New York City Marathon 2019 - Men's Bios

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New York City Marathon 2019 - Men's Bios

See Also: Men's Race Preview and Starters List

Lelisa Desisa | Shura Kitata | Tamirat Tola | Jared Ward | Geoffrey Kamworor

photo: courtesy NYRR

Lelisa Desisa
Age: 29
Country: Ethiopia
PB: 2:04:45, 2013 Dubai Marathon
Two-time victor at the Boston Marathon (2013 and 2015) and 2018 TCS New York City Marathon champion Desisa, a prolific figure at both the half and full marathon distances, began his career as a junior in Ethiopia, winning gold in the 10,000m event at the African Junior Athletics Championships before moving on to a series of wins and top performances at iconic races such at the Cherry Blossom 10K, the Utica Boilermaker, the Boulder Bolder and the Peachtree Road Race. Desisa consistently breaks the one-hour mark in the Half Marathon event and ran his debut marathon at the 2013 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, winning the event in his personal best time of 2:04:45.

Desisa followed that performance with his first victory at the Boston Marathon (2:10:22) several months later; in a moving act, he returned the winner's medal to the City of Boston following the tragic events at that year's race. Desisa capped off his debut year by taking the silver medal at the IAAF World Marathon Championships in Moscow that August. Since 2013, Desisa has been a regular fixture on the podium at the Boston Marathon, achieving his second victory in 2015 (2:09:17) after a 2014 DNF, as well as placing second (2:13:32) in 2016. His 2018 victory at the TCS New York City Marathon likewise follows a history of podium performances; Desisa placed second (2:11:06) in 2014 and third (2:11:32) in 2017. His photo finish at this year's Boston Marathon, in which he finished second to Lawrence Cherono by only two seconds, mirrored his own 2018 NYC Marathon victory over Shura Kitata by two seconds. Desisa's impressive performances against competitive fields at what are arguably the most difficult marathons in the U.S. come with just one drawback; a history of DNF's at both events as well.

photo: courtesy NYRR

Shura Kitata
Age: 23
Country: Ethiopia
PB: 2:04:49, 2018 London Marathon
Winner of the 2019 Aramco Houston Half Marathon (1:00:11) and the 2018 Rock n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon (59:16), Kitata is well positioned for another podium performance in New York, and likely seeking the win that escaped him by those two mere seconds in 2018.

Since his third-place debut at the 2015 Shanghai Marathon (2:08:53), Shura Kitata has competed exclusively at the half and full marathon distance, amassing significant wins and podium placements since 2017, including his second-place personal record finish to defending champion Eliud Kipchoge at last year's Virgin London Marathon (2:04:49); his subsequent second-place finish in the 2018 TCS New York City Marathon (2:06:01); and his most recent fourth-place finish in the 2019 Virgin London Marathon (2:05:01). Kitata was victor of the 2017 Frankfurt (2:05:50) and Rome (2:07:28) marathons.

photo: courtesy NYRR

Tamirat Tola
Age: 28
Country: Ethiopia
PB: 2:04:06, 2018 Dubai Marathon
The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist in the 10,000m event, Tamirat Tola made his marathon debut at the 2014 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon (fourth place, 2:06:17) and ran a subsequent 2:12:22 at the Gongju International Marathon later that year. He then took a two-year break from the distance, returning to the track, competing in the Olympics and running the occasional Half Marathon. In 2017, he returned to the distance with new intensity, beginning with his 2:04:11 win at the 2017 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon and followed by a silver medal performance at the World Championships Marathon in London (2:09:49).

Returning to Dubai in 2018, Tola took the third place position in the battle between fellow competitors Mosinet Geremew and Luel Gebrselassie while running his current personal best, 2:04:06; it should be noted that only six seconds separated him from repeating his victory in Dubai, and only four seconds separated him from second place. While his fourth-place performance at the 2018 TCS New York City Marathon (2:08:30) and sixth-place performance at this year's Virgin London Marathon (2:06:57) were not his fastest, he remains the fastest in the field - and should he get the right day, we could see an incredible performance.

photo: courtesy NYRR

Jared Ward
Age: 31
Country: United States
PB: 2:09:25, 2019 Boston Marathon
A graduate of Brigham Young University and a breakout star of the 2016 Olympics, Ward returns to the NYC Marathon with a fresh PR of 2:09:25, set en route to his 8th-place finish at the 2019 Boston Marathon; this followed his first American and 6th overall finish at the 2018 TCS New York City Marathon (2:12:24) last fall. Following a 2nd place finish at the 2014 Twin Cities Marathon, Ward began to gain attention when he won the USATF Running Circuit title in 2015, winning the USATF Championships in the 20K, 25K and Marathon, as well as placing second in the half marathon Championships at the Houston Half Marathon. Capitalizing on this experience in 2016, he placed 3rd at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials (2:13:00) and finished a surprising 6th overall and first American in the 2016 Olympic Marathon while also setting his PR of 2:11:30. The part-time statistics professor is currently coached by Ed Eyestone.

photo: courtesy NYRR

Geoffrey Kamworor
Age: 26
Country: Kenya
PB: 2:06:12, 2012 Berlin Marathon
2017 New York City Marathon champion, 2015 runner-up and 2018 third-place finisher Geoffrey Kamworor returns to the five boroughs this fall the newly minted Half Marathon World Record holder, having set the new mark at 58:01 at this past September's Copenhapen Half Marathon. Also a three-time IAAF World Half Marathon champion (2014, 2016 and 2018) and two-time IAAF Cross Country champion (2015 and 2017), Kamworor has broken the 2:07 mark three times, each of those in the Berlin Marathon. While his PR of 2:06:26 dates back to 2012, his recent world record, combined with his history of tactical and fast racing on the NYC course, marks him as one of the most dominant runners in the field. Kamworor, who has served as a pacer for Haile Gebreselassie and trains with Eliud Kipchoge, owns the fifth fastest time ever run on the NYC Marathon course.
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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
Women: Women's Preview & Starter List | Women's Athlete Bios
Head-to-Heads: Elite Athlete Past Matchups
Extras: Pace Calculator/Pace Guide/Viewing | Videos (Athletes/Archival/More...)
More News: Press Releases | News (other sources)
Featured Book/Movie: Run For Your Life | A Race Like No Other