite having been hospitalized on Friday night with food poisoning.
Not surprisingly, she soon paid for her early efforts as Keitany, Mergia and Joyce Chepkirui broke away in the 10th mile with USA's Molly Huddle struggling to stay on their tails. Keitany led Chepkirui through half way in 1:12:38 with a 46-second gap to Mergia.
From then on the diminutive Kenyan didn't let up and the second half belonged to the champion as she slowly pulled away from her compatriot. By 25k she had half a minute's advantage and ran alone through Manhattan and the Bronx before entering Central Park where she took the tape before hugging her mother, husband and two children.
The tiring Chepkirui fell back to fourth in the latter stages as Sally Kipyego came through for second in 2:28:01 with Huddle third, the American completing an impressive debut in 2:28:13.
Wheelchairs
Meanwhile, it was a day of dominance for the two leaders in the wheelchair contests as Marcel Hug and Tatyana McFadden led virtually from start to finish in their respective races to confirm their status at the top of the leaderboards.
Hug sealed the Series X title with victory at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon last month, and the Silver Bullet made it six from six as he maintained his incredible unbeaten record with a hard-fought one-second win over his perennial chaser Kurt Fearnley. Hug has now won the 2016 Boston, Virgin Money London, Rio Paralympic, BMW BERLIN, Bank of America Chicago and TCS New York City Marathons.
Hug went out hard from the start, opening a 45-second lead on South Africa's Ernst van Dyk by the time he passed 5k, which he stretched, to one minute 14 by 10k.
But Fearnley soon made up the gap and the Australian closed on his rival by half way before audaciously grabbing the lead at 30k. The two pushed on together just as they did at the Rio Paralympics two months ago leaving the rest of the field a long way adrift.
Hug led through Central Park with Fearnley tight on his wheel and seemingly ready to pounce. But yet again it was Hug who had the edge in the final meters and the Swiss star took the tape in 1:35:48.
Fearnley placed second to Hug for the fourth time in this Series, while American Josh George edged out van Dyk for the last podium place, 4:19 behind the champion.
The uncatchable Hug remains at the top of the leaderboard with a maximum 125 points, but Fearnley added another 16 to his tally meaning he is now further clear of van Dyk in second with 73 overall.
Life was a little easier for McFadden who won by more than a minute and a half over her closest rival Manuela Sch�r who had trailed by just 18 points before the race.
The Swiss athlete had led a group of four at 10k with McFadden biding her time alongside fellow Americans Susannah Scaroni and Amanda McGrory, but the champion moved six seconds clear at half way and from then on had the roads to herself as Sch�r's challenge began to fade.
McFadden crossed the line in 1:47:43 for her fifth New York title, her fourth in a row. she's now completed her fourth consecutive annual �grand slam' of victories in London, Boston, Chicago and New York.
Sch�r was again forced to play second fiddle, the winner of the BMW BERLIN Marathon adding another 16 points to her Series X total as she finished in 1:49:28. She now has 89 points in second place overall, 27 behind McFadden with two races to go.
McGrory was third and moves into third with 32 points.
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