by RBR Admin
Walt Murphy is one of the finest track geeks that I know. Walt does #ThisDayinTrack&FieldHistory, an excellent daily service that provides true geek stories about our sport. You can check out the service for FREE with a free one-month trial subscription! (email: WaltMurphy44@gmail.com ) for the entire daily service. We will post a few historic moments each day, beginning February 1, 2024.
by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com), used with permission
This Day in Track & Field–November 7
TCS NY City Marathon
1999—Kenya’s Joseph Chebet followed up his win at the Boston Marathon in April by winning the men’s race in NY in 2:09:14. 2nd was Portugal’s Domingos Castro (2:09:20). Mexico’s Adriana Fernández (2:25:06) won the women’s race, with Kenya’s Catherine Ndereba (2:27:34) finishing a distant 2nd. Ndereba would eventually become one of the most accomplished marathoners in history, winning World titles in 2003 and 2007, and Olympic silver medals in 2004 and 2008.
Other Notable Finishers
Men: 4.Giacomo Leone (Italy/1996 winner) 2:09:36, 5.John Kagwe (Kenya/winner in 1997,1998) 2:09:39…9.Martin Fiz (Spain/1995 World Champion) 2:12:03; DNF- Germán Silva (Mexico/1994 & 1995 winner)
Women: 6.Anuța Cătună (Romania/winner in 2000) 2:32:05…12.Kim Griffin 2:48:29
By the numbers: Starters-32,503 (M-23,077, W-9,426); Finishers-31,786 (M-22,626, W-9,160)
Results: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/sports/track/110899run-marathon-results1.html
Top 20: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_New_York_City_Marathon
https://worldathletics.org/news/news/nyc-marathon-winners-chebet-and-fernandez
2004–World record-holder Paula Radcliffe (2:23:10) won the women’s race by three seconds over kenya’s Susan Chepkemei (2:23:13) in the closest women’s finish in race history. The two were side-by-side until Radcliffe pulled away in the final 200-meters. “it was a good way to end the year”, said Radcliffe, who had dropped out of the Olympic marathon in Athens after entering the race as the favorite.
Hendrick Ramaala (2:09:28) became the first South African winner since Willie Mtolo in 1992; American Meb Keflezighi (2:09:53) was second, just 10 weeks after winning the silver medal at the Athens Olympics. Like Radcliffe, Ramaala had also dropped out of the Olympic marathon.
Other Notable Finishers
Men: 7.John Kagwe (Kenya/winner in 1997&1998) 2:12:35…9.Ryan Shay 2:14:08…14.Abdi Abdirahman (USA) 2:17:09…16.Matt Downin…2:18:50…20.Dan Browne 2:23:27
Women: 4.Margaret Okayo (Kenya/winner in 2001 & 2003) 2:26:31, 5.Jeļena Prokopčuka (Latvia/winner in 2005&2006) 2:26:51…7.Lornah Kiplagat (Netherlands) 2:28:21…11.Tegla Loroupe (Kenya/winner in 1994&1995) 2:33:11…15.Jenny Crain 2:41:06; DNF-Deena Kastor, Lyudmila Petrova (Russia/2000 winner)
By the numbers: Starters-37,257 (M-25,051, W-12,206); Finishers-36,562 (M-24,574, W-11,988)
Results: https://results.nyrr.org/event/a41107/finishers
Top 20: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_New_York_City_Marathon
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SPORT/11/07/marathon.newyork/index.html
2010—kenya’s Edna kiplagat (2:28:20) won the women’s race over two future winners who were making their debuts at the distance—American Shalane Flanagan (2:28:40) and Kenya’s Mary Keitany (2:29:01), who would become a 4-time winner in New York. 4th was former Providence star Kim Smith (2:29:28) of New Zealand.
Winner of the men’s race in his debut at the distance was Gebre Gebremariam (2:08:14), who followed the advice of fellow Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie, who told him he had to now win the race after he (Geb) dropped out after 15 miles with a knee injury. 5th was defending champion Meb Keflezighi (2:11:38), and 6th was Brazil’s Marílson Gomes dos Santos, the NY winner in 2006 and 2008.
Other Notable Finishers
Men: 2.Emmanuel Mutai (Kenya) 2:09:18…7.Dathan Ritzenhein (USA) 2:12:33…10.Jorge Torres (USA) 2:14:57.
