adminNEW YORK. — Geoffrey Mutai looks unbeatable again. The New York City Marathon returned on Sunday after a one-year absence, and the Kenyan star won it for the second straight time. Countrywoman Priscah Jeptoo rallied from behind in the women’s race for a Kenyan sweep.
Runners and fans came back, undaunted by tight security, after the 2012 cancellation and April’s Boston Marathon bombings.
The last time the NYC Marathon was held, Mutai broke the course record in 2011.
Last year’s race never happened because of Superstorm Sandy. And after the attacks in Boston, barricades blocked off much of the park Sunday, and fans waited in bag-check lines to get in.Still, there were plenty of spectators to urge on Jeptoo to chase down Buzunesh Deba, a Bronx resident who finished runner-up for the second straight time in her hometown race.
Nobody was catching Mutai, who pulled away around Mile 22 and beat Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Kebede by 52 seconds. On a windy morning, Mutai’s time of 2 hours, 8 minutes, 24 seconds was well off his course record of 2:05:06 set in nearly perfect conditions two years ago. He’s the first man to repeat in New York since Kenya’s John Kagwe in 1997-98.
“To win this course twice, it’s not easy,” Mutai said. “For me, it’s a glory.”
Jeptoo trailed Deba by nearly three-a-half minutes at the halfway point. She made her move as the race entered Manhattan after a race official on a bike told her how big the gap was.
“I train well, and I was in good shape,” she said. “So I tried to push myself to see that I am supposed to close the gap before they reach 40 kilometres. — AFP.
Online Reporter