New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - The 2013-14 World Marathon Majors championship concludes on Sunday with the 44th running of the New York City Marathon, in what is expected to be one of the most contentious races in history.
A star-studded field of competitors will take to the streets of America's largest city, in which competitors will be searching for a victory to knock off the current WMM leader on the men's side, Dennis Kimetto. The 30-year-old native of Kenya tops the WMM leaderboard after picking up a victory and setting a world record in September's Berlin Marathon.
The course in New York starts across the The Narrows on Staten Island, but competitors quickly cross the Verrazano Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn. From there, runners take long trips up Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue, work their way up the East River and then cross over the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan.
Once in the heart of the city, runners will shoot straight up First Avenue, make a left hook up on 135th Street over the Madison Avenue Bridge, and make their way down Fifth Avenue and into Central Park, where the race finishes up.
The race has been run every year since 1970, with the exception of the 2012 season in which the event was canceled due to Hurricane Sandy. Kenyan runner Geoffrey Mutai has won each of the last two races. His 2011 victory set the course record with a time of 2:05:06.
The New York City Marathon is one of the six World Marathon Majors courses. The World Marathon Majors is a competition for marathoners that spans a two-year period, and takes four of a runner's highest finishes into account when determining which runner receives the prize jackpot. The runner who has the best four finishes gets the jackpot of $500,000.
The six race courses are in Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, London, Chicago and New York. To be eligible for the jackpot, each athlete must compete in at least one of these qualifying courses in each of the two calendar years.
New York hosts the final leg of the World Marathon Majors. In the 2014 version of the race, a men's champion will be crowned for the 2013-14 season. The two- year period overlaps, though, and this race will count toward the 2014-15 WMM series as well.
On the women's side, Kenyan runner Rita Jeptoo has already captured the WMM crown and the $500,000 jackpot by taking victories in the 2013 and 2014 Boston Marathons, and the 2013 and 2014 Chicago Marathons. Jeptoo defended her 2013 Chicago title with a victory there last month, which awarded her the WMM crown. She is not in the New York field.
But for the men, it all comes down to this race. Kimetto leads the WMM standings after capturing the victory in Berlin back in September, so he is not running this race. He adds his victory in Berlin to the 2013 Tokyo Marathon and the 2013 Chicago Marathon in the WMM series.
The top challenger who can steal the WMM crown away from Kimetto is Wilson Kipsang, a fellow Kenyan who is making his New York debut. Kipsang has taken victories in the 2013 Berlin Marathon and the 2014 Virgin Money London Marathon, so a victory here in New York is the only thing that can help him surpass Kimetto for the title.
Kimetto broke Kipsang's previous world record of 2:03:23 in Berlin not even two months ago with his 2:02:57 time. Kipsang, a 32-year-old, said he's eying the course record in New York this weekend.
The two-time defending champion Mutai is also in this year's field of competitors. He won back in 2011 with a time of 2:05:06 - the current course record - and then won again in 2013 after Hurricane Sandy canceled the 2012 event. Mutai looks to become the first three-time NYC Marathon winner since American Alberto Salazar captured three straight titles from 1980-1982. Another American, Bill Rodgers, won four straight titles in New York immediately before Salazar's run.
Ethiopian contenders Lelisa Desisa and Gebre Gebremariam will both present challenges to Kipsang and Mutai. Desisa won his marathon debut last year in Dubai in just under 2 hours, 5 minutes, and then followed that victory up with a win in the 2013 Boston Marathon. Desisa dropped out of this year's Boston Marathon at the 40-kilometer mark, but won a half-marathon in October in 1:01:38. Gebremariam, a 31-year-old, has a marathon personal best of 2:04:53, and won the New York event back in 2010.
Reigning World and Olympic marathon champion Stephen Kiprotich, a 25-year-old Ugandan, will certainly be a runner to watch in this year's race. Kiprotich finished 12th in last year's NYC race, but finished third in his last Bupa Greatest Race outing in Newcastle last month. Kiprotich is just the second man in the world to win both the Olympic and World championship marathon titles, but he wasn't able to make an impact in April's London Marathon.
"My problem was speed, and I have been working on it," Kiprotich said. "I believe that it is great enough for me to put up some good challenge against that high field of elite runners."
The best chance for Americans in the race falls on 2014 Boston Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi. The 39-year-old may be one of the more overlooked competitors, considering he won this event in New York back in 2009, and wasn't seen as much of a threat in Boston before he pulled ahead for the win. Keflezighi beat some big names in Boston earlier this year, including Kimetto, Desisa and Gebremariam.
Defending women's champion Priscah Jeptoo, who won last year's event with a time of 2:25:07, withdrew from the Nov. 2 race early in October due to a leg injury that occurred during the London Marathon. Jeptoo said she plans to come back and run in New York again in 2015.
That leaves the women's side pretty open. The front-runners are Mary Keitany (of Kenya) and Buzunesh Deba (of Ethiopia). Keitany, 32, hasn't participated in a marathon since the London Olympics, which was before the birth of her second child. Since then, she has competed in just two other non-marathon races.
"My training has been going on very well," Keitany said. "I have also had a chance to compete and test my body, but this will be the first major hurdle in my program to return to the top of marathon running."
She'll be challenging for the course record, which was set by Margaret Okayo back in 2003 (2:22:31). In the second of her London Marathon wins (2012), Keitany set a blistering pace of 2:18:37, which was the fastest time since Paula Radcliffe ran a sub-2:18 back in 2005. But since she hasn't raced in a marathon since then, any form of record may be unrealistic for Keitany.
Deba is from Ethiopia, but calls the Bronx her home. She finished second last year in New York with a time of 2:25:56. She had built up a lead at the 15-mile mark over Priscah Jeptoo, but then Jeptoo turned on the jets to take the win and the WMM title at the end of last season. It was the second time in as many years that Deba finished second in New York.
Deba also finished second at this year's Boston Marathon by running a personal best of 2:19:59. Coming into the final race of the season and the WMM title already being awarded to Rita Jeptoo, Deba will be shooting for a first-place finish.
Because of the withdrawal by Priscah Jeptoo, Kenyan Jemima Sumgong was added to the list of race entrants. She has a personal best of 2:20:41, and plans on challenging for one of the top spots this year. Also, 34-year-old Kenyan Edna Kiplagat will be running in this year's New York event. She finished first in New York back in 2010 with a time of 2:28:20. Kiplagat has a personal marathon best of 2:19:50.
Keitany has run the New York Marathon twice in the past, and finished third both of those times with a best finish of 2:23:38 in 2011.
"I hope to be third-time lucky," she said. "But that is easier said than done. In New York, there are no pace makers, no jokers and only serious challengers. I hope I will pass the test and get the best result."
The top three American contenders on the women's side consist of Deena Kastor, Desiree Linden and Kara Goucher. American Shalane Flanagan will not compete after finishing seventh in the 2014 Boston Marathon and third in the 2014 Berlin Marathon (which she finished with a personal-best 2:21:14).
Kastor, a 41-year-old, holds the American record for the fastest marathon at 2:19:36, which she set in 2006 in London. She might be the best hope for the American women, who haven't won the New York City Marathon since Miki Gorman did so back in 1977.
It's the final event of the 2014 marathon season, which means the final try for Kipsang to unseat Kimetto at the top of the WMM standings. The men's side will be highly competitive with the title on the line, but the women will be running for a big boost in the 2014-15 WMM race. Either way, this field of competitors is one of the deepest in marathon history, so expect fireworks in New York on Sunday.
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