Here's Who Won the 2015 NYC Marathon
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Congratulations to the winners of the 2015 New York City Marathon! On a gorgeous day, the entire city rallied to watch these amazing athletes fight their way to the finish line. In the end, the Kenyans would come out on top, placing first in both the men's and women's races. This is the third year in a row that Kenyans have taken top honors.
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The Women's Race
After a conservative start, the race for the women's lead really began near the 20-mile mark when the pack dropped to four women. This wouldn't last very long, as defending champ Mary Keitany of Kenya and Tigist Tufa of Ethiopia surged into the lead with both women running a 5:14 mile — a faster pace than the men at that same time. This would be the last time in the race that Keitany would need to compete for the lead. At mile 22, Keitany dropped Tufa as she continued to increase her lead while making her way into Central Park. By mile 24, she had a lead of over one minute to her closest competition and would finish the race with a time of 2:24:25. This makes Keitany the first woman to win a back-to-back title in New York since Paula Radcliffe took home consecutive titles in 2007 and 2008. Coincidentally, Keitany holds the record for the second-fastest marathon time in history behind Radcliffe. Of the race, Mary said she felt calm, confident, and excited throughout.
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Aselefech Mergia of Ethiopia finished second with a time of 2:25:32, and Tufa finished third with a time of 2:25:50.
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The Men's Race
Securing his first winning finish in a world's major marathon, Stanley Biwott came out the victor of the men's race. Biwott's official time is 2:10:34 — just under five minutes per mile. It was a close race up until the last mile, when Biwott was able to create a five-second lead time over Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya. He would further increase his lead as he headed into Central Park for the win.
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Kamworor came in second with a time of 2:10:48, and Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia finished third with a time of 2:12:10.
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American favorite Meb Keflezighi finished seventh with a time of 2:13:32, breaking the US masters marathon record in the process. The previous record was a time of 2:13:52, set by Mbarak Hussein.