Debutants Win NYC Marathon as Old Favorites Retire

Added by Tania Sullivan on November 10, 2010

Ethiopian and Kenyan debutants Gebre Gebremariam and Edna Kiplagat won the men’s and women’s Sunday New York City marathon title beating all stiff competition.

The Ethiopian was the world champion in cross country racing in 2009 and was grace personified. He pulled ahead of Mutai and won with a comfortable timing of 2:8:14 seconds. He was more than a minute ahead of the second place winner.

Athlete Kipkosgei of Kenya came 3^rd and was a minute behind Mutai, who came second. Interestingly, Mutai was runner up in the London marathon as well.

The female athlete finished with timing of 2:28:20. Although she too was a debutant in this marathon, she also came with a  strong performance in the Los Angeles Marathon where she was the winner.

Shalane Flanagan from USA and Mary Keitany from Kenya were 2^nd and 3^rd respectively. The gold medal winner had a comfortable margin of 21 seconds over second place.

Fans of Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopian world record holder, were disappointed when he pulled out of the race. At 37, he announced that all races had been run and decided to retire. He is a two time 10,000 meter Olympic gold medal winner. He has 27 world records to his name.