NEW YORK — Kenyan Mary Keitany won her fourth New York City Marathon with the second-fastest women’s time in race history, while 2017 champion Shalane Flanagan surged in Central Park to finish third.
Flanagan, in what could be her final marathon, mouthed “I love you” as she neared the Central Park finish line. Why?
“I just am so appreciative of being here today,” she said on ESPN2. “I felt so much love on the course.”
Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa took the men’s race in 2:05:59, the second-fastest time in New York history. Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai set the course record of 2:05:06 in 2011.
Fellow Ethiopian Shura Kitata was second to Desisa, two seconds behind, followed by 2017 winner Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya another 25 seconds back.
NYC MARATHON: Results
Keitany, a 36-year-old mother of two, clocked 2:22:48, winning by 3 minutes, 13 seconds over countrywoman Vivian Cheruiyot.
Only Kenyan Margaret Okayo has run faster at the world’s largest annual marathon, 2:22:31 in 2003. Only Norwegian Grete Waitz has won more New York titles among male or female runners with nine.
Flanagan, who last year became the first U.S. female runner to win New York in 40 years, finished 3:33 behind Keitany and 20 seconds back of Cheruiyot. Keitany and Cheruiyot were the pre-race favorites. Fellow U.S. Olympians Molly Huddle and Des Linden were fourth and sixth.
Flanagan, a 37-year-old, four-time Olympian, ran faster than her winning time in 2017, when she relegated Keitany to second place.
The U.S. put three women in the top six for the first time in 40 years. Another notable American, Sarah Sellers, was 18th, six months after her surprise runner-up in Boston as a registered nurse anesthetist who did not start with the elite women.
Desisa, 28, won his first New York title after finishing second in 2014 and third in 2015 and 2017. He is best-known for winning the Boston Marathon in 2013 (the year of the twin bombings) and 2015.
Desisa outlasted Kitata and Kamworor in a three-way battle in the final miles in Central Park. The top American man was Jared Ward, who finished sixth, just as he did at the Rio Olympics. Bernard Lagat, a 43-year-old, five-time Olympian in his marathon debut, was 18th.
Paralympian Daniel Romanchuk became the first American to win the men’s wheelchair race, beating three-time winner Marcel Hug of Switzerland by one second in 1:36:21. Romanchuk, 20, also became the youngest male winner in New York history.
Swiss Manuela Schar repeated in the women’s wheelchair division, pulling away from 17-time Paralympic medalist and five-time New York winner Tatyana McFadden by 21 seconds in 1:50:27.
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