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NEW YORK, Nov 7 (AP) \u2014 New York sought a comeback story for its 50th marathon, and Albert Korir delivered.<\/p>\n
And for a city whose sports fans don\u2019t accept second best, Peres Jepchirchir came through with a memorable first.<\/p>\n
Korir and Jepchirchir made it a Kenyan sweep at Sunday\u2019s New York City Marathon, with Korir winning the men\u2019s race two years after finishing second and Jepchirchir becoming the only woman to take a marathon major in the fall after earning an Olympic gold medal.<\/p>\n
The second oldest of the world\u2019s marathon majors returned after canceling in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a city where over 34,000 have died of COVID-19, organizers hoped for an uplifting celebration akin to the marathon staged two months after the 9\/11 attacks.<\/p>\n
On streets emptied 21 months ago except for ambulances rushing to aid a city paralyzed by the coronavirus \u2014 and later filled with anguish and frustration in the days after George Floyd\u2019s murder \u2014 there was simply joy Sunday as around 30,000 runners made their way through the city\u2019s five boroughs.<\/p>\n
Brooklynites cheered for the early rising wheelchair competitors between sips of coffee. Throngs on Manhattan\u2019s First Avenue welcomed runners off the Queensboro Bridge. Cowbell-swinging supporters in the Bronx waved runners into the final stretch.<\/p>\n
They clapped and hollered for the elite and the every-runner.<\/p>\n
Shalane Flanagan, the 2017 champion, ran her sixth marathon major in six weeks \u2014 a first made possible because the Boston, London and Tokyo Marathons were pushed from spring to fall by of the pandemic. The 40-year-old American is calling her journey Project Eclipse because of how rare the opportunity was.<\/p>\n
Also on the course: Dr. Jose Alfredo Jimenez Gaxiola, a Mexican ICU doctor who worked through the pandemic and survived his own bout with COVID-19; Kellie Roe Kenny from Califon, New Jersey, a survivor of the 9\/11 attacks who first ran in 2001 in memory of co-workers who died; and Chris Nikic, the first athlete with Down syndrome to complete a full Ironman Triathlon.<\/p>\n
Molly Seidel finished fourth in her first race since taking bronze at the Tokyo Games, becoming the first American woman since Deena Kastor in 2004 to earn an Olympic medal.<\/p>\n
She broke two ribs about a month ago but was able to power through. She refused to reveal how she was injured.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery build up has challenges,\u201d Seidel said. \u201cThis was an interesting one.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the men\u2019s pro race, Korir overtook Morocco\u2019s Mohamed El Aaraby and Italy\u2019s Eyob Faniel around the 18th mile and quickly took out any drama. He won in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 22 seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not an easy race,\u201d Korir said. \u201cBut I enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was Korir\u2019s first victory in one of the World Marathon Majors and his first time atop any podium since winning the Ottawa Race Weekend Marathon in 2019. The 27-year-old Korir finished second to Geoffrey Kamworor in 2019 by 23 seconds and didn\u2019t race again until this June because of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
El Aaraby held on for an improbable second-place finish after coming in 11th at the Tokyo Olympics. Faniel was third.<\/p>\n
Jepchirchir was side by side with countrywoman Viola Cheptoo and Ethiopia\u2019s Ababel Yeshaneh from the time they entered the Bronx until they got to Central Park\u2019s entrance.<\/p>\n
Moments after guzzling two energy gel packets, Jepchirchir turned on the jets and pulled away, winning in 2:22:39.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not easy,\u201d she said of the New York course. \u201cToward the finishing line, I felt something I\u2019ve never felt before to finish a marathon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jepchirchir, 28, took gold at the Tokyo Olympics marathon in August and came back on a short recovery to win a race once dominated by her hero Mary Keitany, a four-time winner in New York who recently retired from the sport.<\/p>\n
Cheptoo finished second in her marathon debut and quickly found her brother, Bernard Lagat, who was broadcasting the race on ESPN. Yeshaneh was third.<\/p>\n
Marcel Hug of Switzerland won the men\u2019s wheelchair race for the fourth time, finishing more than 6 1\/2 minutes ahead of the next racer for his first title since 2017. Australia\u2019s Madison de Rozario won the women\u2019s wheelchair event, holding off past champions Tatyana McFadden and Manuela Sch\u00e4r for her first Big Apple victory.<\/p>\n
Participants had to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of race day. Runners registered for the 2020 race that was wiped out were given the option of a full refund or entry into the 2021, \u201922 or \u201923 races.<\/p>\n
The non-competitive field had its share of famous athletes, too, including U.S. women\u2019s national soccer team alumni Abby Wambach, Lauren Holiday, Kate Markgraf and Leslie Osborne. Former New York Giants runner back Tiki Barber raced for the seventh time.<\/p>\n
Tony Award-winning actress Kelli O\u2019Hara was slated to perform the national anthem before testing her lungs on the course, while two members of British rock band Mumford & Sons also were signed up to run. The entrants also included \u201cThe Bachelor\u201d and \u201cThe Bachelorette\u201d contestants Matt James, Tyler Cameron, Tayshia Adams and Zac Clark.<\/p>\n
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NEW YORK, Nov 7 (AP) \u2014 New York sought a comeback story for its 50th marathon, and Albert Korir delivered. And for a city whose sports fans don\u2019t accept second best, Peres Jepchirchir came through with a memorable first. Korir and Jepchirchir made it a Kenyan sweep at Sunday\u2019s New York City Marathon, with Korir […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-176149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176149\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}