Kenyans Sweep Titles At The NYC Marathon

Kenyans Swept Titles At The NYC Marathon

Priscah Jeptoo of Kenya won the NYC Marathon in her debut in the annual race after she crossed the finish line within 2 hours, 25 minutes and 7 seconds. She was followed by Buzenesh Deba of Ethiopia who was nearly one minute behind.

The victory of Jeptoo gave her another $500,000 for copping the women’s title of the World Marathon Majors. She was among the favorites in the women’s category following her win at the London Marathon.

The men’s race was won by Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya as the Kenyans won both titles for the third time. He also took the men’s title of the World Marathon Majors.

Five major marathons are included in the World Marathon Majors, including major championships and the Olympics.

Jeptoo trailed by around three minutes at mile 14. She started to pick up her pace after realizing that she was only around one kilometer behind, which increased her confidence. Adriana Nelson of Colorado was the first American to finish in the women’s category of the NYC Marathon.

Coming in at second in the men’s category was Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia. Mutai is among the world’s fastest marathon runners.

When Mutai won the NYC Marathon in 2011, he broke the record by over two and a half minutes. However, records were not broken last Sunday due to strong winds. Mutai said that it was not easy to win the recent race due to the weather. He added that his fame may have increased in Kenya due to his consecutive wins at the New York City Marathon.

The first American finisher in the men’s category was Ryan Vail of Oregon.

The women’s wheelchair race saw history being made as Tatyana McFadden swept the New York, Chicago, Boston and London marathons in one year.

Over 50,000 runners joined the race six months after the Boston Marathon explosions that saw three people killed. Security was visible throughout the entire course of the New York City Marathon, as around $1 million was spent by organizers for security.

Blue ribbons were given to the runners to pay tribute to Boston. The NYC Marathon returned following the cancellation of the event last year due to Superstorm Sandy.

Posted by James Fried on Monday November 04 2013, 2:35 AM EST. Ref: USA Today. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0