12.Tim Nelson (USA) 2:15:06…16.Matt Downin (USA) 2:20:41; DNF-Hendrick Ramaala (South Africa/winner in 2004), Germán Silva (Mexico/winner in 1994,1995)
Women: 6.Lyudmila Petrova (Russia/2000 winner) 2:29:41…10.Katie McGregor (USA) 2:31:01…13.Derartu Tulu (Ethiopia) 2:32:46
By the numbers: Starters-45,350 (M-29,097, W-16,253), Finishers-45,103 (M-28,948, W-16,155)
Results: https://results.nyrr.org/event/b01107/finishers
Top 20: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_New_York_City_Marathon
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/sports/08men.html
2021—It was a Kenyan sweep as the NY City Marathon (the 50th edition) returned to the streets of the city after being canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Peres Jepchirchir (2:22:39), the winner of Olympic gold in Tokyo in August, pulled away from fellow Kenyan Viola Cheptoo Lagat (2:22:44), making her debut at the distance, and Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh (2:22:52) as they entered Central Park and became the 1st Olympic champion to win in NY. All 3 cracked the All-Time Top-10 list in NY (see below). Finishing 4th was Molly Seidel, the bronze medalist in Tokyo, who ran 2:24:42, the fastest time ever on the course by an American woman.
Cheptoo, who ran as Viola Lagat during her collegiate career at Central Arizona and Florida State, is the younger sister of Bernard Lagat, who was part of ESPN2’s broadcast team for the event! The two shared an emotional hug after the race while Lagat was still in the TV booth. (Her full name is Viola Cheptoo Lagat).
Albert Korir (2:08:22), running by himself over the last few miles, was the men’s winner over Morocco’s Mohamed El Araby (2:09:06). 4th was Elkanah Kibet (2:11:15), a member of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program. 39-year old Kenenisa Bekele, making his NYC Marathon debut, finished 6th in 2:12:52.
Since there were still some precautions in place due to Covid, the field was much smaller than usual, with only 25,000 runners going to the starting line (there were more than 54,000 starters in 2019).
Other Notable/U.S. Finishers
Men: 5.Abdi Nageeye (Netherlands/Tokyo silver medalist) 2:11.39…7.Ben True (USA/marathon debut) 2:12:53, 8.Nathan Martin (USA) 2:12:57…10.Jared Ward (USA) 2:13:43.
Women: 6.Kellyn Taylor (USA) 2:26:10, 7.Annie Frisbie (USA/debut) 2:26:18, 8.Laura Thweatt (USA) 2:27:00…10.Stephanie Bruce (USA) 2:31:05
By the numbers: Starters-25,223 (M-13,749, W-11,458); Finishers-25,020 (M-13,634, W-11,370)
All-Time Women’s Performances–NYC Marathon (Through 2024)
1.2:22:31 Margaret Okayo Kenya 2003
2.2:22:38 Joyciline Jepkosgei Kenya 2019
3.2:22:39 Peres Chepchirchir Kenya 2021
4.2:22:44 Viola Cheptoo Lagat Kenya 2021
5.2:22:48 Mary Keitany Kenya 2018
6.2:22:52 Ababel Yeshaneh Ethiopia 2021
7.2:23:03 Catherine Ndereba Kenya 2003
8.2:23:09 Paula Radcliffe Great Britain 2007
9.2:23:10 Paula Radcliffe Great Britain 2004
10.2:23:13 Susan Chepkemei Kenya 2004
Running with the “masses”, Shalane Flanagan, the winner here in 2017, ran 2:33:32 to complete her ambitious goal of running each of the 6 races in the Abbott World Majors series in under 3 hours in the space of six weeks!
Berlin 2:38:32 9-26
London 2:35:04 10-03
Chicago 2:46:39 10-10
Boston 2:40:34 10-11
Tokyo (virtual) 2:35:14 10-17
New York 2:33:32 11-07
https://runningmagazine.ca/the-scene/shalane-flanagan-completes-sixth-marathon-in-42-days/
Top 10: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_New_York_City_Marathon
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/07/sports/new-york-city-marathon-2021.html
Post-Race Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ydmFSauY_g
https://mybestruns.com/rnd/Sister_of_Bernard_Lagat_Viola_Cheptoo_will_Run_her_first
Through the Decades—a fun look at what was going on at the time of the running of the NYC Marathon—1970 to 2021
The Race at 50: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/05/sports/nyc-marathon-historical-photos.html
Past NY City Marathon Winners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_New_York_City_Marathon
Media Guide (2024) Through The Years
Memorable Moments:
