When a large group of elite Women came through 5000 meters in the New York City Marathon in 19:09 (almost 2:42 pace!!), my only thought was "Ridiculous!!".
But 127 minutes later, I was crying, emotionally spent from watching Shalane Flanagan's incredibly strong & steady strides lead her through the finish line tape in victory!!
This was supposed to be Mary Keitany's 4th NYC win, and maybe even a Course Record!
Shalane WANTED to win, but she would have to match the pace of a Woman whose PR was 4:13 faster, and hope to outkick her!
Good luck!
A group of 10 or more cruised through four more 5K's in the high-17's (17:43, 17:52, 17:36, and 17:47)!
They'd hit the Half in 1:16:08--2:32:16 pace!!
And you may not believe this, but a rookie (open) Marathoner--a champion Triathlete!!!--was LEADING the field--though just barely in front.
Sara Dossena, the Italian Triathlete, was leading Keitany, Flanagan, Mamitu Daska, Edna Kiplagat, and several others.
I posted a Tweet saying I was waiting for someone to throw in a couple of back-to-back 4:40-ish Miles--then the REAL racing would commence!
Well, the fastest Mile of the race was Flanagan's 5:03, which came inside Central Park!!
Even with the slowish pace, the top-end group soon became a 3-some--Daska, Keitany, and Flanagan!
A 16:58 split between 25 & 30K did the trick
But still no one was making any resemblance of a "breakaway" move!
Yet the air was filling with the thick humidity of anticipation!
Why wasn't Keitany, who'd beaten Tirunesh Dibaba in the London Marathon, saying "Enough is enough--I'm outta here!!"??
The commentators--Tim Hutchins & Carrie Tollefson--were mystified, as were probably most "experts".
Daska was running more fluidly, but maybe was ALSO waiting on Keitany!
Flanagan, meanwhile, just was---THERE!
She was almost stalking Keitany throughout the race--staying just behind her--covering every "move" she made.
But here--with just over 12K left--you had a Woman who had run a fast 5000 and 10000 this year on the track at Age 36--who had been injured--and was itching to go fully into Marathon training mode for NY!
The break came, but it wasn't that 4:40 Mile I'd thought was inevitable!
After another sub-17 5000 (16:51), the idea was emerging that Shalane could WIN this race--something she'd intimated might bring her not just to the finish line, but to THE FINISH line of her entire Record-smashing career!
(That decision is yet to be made!)
Almost stealthily, a gap formed, with Flanagan now 5 meters in front of Daska and Keitany.
(The next group could even still be seen behind them!)
But when those 5:20 & 5:30 Miles suddenly became a Flanagan-led 5:06, we all knew the break had come!
Daska fell off, and the 2:17:01 PR of Keitany seemed to have come from another Universe!
In fact, at one point, as Flanagan was "hugging the rail"--meaning she was running within a foot of the barriers between the runners and the fans-- Keitany had "disappeared" from view--with people wondering if she'd dropped out!!
Then the camera swung to the other side of the road--where Mary was hugging THAT barrier line!
Another Mile of 5:08 made Flanagan now the "inevitable" winner!
But nothing is taken for granted in a Marathon--especially with over 2 Miles to go--and with the hilly & multi-cornered terrain of Central Park still to be conquered!
ESPN now promised they'd continue with the Women's race to the finish--no ads, no stupid "features"!
And with that vow came the utter thrill of watching one of America's greatest athletes--past or present--in full-out powerful stride--cover the next Miles in 5:11, then 5:03 (!!!)--this being now her Coronation rather than a dramatic spine-tingling sprint finish with Mary Keitany!!
As she rounded each turn, Keitany was nowhere to be seen, and the crowds were thickening, and getting louder!
At about 25 meters from the finish--an iconic image was captured that defined Shalane's feelings & emotions!
The brief video showed her mouth screaming "FUCK YES!!!" to the World, triumphant in certain victory--with a stream of tears beginning to flow!!
Then the tape was broken--after 2:26:53 of a masterfully paced race!
Keitany, looking to struggle, crossed the line over a minute later (2:27:54), with Daska ending 3rd in 2:28:08.
Maybe not the fastest NYC Marathon--but, like Meb's win in Boston in 2014--iconic in American Women's Marathon history!
She'd become the 1st US Woman to win NYC in 40 years, since Miki Gorman's 1977 stunner!
Her Half splits were 1:16:08 and 1:10:45!!
She ran the final 2195 meters in 7 minutes flat!!
Edna Kiplagat--another Super Elite athlete--also "off" a bit, was 4th in 2:29:38.
But ending just ONE SECOND behind her came Allie Kieffer.
Huh?
Who?
I refer you to my post of April 10th, 2016, titled "Rust is Busted!".
Near its close, I reported on the initial INdoor Marathon, run on The Armory's 200 meter track!
Then, Ms Kieffer ran 2:44:44 to secure the American Record for this then-obscure-but-now-popular event!
That had been her first Marathon!
Her second was today's NYC OUTdoor race!
