Kenyans win New York marathon crowns

Goucher struggles in windy conditions, finishes 14th

NEW YORK - Wilson Kipsang won a lucrative duel to the finish to join compatriot Mary Keitany in a Kenyan sweep of the men’s and women’s races at a cold, windy New York City Marathon on Sunday.
Kipsang and Keitany both pulled away in the last Central Park stretch, with Kipsang’s victory bringing him a $600,000 payday as the win also gave him the $500,000 World Marathon Majors bonus.
“Of course I was thinking about it,” Kipsang said about the bonus. “My only chance to win the jackpot was to win this race. I was trying to apply all the tactics to make sure I would win.”
Keitany won an exhilarating duel with compatriot Jemima Sumgong to claim the women’s crown.
Former Duluth resident Kara Goucher, returning to her birthplace and where she ran her first marathon in 2008, struggled with the windy conditions and finished 14th in 2 hours, 37 minutes, 3 seconds.
Goucher, running her first marathon since April 2013, became emotional during a postrace press conference.
“I decided, with my coaches, to take a gamble and get as much protection from the wind as long as possible,” she said of strategy. “But it didn’t slow the race down in front as much as I would have liked, and I got in over my head. It was really windy all by myself. I hit the wall for the first time in my career and really struggled.”
With temperatures around 42 degrees and wind gusting to 40 mph, some 50,000 runners set off in the world’s largest marathon on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in Staten Island.
Runners wore ski hats or head bands over their ears and some pulled on sleeves or knee-high socks to deal with the elements that eased during the course of the 26.2-mile (42.2 km) race.
Conditions led to deliberate, tactical races that did not see the leading packs break up until after the 20-mile mark.
Kipsang, the London Marathon champion running the New York race for the first time, ran shoulder to shoulder with Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia over the last few miles.
In the final half-mile, Desisa snuck ahead of Kipsang, who turned on a final burst to claim victory.
Kipsang crossed the finish line in 2:10:55 to win the $100,000 first-place price and catapult past compatriot Dennis Kimetto to win the massive bonus.
Desisa, the 2013 Boston Marathon winner, who said he felt discomfort from missing a bathroom stop, finished 11 seconds behind Kipsang, with fellow Ethiopian Gebre Gebremariam, the 2010 New York champion, third in 2:12:13.
Keitany, the 2012 London Marathon winner whose best New York showing was third place in 2011, edged ahead of Sumgong in the last two miles of the race that covers all five New York City boroughs.
Keitany, whose best New York showing was third place in 2011, widened her lead at the end as she crossed the line in 2:25:07, three seconds ahead of Sumgong in tying the closest women’s finish in the New York race.
“I knew we still have only five miles to go. So I say let me push in and dig in in order to be in good position,” Keitany said.
Said Sumgong: “My target was to win, but it was Mary’s day.”
Portugal’s Sara Moreira finished third in 2:26:00 in her marathon debut.