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New York City Marathon 2011 - As It Happens

Coverage Homepage

Post Race: Men's Post-Race | Women's Post-Race | Complete Searchable Results

Pre-Race:
Men: Men's Preview & Starter List | Men's Athlete Bios | Men's Pre-Race Quotes
Women: Women's Preview & Starter List | Women's Athlete Bios | Women's Pre-Race Quotes
Head-to-Heads: Elite Athlete Past Matchups
Extras: Pace Calculator/Pace Guide/Viewing | Videos (Athletes/Archival/More...)
More News: Press Releases | News
Featured Book/Movie: Run For Your Life | A Race Like No Other

The 42nd Running of the New York City Marathon - As It Happens
On this page: Men's Race | Women's Race

We're on-site at the New York City Marathon and will be commenting on the race - as it happens. If you haven't yet, follow the links above to read the bios and look at the starter lists - so you know who the players are. Then, return to this page and refresh often. We'll have photos and post-race writeups after the race is over.

Refresh this page every few minutes to see the latest updates. We'll have all of the updates for all races on this one page - trying to make it as easy as possible for our readers to see what's happening.

Note, as you read these reports, they will appear in reverse chronological order. Newest updates will be at the top of each section. Men's Race | Women's Race

Overview
The largest field ever is expected for the 42nd running of the ING New York City Marathon - with 47,000 starters! But on this page we'll be focusing on the elite races... Keep refreshing this page for updates...

The temperature is about 45 degrees at the start, with a slight side wind, that won't be a factor - a good day for fast times.


Men's Race back to top

The Finish - Geoffrey Mutai kills the course record, running 2:05:06, more than two minutes off the previous record. Emmanuel Mutai takes second place in 2:06:28 and cements the World Marathon Majors Bonus (takes home $635,000 today!). Tsegay Kebede is third in 2:07:13. All three top men are ahead of the previous record! Gebre Gebremariam finishes fourth in 2:07:59, Jaouad Gharib - at 39 years old - is fifth at 2:08:27. Meb Keflezighi is first American and sixth overall with a new (slight) personal best of 2:09:13.

Mile 25 (1:59:26) - Geoffrey Mutai is crushing it...

Mile 24 (1:54:45) - Geoffrey Mutai is almost a minute ahead of anyone else. Emmanuel Mutai is moving away in second place with Tsegay Kebede just behind. Gebre Gebremariam looks strong in fourth.

Mile 22 (1:45:42), Mile 23 (1:49:57). Geoffrey Mutai is alone!

Mile 21 (1:40:53) - Geoffrey Mutai has moved away by himself. Gebre Gebremariam held on for a while, but has also fallen back. Tsegay Kebede and Emmanuel Mutai are just behind. These are the top four men - and they will likely finish top four, but in what order?

Mile 20 (1:36:22) - just after 20 miles, Geoffrey Mutai made a move and three men could not keep up - Meb Keflezighi, Jaouad Gharib and Mathew Kisorio. Remaining in the race is an aggressive Geoffrey Mutai, Emmanuel Mutai, Gebre Gebremariam and Tsegay Kebede.

Mile 18 (1:26:44), 30K (1:29:45), Mile 19 (1:31:30) - Seven men in the lead group. At this point, we often see someone really pushing the pace forward - but the group is staying together - with fast, but consistent miles.

Mile 17 (1:22:02) - eight men still in the front pack. Kebede and Kisorio seem to be controlling the pace, but Kefleizighi is staying at the front to show he is strong. Kibet is starting to fall back and appears to be struggling at this pace as does Sisay.

Mile 14 (1:07:29), Mile 15 (1:12:22), Mile 16 (1:17:17) - As the men move over the bridge, it appears that Kebede is putting in a couple of surges. Nine men continue in the pack, with just Juan Luis Barrios falling out of front pack over the bridge. Typically, the race starts to take real shape as the men turn onto first avenue. Let's see what comes.

Mile 13 (1:02:45), halfway (1:03:17) - When Tesfaye Jifar set the record in 2001, he ran 1:03:51 for the first half. Emmanuel Mutai briefly moves to the front, but a few men now seem eager to keep the pace moving forward.

Mile 12 (57:58) - Ezkyas Sisay is again pushing the pace even as the men are a bit ahead of the record pace. Ten men left in the pack as Bado Worku has fallen back. Mile 12 at 4:38 was the fastest mile on the course.

