Keitany claims fourth N.Y. Marathon
Ethiopia’s Desisa wins the men’s race; eight Americans — four men, four women — finish in the top 10.
NEW YORK — The onslaught of four American women finishing seventh or better and four U.S. men finishing in the top 10 in Sunday’s New York City Marathon was impressive and encouraging.
What truly captivated was the dominating, victorious rush from Kenya’s Mary Keitany over the second half of the race.
Keitany won the marathon for the fourth time, returning with a vengeance after last year’s runner-up showing behind American Shalane Flanagan to win in 2 hours 22 minutes 48 seconds — the second-fastest women’s time in history.
“I missed the record [of Margaret Okayo] by 17 seconds, but it’s OK. Winning is good enough for me,” Keitany said. “Last year was not my day . ... Today, everything was OK and I ran my race.
“I didn’t want to rush at the beginning and suffer at the end. I wanted to be comfortable, run a nice race, try to win.
“I knew my kids had been praying for me in the morning and were at the finish line.”
She headed into her family’s
arms after closing with a startling time of 1:06.58 over the final 13.1 miles. Keitany’s winning margin was 3 minutes 13.52 seconds better than countrywoman Vivian Cheruiyot.
Flanagan paced the impressive American showing by finishing third, ahead of upstate New York’s Molly Huddle (fourth), this year’s Boston Marathon champion Desiree Linden (sixth) and Allie Kieffer (seventh).
“It’s become a glamorous event for us, a challenge we all want to take on,” Huddle, 34, said of marathoning for U.S. women. “We’ll be sending a [2020 Olympic] team [to Tokyo] in which we can all do something, and that’s exciting.”
Linden added, “It’s a
great group of runners continually pushing the bar for the others.
Two-time Boston Marathon winner Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia won the men’s race in 2:05.59, beating countryman Shura Kitata, by two seconds.
“I was thirsty to be a champion. I had the training, everything controlled,” Desisa said.
Last year’s men’s champion Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya finished third at 2:06.26 — the fourth-fastest time in race history.
Then came the Americans, with Utah’s Jared Ward (sixth at 2:12.24) followed by Arizona’s Scott Fauble (seventh), Folsom’s Shadrack Biwott (ninth) and Stanford product Chris
Derrick (10th).
Keitany, who won the marathon three consecutive times from 2014 to 2016, began her blaze in the 14th mile and followed later with three straight sub-five-minute miles by the start of the 20th mile, stretching her lead over Ethiopia’s Rahma Tusa from 26 to 53 seconds.
Flanagan, 37, repeated the grit she showed in becoming the first American in 40 years to win the New York marathon last year by running down Tusa under the colorful fall foliage after the 24-mile mark.
“The thought, as I was feeling sorry for myself, was finding motivation. When I got dropped from Mary, I thought, ‘You never know what’s going to happen in front of you.’ I put my head down, kept fighting,” Flanagan said.
Flanagan hinted her third podium finish in New York may be her final race here. “I do feel my heart is leading toward serving others with the knowledge I’ve gained,” she said.
She mouthed “I love you” to the racing community at the finish line.
In the wheelchair divisions, American Daniel Romanchuk, 20, of Maryland won in 1:36.21 to become the first American and youngest winner of the event, edging defending champion Marcel Hug by one second.
Switzerland’s Manuela Schar, 33, won the women’s wheelchair race in 1:50.27.
lance.pugmire@latimes.com