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Head-to-Heads: Elite Athlete Past Matchups

See Also: Starter List (bottom of page)

Marathoning used to be something that runners gravitated to later in their lives; but the top of the elite field for the 2018 New York City Marathon are all in their 20s. Arguably, at the top of the field and the man to beat is Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor, the 25-year old defending champion, two-time defending World Half Marathon Champion and defending World Cross Country Champion – wow! Arguably, the top contender and man to beat is Shura Kitata; the 22 year-old Ethiopian whose 2:04:49 personal best (runner-up at 2018 London Marathon) is the fastest in the field. Kitata also holds the second fast time in the field from his 2:05:50 win at the 2017 Frankfurt Marathon. So Kitata is for real…

Following the two favorites are two more 20-somethings with 2:04-something personal bests. Lelisa Desisa broke onto the scene in 2013 when he won the Dubai Marathon in 2:04:45 and then the Boston Marathon three months later. Lelisa has been runner-up at the New York City Marathon and twice finished in third place. Could he win this year? Perhaps – and although one of the older runners in the field at 28, that is – let’s face it – still young. Tamirat Tola, 27, has run sub-2:05 twice! Tola was winner of the 2017 Dubai Marathon in 2:04:11 and then followed that up in 2018 with a 2:04:06 finish – although that only good enough for third place. Tola was also runner-up at the 2017 World Championships Marathon in London – he can compete. Rounding out the international field are three other twenty-somethings with sub-2:10 personal bests: Daniel Wanjiru, 26 with a 2:05:21 best; Festus Talam, 24 with a 2:06:13 best; and Alphonce Simbu, 26 with a best of 2:09:10.

photo: John Elliott / MarathonGuide.com The American Field at the New York City Marathon

The American field is highlight by two old men. We write that in jest, as 40-something isn’t really old, but it is for running. Bernard Lagat has finally come to the marathon at age 43 after a long and successful track career and recent success on the roads. The five-time Olympian ran 62 minutes for the Half Marathon twice in 2018 (62:00 at the Houston Half Marathon, and 62:18 at the World Half Marathon Championships) and is looking forward to his debut Marathon where he plans to at least better Meb Keflezighi’s 2:12:21 American Master’s Marathon record. Abdi Abdirahman, nearly 42 years old, will hope to continue his long career of success, including finishing as the top American at New York in 2016 and 2017.

photo: John Elliott / MarathonGuide.com Five-Time Olympian Bernard Lagat will be running his debut marathon at age 43

Among the younger crew of Americans, Shadrack Biwott, 33) has proven himself by finishing on the podium at the 2018 Boston Marathon, 4th at Boston in 2017 and finishing as second American behind Abdirahman at the 2017 New York City Marathon. Especially at the 2018 Boston Marathon, Biwott showed that he is tough and that his training with his new coaches, the Hansons, has done what is doing what it should. Two other Americans have personal bests under 2:12 – not fast enough to contend for a win, but fast enough to let us see who might be on the docket to represent the USA at the next Olympics. In this next crew are Jared Ward, with his personal best of 2:11:30 achieved at the 2016 Olympics and Tim Ritchie who won the 2017 USA Marathon Championships. Chris Thompson, 37 of Great Britain, rounds out the group of men to watch for a potential top five finish.

Male Elite Athletes
Athlete	Country	Bib	Personal Best	NYC
Geoffrey Kamworor (25)	KEN	1	2:06:12, Berlin, 2012	History
Shura Kitata (22)	ETH	2	2:04:49, London, 2018	History
Lelisa Desisa (28)	ETH	3	2:04:45, Dubai, 2013	History
Tamirat Tola (27)	ETH	4	2:04:06, Dubai, 2018	History
Daniel Wanjiru (26)	KEN	5	2:05:21, Amsterdam, 2016	History
Festus Talam (24)	KEN	6	2:06:13, Eindhoven, 2017	History
Abdi Abdirahman (41)	USA	7	2:08:56, Chicago, 2006	History
Alphonce Simbu (26)	TAN	8	2:09:10, London, 2017	History
Juan Luis Barrios (35)	MEX	9	2:14:10, New York City, 2011	History
Bernard Lagat (43)	USA	10	Debut	History
Shadrack Biwott (33)	USA	11	2:12:01, New York City, 2016	History
Tim Ritchie (31)	USA	12	2:11:56, Sacramento, 2017	History
Chris Thompson (37)	GBR	14	2:11:19, London, 2014	History
Jared Ward (30)	USA	15	2:11:30, Rio de Janeiro Olympics, 2016	History
Scott Smith (32)	USA	17	2:14:40, Minneapolis-St. Paul, 2014	History
Scott Fauble (27)	USA	18	2:12:35, Frankfurt, 2017	History
Chris Derrick (28)	USA	19	2:12:50, Chicago, 2017	History
Florent Caelen (29)	BEL	20	2:12:51, Berlin, 2015	History
Jonny Mellor (31)	GBR	21	2:16:52, Frankfurt, 2015	History
Alex Monroe (26)	USA	22	Debut	History
Andrew Davies (39)	GBR	23	2:15:11, London, 2017	History
Nicholas Hilton (25)	USA	24	2:16:18, Duluth, 2015	History
Birhanu Dare Kemal (32)	ETH	27	2:15:40, New York City, 2015	History
Harbert Okuti (32)	UGA	28	2:17:30, Sacramento, 2014	History
Mizael Carrera (27)	PUR	29	2:24:01, Victoria Marathon, 2018	History
Eric Loeffler (41)	USA	30	2:16:48, Duluth, 2015	History
Senbeto Geneti Guteta (25)	ETH	Withdrawn	2:11:12, Tiberias, 2013	History
Fikadu Girma Teferi (25)	ETH	Withdrawn	2:09:34, Duesseldorf, 2014	History