Winners at a windy NYC Marathon

The winners at the New York City Marathon were Wilson Kipsang from Kenya, won the Men’s race with a time of 2:10:55; Mary Keitany of Kenya, who won the Women’s race in 2:25:07, and Kurt Fearnley and Tatyana McFadden won in the Wheelchair division.

Kipsang said of the race, “First of all, I’m really very happy to have won this race, and being my first time in New York and running in such a tough conditions and winning, I’m really very happy. The race course is really very nice, and it was very windy, but it was more tactical because you find that all through, the guys, no one was really ready to take the lead because of the strong wind.  But I think that because in such a race we really tried our best to keep the time, but it wasn’t possible. On my side, from the start, I was really feeling very strong.  I thought about taking off, but I saw it was too early for me.  So I had to really exercise a lot of patience in this race.”

Kipsang edged out Lelisa Desisa and Gebre Gebremariam with a late surge. Kipsang said of that, ” I think that for me, when I saw that Lelisa was running really close to me, I had to save energy for the closing kick.  I was trying to check the distance and the amount of energy that was really left.  So I was really very sure of that kind of sprint, even if it was 50 meters, I was ready for it.
So I really trusted myself.”

In the Women’s race, Sara Moreira of Portugal led for most of the way, but was overtaken in the final few miles by Mary Keitany and Jemima Sumgong, and Keitany ultimately wound up winning it.

Keitany said of winning the race, “First of all, I worked hard for this opportunity.  Also, I want to thank the Road Runners of New York for inviting me to this event.  I’m happy because I have a victory today, because I know I’ve been coming to New York two times, and I was in that position.  So I’m happy today because it was a good day and I win.  So I’m happy, and I thank God for that.  Thank you so much.”

Moreira, who finished third in her New York City Marathon debut, said of the race, “I am very happy for being on the podium in New York City.  This is fantastic to me, and I’m very happy to get back to my personal best and the mark I have reached. I trained a lot for the last two months since November last year.  I have been training before the last two months, specifically a trained a lot.  Most importantly, the course, I had heard it was difficult, and I knew it was difficult, full of hills and bends.
I am very happy that I reached this position today.”

Keitany said of edging out Sumgong, “For me towards the end, after 40K, I knew Jemima was there, and I thought to close the gap with Jemima, and I would see if I would go or she would go. When I was a few kilometers away, I just closed the gap, and I see, if I go, I might win the race.  So I just tried my best and go ahead of Jemima, and it was God’s will to end like that.”

Kurt Fearnley of Australia won the Men’s Wheelchair division for the fifth time. He won previous titles in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. He holds the course record holder here, when he ran 1:29:22 in 2006.  He won the 2013 London Marathon.  Captured seven medals at the Paralympic games.

Fearnley said of his latest win here, “Coming out, I thought I was going to get boxed in by the boys moving around to the left‑hand side.  I think on days like today, the tactical race is straight out of the Tour de France.  It’s a cycling race.  I could see the guys coming on the left‑hand side.  It was Soejima on the right and Ernst van Dyk on the left, and that left that open for me on the right‑hand side. I sprinted once here with Krige Schabort, and it came down to inches, and I wasn’t going to make that mistake again, and I was calm and ready for the last 150 meters, and then it was just head down and deal with try not to breathe for 15 seconds or 20 seconds and just get to the finish line. All these boys, there’s six of them, they all deserve to win on any day.  Of the four major wheelchair marathons this year, we’ve had four different winners, and London was Marcel Hug, in Boston it was Ernie (Van Dyk) getting his tenth win there, in Chicago Josh George, and I was the winner in New York.  The sport has been improving over two decades.  So we’re in good shape.”

 

 

 

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