Mile 11 (53:20) - it's the same pack of 11 still on pace for a low 2:07 finish.

Mile 8 (38:49), Mile 9 (43:41), 15K (45:12) - 11 men in the lead pack, and the pace is now fairly ahead of the previous course record. The pack includes: Meb Keflezighi, Emmanuel Mutai, Ezkyas Sisay, Juan Luis Barrios, Mathew Kisorio, Stephen Kibet Kosgei, Tsegaye Kebede, Geoffrey Mutai, Jaouad Gharib, Gebre Gebremariam, Bado Worku.

10K (30:23), Mile 6 (29:23) - Bobby Curtis and Viktor Rothlin are falling off the back of the pack. When Tesfaye Jifar set the course record in 2001, he went through 10K in 30:19. The runners are close to that, with the finishing speed that Mutai, Mutai, Gebremariam and Kebede can put in, there should be a record today.

Mile 5 (24:41) - sixteen men in the pack. Local runner Ezkyas Sisay is pushing the pace - we'll guess he's an unofficial pacer. But the rest are not reacting yet, running a pace to come through at 2:09:36, well off what the two Mutais are easily capable of doing.

5K (15:34), 3 miles (15:04) - It's slower than we'd like (we want a course record!). 21 men in the pack, too many to mention, but we will mention the Americans: Meb Keflezighi at the front, Bobby Curtis and Ed Moran at the back of the pack, but still with it.

The men are running in a large pack. Meb Keflezighi is at the front. We'd rather see Mutai and Mutai pushing the pace, but that isn't the case in the first mile...

The men have started!

The men's race will begin at 9:40AM.


Women's Race back to top

The Finish: Firehiwot Dado wins in 2:23:15, well off the old course record, but a strong win. Buzunesh Deba takes second place in 2:23:19, and Mary Keitany - after leading for most of the race - holds on for third place in 2:23:39, a near copy of her 2010 result. Ana Dulce Felix takes fourth in 2:25:40 and Kim Smith is fifth in 2:25:46.

Mile 25 (2:16:35) - In the final mile, the women leave the park to run up Central Park South - and it is "up" although slightly. At this point, with less than a mile to go, the spirit of some of these women are broken. And the result is a surprise: Mary Keitany, the fastest in the field has faded; Buzunesh Deba, the local runner and LA Marathon champion is falling apart, and it is Firehiwot Dado, the 2011 Rome Marathon winner who is not as well known here holds it together and will be the winner.

Mile 24 (2:10:42/Keitany; 2:11:13/Deba & Dado); Mile 25 (2:16:35/all!) - The women move into Central Park and Keitany is caught and passed. But Keitany holds on and somehow moves back to the front - did Deba and Dado run out of steam trying to catch Keitany? Did Keitany's slowing give her more strength to continue to the finish? One mile until we find out...

Mile 22 (1:58:24/Keitany; 1:59:41/Deba & Dado), Mile 23 (2:04:22; 2:05:24) - the women are now on a straight section of the course and we hear that Deba and Dado can now see Keitany. If so, they may realize they need to pick up just 20 seconds per mile - they can do that...

Mile 21 (1:38:57/Keitany; 1:40:45/Deba & Dado) - Keitany's lead continues to shrink. She will need to dig deep to hold on to this lead. Keitany's average pace will have her finish at 2:20:23. Deba's average pace will have her finish at 2:22:12, but the gap is closing and it will likely be slower for Keitany and that or better for Deba... We had thought Smith was running the smartest of the women, but she is slowing too. With drops, Smith is up to 8th place, but her 21M in 1:55:35 predicts a finish of 2:24, slower than as she had started.

Mile 20 (1:46:46/Keitany; 1:48:23/the rest) - Keitany still leads, but behind another race is shaping up. Buzunesh Deba has pushed forward and creates a gap with only Firehiwot Dado able to keep with her. Margaret Okayo's time in 2003 when she passed 20M was 1:49:37.

Mile 18 (1:35:19/Keitany; 1:37:12/the rest), 30K (1:38:57/Keitany; 1:40:45/the rest) - the gap is 1:48... Keitany is certainly slowing as the others are gaining.

Mile 17 (1:29:43/Keitany; 1:31:49/the rest) - Keitany has lost 9 seconds of her lead on each of the most recent two miles... At that rate, she will still barely hold the lead to the finish.

