NEW YORK CITY, November 7, 2010 – The running of the 41st ING New York City Marathon marked the official conclusion of the 2009-2010 World Marathon Majors series. The overall series standings remained largely unchanged with Kenya's Sammy Wanjiru and Russia's Liliya Shobukhova having both taken insurmountable leads after victories at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon last month.
However, New York City race champions Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia and Edna Kiplagat of Kenya added their names to the mix with their 25-point efforts.
Gebremariam, running his marathon debut, out-dueled veteran Emmanuel Mutai of Kenya to be the first across the finish line in Central Park in 2:08:14. Gebremariam's victory puts him in a three-way tie for ninth in the 2009-2010 WMM series standings with his first-ever WMM points. Mutai (2:09:18) climbed from fourth to third in the series standings with 50 points. His second place finish was his third in a row at a WMM event – he was runner-up at the 2010 Virgin London Marathon and the silver medalist at the 2009 IAAF World Championship Marathon.
Kiplagat, running in her first New York City Marathon, beat a pair of marathon rookies, Shalane Flanagan of the U.S. and Mary Keitany of Kenya, with a strong finish in Central Park. Kiplagat's winning time of 2:28:20 was 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Flanagan (2:28:40) and 41 seconds ahead of third place finisher Keitany (2:29:01). Kiplagat's 25 points are the first WMM points of her career, launching her into a six-way tie for fifth in the final 2009-2010 WMM series standings.
Series champions Wanjiru and Shobukhova will be honored tomorrow at a World Marathon Majors banquet in New York City where they will be awarded with their $500,000 USD first place prizes.
2009-2010 World Marathon Majors Series Top 5:
Top 5 Men
Place Name Country Point Total
1 Samuel Wanjiru KEN 75
2 Tesgaye Kebede ETH 65
3 Emmanuel Mutai KEN 50
4 Deriba Merga ETH 35
5 Jaouad Gharib MAR 30
Top 5 Women
Place Name Country Point Total
1 Liliya Shobukhova RUS 85
2 Irina Mikitenko GER 41
3 Salina Kosgei KEN 36
4 Teyba Erkesso ETH 30
5 Xue Bai CHN 25
5 Bezunesh Bekele ETH 25
5 Atsede Habtamu ETH 25
5 Aberu Kebede ETH 25
5 Edna Kiplagat KEN 25
5 Derartu Tulu ETH 25
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