Shalane Flanagan, a Boulder, Colorado-born and Massachusetts-raised distance runner, became the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon since 1977, when she clipped the finish line tape Sunday at 2:26:53. The 24-year-old Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor, meanwhile, won his first New York City Marathon, finishing first in the men's race with a time of 2:10:53, three seconds ahead of countryman and 2014 winner, Wilson Kipsang.

"I've dreamed of a moment like this since I was a little girl," a tearful Flanagan said after winning her first marathon race. Before Sunday, Miki Gorman was the last American woman to win the signature race in New York, when she won the second of back-to-back New York Marathon races in 1976-77. Flanagan's triumph prevented Kenya's Mary Keitany from winning the New York Marathon for a fourth consecutive year. Keitany, 35, finished second Sunday with a time of 2:27:54.

Flanagan was emotional several times while sitting on the dais in the media center after her victory, thanking her family and supporters, while also paying tribute to the victims of Tuesday's terrorist attack in lower Manhattan, when a man drove a Home Depot truck into the bike line adjacent to the Hudson River and killed eight people.

"I absolutely, before this race, was thinking about how this was a really tough week for New York. I could relate to it because I was in the Boston bombings of 2013," Flanagan said, referring to the terrorist attack at the finish line of the Boston Marathon four years ago. Flanagan said she was honored to be "presented the opportunity to be that person for New York" to try and lift the city's spirits in the wake of Tuesday's attack.

"Athletics (are) a great way to make people feel good, and to smile, kind of forget about some of the negative things in the world," said Flanagan.

On the men's side, American Meb Keflezighi finished in 11th place Sunday. Keflezighi, 42, had already announced that Sunday would be his 26th and final marathon, ending a stellar distance running career that saw the Eritrea-born, American citizen Keflezighi win the 2009 New York Marathon and the 2014 Boston Marathon, a year after the tragic bombings there. Keflezighi also won a silver medal in the marathon event at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

"I gave it all that I had. I wanted to get to that finish line. The emotion gets into you," said Keflezighi, who collapsed near the finish line in the marathon at the 2016 Rio Olympics, only to do push-ups in a sequence that went viral.

"There was no push-up today," Keflezighi said to laughs Sunday.

 

When asked about his victory in 2014 in Boston a year after the tragedy, and Flanagan's victory Sunday, only days after another terrorist attack, Keflezighi said: "Sports is a celebration. It makes us appreciate that much more for life. We have to move on somehow, some way."

Five days after the terrorist attack in lower Manhattan numbed the city, the 47th running of the New York City Marathon went off as planned, with an estimated 50,000 runners taking to the streets of the five boroughs, and with a heightened security presence stationed along the 26.2-mile route.

Flanagan, who attended the University of North Carolina, finished sixth at the Rio Olympics last year, and Sunday was the first time she had run a marathon since Rio, as she was forced to pull out of this year's Boston Marathon due to injury. Flanagan said Sunday that she was "heartbroken" to have missed the Boston race, but that she kept telling herself "there's going to be delayed gratification."

Under overcast skies and with an ideal, 57-degree temperature for the start of both the women's and men's races, the sport's elite runners dashed from Staten Island through Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx and finally back into Manhattan finishing at Tavern on the Green restaurant.

 

When she neared the finish line, Flanagan pumped her fists toward the crowd and then broke into tears after finishing first among the women. Flanagan made her move away from Keitany and Ethiopia's Mamitu Daska near the Mile 23 mark, and then shifted into cruise control once she reached Central Park. Daska finished third at 2:28:08

Flanagan said it had been "way too long" since an American woman had won the New York Marathon. "Hopefully this inspires the next generation of American women," she said.

Kamworor looked over his shoulder several times during the final stretch to keep an eye on Kipsang, but was able to muster enough energy to cross the finish first.

"I have to believe myself, do my best to make sure I won," said Kamworor. The men's defending champion, Eritrea's Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, dropped out of Sunday's race. Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa finished third Sunday (2:11:32) behind Kamworor and Kipsang.

Flanagan had the second-fastest time ever by an American on the New York course. "I had no physical limitations today," she said. Flanagan was part of the lead pack throughout the race before breaking away. Keitany, meanwhile, almost wiped out at a water station near Mile 12 when fellow Kenyan Edna Kiplagat cut in front of her, but Keitany recovered to stay near the lead.

While Keflezighi raced his final marathon, Flanagan said she would sit down with her training team and decide what's in store next. "We'll have some decisions to make," she said.

Flanagan added that she was honored to have run in the same era as Keflezighi, an athlete she called "the absolute best role model."

"I was thinking of that as I finished, how it was amazing that Meb was able to be that clutch person in 2014, and how now I've been presented the opportunity to be that person for New York this time," said Flanagan. "Today, I just thought, 'Just be like Meb as much as you can.' He's the person that you would want your kids to emulate, and I want to emulate Meb. I was absolutely thinking of him and thinking, 'I've got to make (Keflezighi) proud today.'"

 

source: AFP