Results tagged “mebkeflezighi”

In the wake of Meb Keflezighi's stunning NYC Marathon victory on Sunday — the first win by an American citizen since 1982 — a battle has erupted in the running world over whether or not the Eritrean-born athlete qualifies as an American runner. Though he didn't start training or running competitively until he immigrated to the United States at age 12, many claim the Keflezighi should be considered an East African runner because of his heritage, the Times reports.

For the first time in 27 years, an American man has won the NYC Marathon. Meb Keflezighi — who achieved Olympic bronze in Athens — crossed the line at 2:09:15. The 5-foot-5½, 122-pound Eritrean immigrant set a personal best in his 13th NYC Marathon, crossing the line about 40 seconds ahead of second-place finisher.

Photograph the 2006 New York City Marathon finish line by CraigsPage on flickr Marathon fans, your time is here because this weekend, there are two 26.2 mile races in the city. In addition to the New York City Marathon on Sunday, Saturday is the USA Olympic Trials for the 2008 Olympic Men's Marathon. Saturday's Olympic Trials will feature the country's best long distance runners as they contend for the first spots on the 2008...

For the first time since Tegla Laroupe in 1994 and 1995, the New York City Marathon has a repeat winner. Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia repeated her victory last year with a time of 2:25:05. Prokopcuka was so far ahead of 2nd place women's finisher Tatiana Hladyr that she was blowing kisses to the throngs of spectators as she approached the finish line in Central Park. Prokopcuka finished a full minute ahead of Hladyr. Deena Kastor, who was trying to become the first American winner since 1977 and was one of the pre-race favorites, finished 6th.

Last year's New York City Marathon saw the closest women's race in history, this year's marathon saw the closest race in NYC Marathon history for men or women. Paul Tergat, the world record holder for the marathon, finished .32 seconds ahead of 2004 winner Hendrick Ramaala who collapsed just as he reached the finish line. Tergat's win came on his first attempt at the NYC Marathon. As we watached the men's lead pack run in Central Park, we couldn't help but marvel at the trio of runners involved. Tergat, Ramaala and Meb Keflezighi, the best runner in the US and last year's runner-up, all running side to side. That picture was only bested by the finish.

Latvian woman Prokopcuka just won the NYC Marathon with a time of 2:24:40. Second-place finisher was the Kenyan runner Chepkemai (14s behind), who was leading until she began throwing up (mostly gatorade, see picture above) during the descent down Central Park West. Prokopcuka pulled away on the run up Central Park South. Men's results expected soon.

With the the ING New York City Marathon only two days away, the city is swarming with runners from all over the world. Last night, Gothamist headed over to Niketown to talk to some of the elite runners competing in Sunday's race. It seemed that the runners weren't too worried about the forecasted 70° temperatures as everyone they are competing against will face the same conditions. Below are some highlights of our question and answer sections as well as some additional answers we got in the extended entry.

Proof that the New York City Marathon can go on without P Diddy came yesterday as more than 35,000 people participated in the 26.2 mile, five-borough race. Runners from around the world gathered at the start in Staten Island and finished in Central Park. For the women, Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain rebounded from her disastrous performance during the Olympics to win in 2:23:10. Her margin of victory over Kenya's Susan Chepkemei was only four seconds, making it the closest finish ever for the women. Radcliffe and Chepkemei were step for step until the last 200 yards. Lyubov Denisova from Russia came in third.