Kenya’s Geoffrey Mutai won the New York City Marathon, setting a new course record.
The 2011 Boston Marathon winner crossed the finish line at 2:05:06.
The previous record was 2:07:43, set by Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia in 2001.
The 30-year-old has established himself as the favorite at next summer’s Olympics after two landmark performances this year. In April, he ran the fastest 26.2 miles in history: A time of 2:03:02 in Boston. It didn’t count as a world record because the course is considered too straight and too downhill.
The second- and third-place finishers today also broke the old course record. Fellow Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai (no relation), the London Marathon champ, was 1:22 back. Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia was third.
Firehiwot Dado of Ethiopia won the women’s title New York City Marathon in a stunning comeback.
Dado trailed London Marathon champ Mary Keitany by nearly 2½ minutes at the 15-mile mark but passed her with about a mile left for her first major marathon victory. The 27-year-old Dado won in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 23, minutes 15 seconds – almost a minute better than her previous personal best.
Fellow Ethiopian Buzunesh Deba, who lives in the Bronx, was second for her first podium finish at a major marathon, four seconds back. It was the second-closest women’s finish in the race’s history.,/P>
“I didn’t really think we would catch her,” Dado said through a translator in a post-race interview. “When we caught up to her, I was very surprised.”
Keitany was third, 23 seconds back. The Kenyan was well under course-record pace for much of the race but faded badly over the final miles.