Mile 16 (1:24:09/Keitany; 1:26:23/the rest) - for the first time, the gap between Keitany and the next pack is shrinking, however slightly and the 2:14 separation is intense. Buzunesh Deba is the one pushing the second pack.

Mile 14 (1:12:44), Mile 15 (1:18:22) - Mary Keitany is running the 59th Street Bridge, which is a hill. It looks like she was struggling a bit and slowing considerably, but it might just be good strategy to run more slowly up the hill. Her paces for each mile from 13 to 16: 5:16, 5:26, 5:38, 5:47 - is the slowing just a conservative hill approach, or is the race catching up to her. Exciting...

20K (1:04:21), Mile 13 (1:07:18), Halfway (1:07:56). Keitany is so far ahead of WORLD RECORD pace, it's crazy. Or is it? She did recently run the Half Marathon World record of 65:50 - this is only two minutes slower?

continued...When Margaret Okayo ran the course record in 2003, she crossed the halfway mark in 1:12:07 - this is 4:20 better than that!?! There are really multiple races here - Mary Keitany running her own race against the world and possibility. The next four women pass the halfway mark in 1:10:13 - well, well ahead of the old course record: Caroline Kilel, Buzunesh Deba, Frehiwot Dado, Werknesh Kidane. Shewarge Alene Amare is falling a bit back. Rotich and Augusto run through the half in 1:11:15. Kim Smith through at 1:11:42. We normally might not write about people beyond the first couple of packs, but given this pace, we'll probably see a lot of carnage in the second half as people drop like flies.

Mile 10 (51:28). Keitany's pace is slowing just slightly, but her pace would still have her finish in sub 2:15, world record... The next group is still five women, running a pace to finish in 2:19. Caroline Rotich and Jessica Augusto are running together, at a pace that would have them finish in sub 2:22. Kim Smith continues alone just behind those two at a pace that would have her run 2:22:30.

Mile 8 (41:06) - Mary Keitany's pace would put her through in 2:14:36. 1min 20sec back, the group of 5 is running at a pace that would put them through in 2:19:01. As we think about it, Kim Smith - who before we said was way back, is perhaps the smartest - her pace will put her through in 2:22:02... We'll see how this will play out.

10K (31:54) - in 2003 when Margaret Okayo set the course record, she went through the 10K mark in 34:14. Hmmm - this pace would put Keitany through in under 2:15 - a world record on the NYC Marathon course. She's got to slow down, doesn't she?

Mile 5 (25:40) - Keitany now 45 seconds ahead - the other women have settled in, happy to give away the first spot. Keitany is clearly going for the course record...

Mile 4 (20:35) - Keitany is nearly thirty seconds ahead of Deba, Dado, Kilel, Kidane and Amare. Well behind are Caroline Rotich running alone and Kim Smith alone behind her.

5K in 16:04 for Keitany, 16:16 for the other women... It's Keitany, a Kenyan, apparently already guaranteed a win? Behind are four Ethiopians and one other Kenyan.

3 miles in (15:32), it's all Mary Keitany - dominant, already ten seconds ahead. The other women know that her 2:19 personal best puts her head and shoulders above their best and they are letting her go. Five women behind.

Coming off the bridge - just after 2 miles into the race, it is Mary Keitany setting the pace. Only five other women are going at this pace - Worknesh Kidane, just behind, with Buzunesh Deba, Shewarge Alena Amare, Caroline Kilel, Firehiwot Dado.

The women are still on the bridge - 1-1/2 miles into the run. There is usually no action by this point, but today it looks like Mary Keitany must be pushing the pace as she runs in the front... Kim Smith is already falling a bit back of the pack, but it's too early to suggest this means much.

The women's race has begun. Buzunesh Deba pushed to the front, but the rest are with her. Mary Keitany is running to the side, but soon moves to the front. It looks like there are about 9 women who will be in the front group when it unfolds.

The women's race will begin at 9:10AM.

Coverage Homepage

Post Race: Men's Post-Race | Women's Post-Race | Complete Searchable Results

Pre-Race:
Men: Men's Preview & Starter List | Men's Athlete Bios | Men's Pre-Race Quotes
Women: Women's Preview & Starter List | Women's Athlete Bios | Women's Pre-Race Quotes
Head-to-Heads: Elite Athlete Past Matchups
Extras: Pace Calculator/Pace Guide/Viewing | Videos (Athletes/Archival/More...)
More News: Press Releases | News
Featured Book/Movie: Run For Your Life | A Race Like No Other


 

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