Her time was 2:29:39, a 15 minute PR!!
(Splits were 1:16:36 & 1:13:03!!)
And right "behind" Kieffer--but given the same time!--came the Italian Triathlete, Sara Dossena, who had earlier "led" the race!
This was her first "open" 26.2--and I'm not even sure if any of her Tri's included a Marathon!!
Kellyn Taylor was 8th in 2:29:56, while Stephanie Bruce was 10th in 2:31:44.
The Men's race was also snail-pace!
A large group hit the Half in 66:06--2:12:12 pace!
But unlike the Women, the pick-up was slower (sic!) in coming!
In fact, through 35K, their FASTEST split was 15:21--run between 10 & 15K!
(16:12, 15:43, 15:21, 15:33, 15:38, 15:30, and 15:39.)
Meb Keflezighi, at Age 42 running his "last" Marathon--or "elite" race of any kind!--had fallen back after being up front for a long time!
It finally came down to a "battle" between Mary Keitany's equal--Wilson Kipsang--and Geoffrey Kamworor--another Track racer with more current swift times!
While maybe not the definitive upset of Flanagan over Keitany, this would still be a significant win for Kamworor!
And yes, he won--in 2:10:53--over the closing rush of Kipsang's 2:10:56!
Kamroror looked strong, but Kipsang had finally gone into full-out sprint mode!
I mean, he was KICKING!!
Given another 200 meters, I'm not so sure he wouldn't have clipped Kamworor's wings!!
Lelisa Desisa was 3rd in 2:11:32.
Abdi Abdirahman was the leading American finisher--also in the "40 & over" Age category--in 2:12 and maybe a Quarter!
But Meb--first name only needed!--2 years further into his 40's--finished in 2:15:25--outside of the Top 10.
But who cared?!
His final Mile was just like Shalane's--emotional, happy, and popular with the adoring crowd!
After crossing the line, he fell to the ground--full body--needing help to get up!
Sort of similar to what happened to Shalane Flanagan at the close of the 2016 Olympic Trials race!
(Though he was spent from a cornucopia of emotions, while Flanagan had been just--SPENT!!)
Perhaps expected--after suffering serious blood clots earlier this year--Tatyana McFadden LOST her Wheelchair race to Manuela Schar of Germany--coming in 2nd almost 3 minutes behind!
Yet she was thankful and happy with her result!
The day before, NYC held its 5K Road race!
This was a case of "Good Golly, Miss Molly"--twice over!!
For it was not only last minute entrant Molly Huddle, but newbie Professional Molly Seidel, who finished 1-2--with Huddle prevailing in Course Record time of 15:24.
Seidel ran 15:35.
(The break had come early, with Huddle powering solo to the finish!)
Natasha Rogers took 3rd in 15:44, with Lauren Paquette passing an "off" Brenda Martinez for 4th, 15:44 to 15:47.
Stephanie Garcia was next, with Fair Play award winner from Rio Abbey D'Agostino running 16:00 in 7th!
She beat, among others, Desiree Linden (8th), Shalaya Kipp (9th), and Erin Finn (11th)!!
The Men's race was different--a slow picnic gathering of almost the entire field throughout most of the distance!
With a "lap" to go, Tommy Curtin tried to steal the race, literally PUSHING aside his competitors to take the lead!
(In a Track race, it MIGHT have DQ'ed him, IMO!)
Nonetheless, Shadrack Kipchirchir took the W in 13:57, one second "ahead" of Curtin's, Kirubel Erassa's, and Paul Chelimo's 13:58's!!
Another second "back" came the 13:59's of Abbiliya Simbassa and Ben True!
Will Leer was 8th in 14:01.
I want to clear the decks, so hang in there a minute more, please!!
At the Minnesota State HS Championship XC meet, Emily Covert won the Class AA division race in 17:30.
But it was another division which provided the shocks!
The Ping sisters went 2-3 (behind Tierney Wolfgram's 17:31).
It was the 7th Grader--Lauren Ping--who won that family battle!!
Grace Ping--the more familiar, um, Ping--was almost 8 seconds behind Lauren's 18:19!!
London Culbreath, another youthful stud, took the Texas State meet in a speedy 16:56.
My "Society" news this time leads off with a very sad and tragic story!
Ismael Juma, the Tanzanian National Record holder in the Half Marathon (59:30)--was killed in a motorbike collision at Age 26!!
He'd been planning to run the Half on November 19th in New Delhi!
A promising career cut tragically short!!
Wayde Van Niekerk--who had gotten married on October 29th (See previous post!)--was seriously injured playing a charity soccer game (!!!) just a day or 2 later--apparently on his honeymoon!!
He flew to the United States for surgery (knee), and has already begun his rehab!
Lost is his entire 2018 season!!
Finally, Mo Farah has officially split from NOP and Alberto Salazar--although he'd pretty much already done so over the past couple of years!!
This time, it's a 100% divorce!!
Soon to come--the Schedule for the 2017-2018 INdoor T&F season--now less than two weeks away!!
See you soon!
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