Did the 2017 Champions do it again?
An absolute "NO!" doesn't suffice!
Because Geoff Kamworor and Shalane Flanagan ran VERY well, and ended on the podium!
But this year's version of the New York City Marathon gave up a whole lot more than heroic American achievers, or African track speedsters showing their worth on this venerable city's streets and bridges!
The Women's race began a half hour before the Men's.
And almost to the second, the first uphill mile matched 2017's--6:41 to 6:43, with the entire elite pack tied in a neat little bow.
While the downhill portion over the Verazanno Narrows Bridge picked up the pace, they hit the 5K in 18:45, 24 seconds up on 2017's jogfest!
But 10K was reached several seconds behind last year's pace.
The field was still all together!
Then an American took over.
Was it Shalane Flanagan, Molly Huddle, Des Linden, or Allie Kieffer?
How about Brittany Charboneau, a 30 year old Marathon drifter with a 2:35-ish PR!!
But her "lead" was negligible, even though it held for a few more miles!
Then Linden took over, hitting the 15K point in 55:08 after a 5000 in 18:03.
They were now running Miles of 5:50!!
And Flanagan was NOT in the Top 10 on the Leaderboard!!
Mary Keitany, whose "bad" day allowed Flanagan to become the US's first NYC Champion in over 30 years, surged a 5:38 Mile between 10 and 11.
Flanagam was now back with the lead group!
Mamitu Daska and Rahma Tusa were now leading, reaching 20K in 72:08, the first pair of 10K's having been run in 37:05 and 35:03!!
And now, at the Half, Keitany was leading, time of 1:15:50---about 18 seconds faster than in 2017,
But they had run their 2nd half under 1:11, and all of the frontrunners seemed capable of repeating!!
Coming over the bridge from Queens into Manhatten, Keitany was hitting the gas--HARD!!
Her 5000 from 20 to 25K was just 16:15, by far the fastest of the race!
And then she BLASTED a 4:54 Mile, followed by a 4:57!!
Two Miles in 9:51, right up there with the Men's pace!
And she was only at 18 miles!!
It took Keitany--now running alone!--just 15:19 for the 5000 between 25 & 30K!!
Her next 5000 took only 15:34, making her previous 10K a blistering 30:53!!
There would be no Shalane Flanagan screaming "FUCK YES!" this year!!
At 20 Miles, Keitany led Tusa by 54 seconds, with Flanagan and Huddle battling for US supremacy!
Vivian Cheruiyot was ahead of the Americans!
That 15:34 left the Kenyan vet over two minutes in the lead.
It was now a Coronation for this A-T great heading to her 4th W in NYC!!
At 23 Miles, closing in on Central Park, Tusa was 2:16 behind Keitany, but just 22 seconds ahead of Flanagan, who was finishing hard!!
Could she make the podium!!
The finish line was approaching, and race-able territory was dropping out of sight!!
Her last measurable 5K splitting a more "human" 16:13, Keitany sped across the line in 2:22:48, missing the Course Record by just 17 seconds!!
Tusa was clearly dying!
With every new camera image, Flanagan was now clearly attacking Tusa's rearguard!
Cheruiyot had used her Track speed to end 2nd in 2:26:02, and Shalane was now pumping her arms to reach the line in 2:26:22, this time yelling "I love you!" to her adoring fans!!
Huddle PR'ed by over a minute to end 4th, time of 2:26:44!!
She moves from 21st A-T US to 14th!!
Tusa crawled to the finish in 2:27:13, brave to finish!
She was followed by more Americans--Linden's 2:27:41 in 6th, with Kieffer 7th in 2:28:12.
This makes her 22nd A-T US!!
But what was utterly stupifying was the time of Keitany's SECOND Half!
It was 66:58, the fastest ever in a full Marathon!!
The Men's race soon became another African slugfest, with the fave being Kamworor!
Tell that to Shura Kitata, a young up-and-comer!
He took the lead early--even making a tiny break of about 5 meters!!
This wasn't the norm in Men's Marathoning!!
After 5000's of 15:37 (over the V-N Bridge) and 15:11, Kitata led a group of 5 or 6 through 15K in 45:47, barely dipping into the 14's on their last split!!
Kitata was still leading at the Half, reached in 1:03:55!!
Quite a bit faster than in 2017!!
But he had company, with Lelisa Desisa being just 2 seconds back, with Kamworor close in tow!
In fact, Kamworor held a small lead at 25K, after a last 5000 of 15:05!!
No super fast splits, but not a MoBot race either!!
And GK was hitting the gas, exploding to a 14:36 split between 25 & 30K!!
Into Central Park they went, with Kamworor leading Kitata and Desisa!!
But it was close--VERY close!!
This wasn't a Keitany runaway--this was a RACE!!
At 40K--with just 2195 meters left--Kamworor and Desisa were side by side--almost clipping each other, while Kitata had now fallen behind by 10 seconds!!
The road through CP was winding, each turn revealing a closer race!!
The young Kitata had more left!
He was attacking, even taking the lead again!
Kamworor wasn't "gone", but it would take a sub-60 final 400 to bring him back into contention!!
And then Desisa was sprinting, and the gap between he and Kitata was narrowing!
At the line, Desisa's 2:05:59 beat Kitata's 2:06:01 for the big W!!
Kamworor faded to 2:06:26, ending 3rd!
The first American was Jared Ward, his 6th place time being 2:12:24!!
Bernard Lagat was said to be seeking the US "Masters" record, but after a fairly smooth first half, his initial go at the 26.2 distance took him 2:17 & change--far off any record, but not bad for a guy approaching Age 44!!
The weekend began with the USATF 5000 being held over the closing miles of the Marathon!!
Paul Chelimo outsprinted Shadrack Kipchirchir for the win, both timed in 13:45!
Stan Kebenai took 3rd in 13:53.
Eric Jenkins was 4th in 14:00, with Matthew Centrowitz ending 2 seconds farther back in 8th!!
The Women's race saw Emily Sisson running 15:38 for the Win, with Erika Kemp's 15:50 taking the Silver.
Amy Cragg followed in 15:54.
Aisling Cuffe ran a decent 16:06 in 8th!!
Some "other" news to report---
Centro has left the Nike Oregon Project!!
His volunteer coaching position at the University of Washington finds him aligned with UO's former coaches, the Powell's, but no indication of anything official!!
Chelimo has left the US Army team, and signed with Nike!!
Finally--and sadly--there is news of a knee injury to Katelyn Tuohy!
It's serious enough that she didn't run in her State final!
And all indications are this will close out her XC season!!
As for INdoors, who knows??!!
Next up are the Collegiate Regionals!!
See you soon!
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