The 51st race of the New York City Marathon began on an unseasonably hot Sunday in November. With the sun shining and the crowd in full force, Kenyan runners Sharon Lokedi and Evan Chebet completed a sweep for their country by winning the women’s and men’s races respectively.
Chebet also won the Boston Marathon earlier this year, and This year’s New York City Marathon finished in 2:08:41While Lokedy finished in 2:23:23, both were faster than the previous year’s winners.
In fact, Kenyans outnumbered all six major players in the world marathon this year.
Lockedy, 28, ran for the University of Kansas in college, winning the 2018 NCAA championships in the 10,000 meters. Today she surpassed Israel’s Lona Kemtai Salpeter by just seven seconds and Ethiopia’s Gottitom Gebreslej, who finished in the top three.
Three American women finished in the top 10. Alifin Tuliamuk was seventh, Emma Bates eighth and Nell Rojas 10th.
The men’s pro marathon was even closer, and filled with a bit more drama than the women’s.
Brazil’s Daniele do Nascimento took a big lead to start the race and looked to run with it, but unfortunately, he fell six miles from the finish line. Evans Chebet, who was keeping a steady pace behind Nascimento, was able to overtake him and beat Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata by 13 seconds. Abdi Ngeye of the Netherlands came in third place, almost two minutes behind the winner.
“Boston was really tough,” Champion said through a translator after the race. It was also a race that helped prepare him for the early challenges of the NYC Marathon.
In the men’s wheelchair race, Switzerland’s Marcel Haug took the top spot by more than two minutes ahead of American Danielle Romanchuk, while American woman Susanna Scaroni won the women’s wheelchair race by two and a half minutes ahead of Switzerland’s Manuela Schar.
The total guaranteed prize money at the New York City Marathon this year is $870,000. That means Sharon Lokedy and Evans Chebet will each receive $100,000 as top finishers in the women’s and men’s races, while Marcel Haug and Susanna Scaroni will receive $25,000 as wheelchair champions.
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