Finally, An American Woman Wins NYC Marathon

05 Nov, 2017

Shalane Flanagan thought about the seven years building to this race, possibly her last. She thought about the running star striding next to her. She thought about her family. She thought about Meb.

With one hellacious holler at the finish, it all poured out.

Flanagan dethroned Mary Keitany on Sunday and became the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon since 1977, potentially ending her decorated career with her first major marathon victory.

Flanagan’s breakthrough came in the last career race for American great Meb Keflezighi. The 2009 New York winner collapsed at the finish line, his 42-year-old body pushed to its limit in his 26th marathon. Keflezighi finished 11th, about five minutes behind 24-year-old winner Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya.

This may have been Flanagan’s final race, too, although the four-time Olympian wasn’t ready to commit. But she likes the idea of her and Keflezighi going out together.

“I was thinking of Meb, and I was thinking of how I wanted to make him proud,” Flanagan said.

Her win came five days after the bike path terror attack in lower Manhattan killed eight and raised questions about security for Sunday. That hit home for Flanagan, a Massachusetts native who completed the 2013 Boston Marathon shortly before a bomb went off at the finish line, killing three and wounding more than 260 others.

“It’s been a tough week for New Yorkers, and a tough week for our nation,” Flanagan said. “I thought of, ‘What a better gift than to make Americans smile today?’”

Flanagan ended a dominant stretch in New York by Keitany, a Kenyan runner who had won here three straight years. Flanagan stalked Keitany most of the way, hovering behind her during an unusually slow first 20 miles by the lead women.

Flanagan, Keitany and third-place finisher Mamitu Daska of Ethiopia broke from the pack in the 21st mile, and with about three miles left, Flanagan hit the jets. She finished in 2 hours, 26 minutes, 53 seconds, about a minute faster than Keitany.

Flanagan cried and yelled as she approached the finish line without another runner in sight.

“It’s indescribable,” the 36-year-old said. “It’s a moment I’m trying to soak up and savor.”

The last American woman to win New York was Miki Gorman, who took consecutive titles in 1976-77.

“Way too long,” Flanagan said.

Flanagan knows about long waits. She finished second here in her debut marathon in 2010 but hadn’t run New York since. It was also her first marathon since finishing sixth at the Rio Games. She fractured her lower back last winter and missed the Boston Marathon in the spring. She was “heartbroken” to miss her hometown race, but the injury set her up to take aim at Keitany in New York.

Flanagan had called Keitany “the alpha racer” and said she was ready to “suffer dearly” while keeping pace with the unpredictable Kenyan. As she went stride-for-stride with Keitany in the middle miles, Flanagan wasn’t sure what she’d have for the final stretch.

“There’s always creeping doubts of whether I was going to have enough to beat the best in the world,” she said.

Keitany never found her top gear Sunday, though, and finished with her slowest New York time since a third-place result in 2010. Keitany said she had a problem of a personal nature Saturday afternoon that affected her Sunday, but she would not disclose the issue.

Flanagan held a stern look on the course until getting emotional near the finish in Central Park. On the podium, she put her hands over face and began to cry again when she was announced the winner. She turned to hug Keitany before accepting her medal.

“This is the moment I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl,” Flanagan said.

She’s determined to pass on that dream, too. She and husband Steven Edwards — a former track and field star — have been fostering two teenage daughters who are also aspiring runners. Flanagan’s parents were also marathoners, and her mom, Cheryl Treworgy, once held the world record.

“This means a lot to me, to my family,” Flanagan said. “And hopefully inspires the next generation of American women to just be patient.”

AP

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