Reigning champions Stanley Biwott and Mary Keitany have contrasting reasons for wanting to retain their titles at the TCS New York City Marathon this Sunday when action resumes in Series X of the Abbott World Marathon Majors.
Biwott defends his crown knowing victory will move him into second place on the Series X leaderboard, just nine points short of Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge, while Keitany, the reigning AbbottWMM champion, aims to become the first able-bodied woman since Grete Waitz in the 1980s to win three successive New York City Marathon titles.
Biwott enjoyed his first-ever Abbott WMM victory in New York last November when he outran world half marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor in Central Park. He lies sixth in the current standings after finishing second behind Kipchoge at the Virgin Money London Marathon in April and will leap above BMW Berlin Marathon champion Kenenisa Bekele if he can secure the 25 winner's points on offer in New York.
Biwott's personal-best of 2:03:51 from London is almost a minute quicker than anyone else in the field but New York races can often be strategic, tactical affairs and the champion is likely to have close company when he enters Manhattan for the final stages.
Those likely to be putting him under pressure include Lelisa Desisa, the Ethiopian who has been first and second in the Boston Marathon over the last two years, and was third in New York 12 months ago, and Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, who became the youngest ever world marathon champion at 19 in 2015.
Desisa finished joint second in Series IX and could also move into second on the current leaderboard if he can wrench the NYC title away from his Kenyan rival.
Ghebreslassie is looking to make the podium after finishing fourth in London and at the Rio Olympic Games this year. The young Eritrean is currently 14th on the leaderboard but will be aiming to join the top five with a good performance on Sunday.
Others in the hunt include Biwott's fellow-Kenyan Lucas Rotich, the 2015 Hamburg Marathon champion, three-time U.S. Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein, who carries the hopes of home fans, and Moses Kipsiro from Uganda, a world championship multi-medallist on the track.
Keitany has been unbeatable on the famous five-borough course over the last two years.
Her victory 12 months ago was good enough to claim the women's Series IX title, but the formidable Kenyan is yet to score in the current campaign. Now 34, she will be keen to get back to winning ways after finishing ninth in London, a race won by Jemima Sumgong who currently leads AbbottWMM Series X.
Keitany's personal-best of 2:18:37 makes her the second quickest marathon woman in history, but she will face stiff opposition in New York from two Ethiopians who also boast sub-2:20 bests.
They are Aselefech Mergia, the three-time Dubai Marathon champion who was fifth in London this year, and Buzunesh Deba, who has twice finished second in New York and twice made the podium in Boston without claiming the top prize.
Other contenders include fellow Kenyans Joyce Chepkirui, third in Boston this year, and Sally Kipyego, a 10,000m silver medallist at the London 2012 Olympics.
There will be much for U.S. fans to look out for too, not least the presence of marathon debutante Molly Huddle who broke the US 10,000m record at the Rio Games and has twice won the United Airlines NYC half.
The wheelchair races are just as enticing with eight of the top 11 men from the Series X standings in the field, including the three big names of Marcel Hug, Kurt Fearnley and Ernst van Dyk, and all of the top five women, headed by Tatyana McFadden, who's going for her fifth New York victory.
The big question in the men's contest is whether anyone can beat Hug who snapped up the Series X title at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon last month when his fifth win in five races gave him an unbeatable maximum of 125 points.
Fearnley and van Dyk are again the two most likely to challenge the Silver Bullet.
Fearnley came within a tire's width of victory in Chicago, was second at the Paralympics and has won on this course five times in the past. Meanwhile, the experienced van Dyk is the defending champion in New York and was a close second to Hug in Boston this year.
Others who will be looking to garner some points include Korea's Paralympic bronze medalist Gyu Dae Kim, Japan's Hiroki Nishida, and the three leading Americans, Josh George, Aaron Pike and James Senbeta.
Things are rather tighter at the top of the women's leaderboard where McFadden enjoys a narrow 18-point gap over Manuela Sch�r with three races to go.
McFadden returned to winning ways in Chicago after missing out on Paralympic gold in Rio, and the American will be keen to open further daylight on her Swiss rival who has been breathing down her neck throughout the Series.
The presence of China's Zou Lihong, McFadden's Rio nemesis, adds an extra sprinkle of intrigue, while fellow American and two-time New York City champion Amanda McGrory and nine-time Tokyo champion Wakako Tsuchida have both done well here in the past.
The 2016 TCS New York City Marathon races start from 08:30 local time on Sunday, Nov. 6.
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