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A Race Like No Other
The 46th Running of the New York City Marathon - The Women's Race
by John Elliott
photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
Mary Keitany
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Mary Keitany
Honestly, we could almost start and end our article on the New York City Marathon's women's race with two words: "Mary Keitany." Mary Keitany was two-time defending champion and the pre-race favorite. Mary Keitany is one of the greatest marathoners of all time. Mary Keitany ran away from all but two other competitors at mile 9 into the race and then ran away from the remaining two halfway into the race to run the second half alone. In the second half of the race, Mary Keitany seemed poised to challenge the course record. Ultimately, although not getting a course record, easily won the marathon besting her closest competitor by nearly four minutes. Mary Keitany....
Two Seasoned Marathoners Beaten by Two Debutantes
Beyond Mary Keitany, the story of the 2016 New York City Marathon's women's race is about the success of two newcomers to the marathon. Through nine miles into the marathon, eight women were running together clicking off 5:30 miles on pace for a 2:29 marathon, which is very solid. Into the tenth mile Mary Keitany threw down a 5:06 mile and two women went with her: Aselefech Mergia and Joyce Chepkirui.
photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
Keitany Leads Chepkirui and Mergia
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But really these two seasoned marathoners who went with Keitany made a mistake. They could not stay with Keitany and Mergia would slow significantly by mile 13 and eventually finish sixth; while Chepkirui would stick with Keitany through the halfway mark (by then on pace for a 2:25 finish), run strong through mile 19 and then succumb to fatigue slowing terribly and eventually finishing fourth in 2:29.
photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
Molly Huddle in her debut marathon
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We were impressed that some smarter runners DID NOT surge with Keitany at mile 9 and would know themselves and run their own race to finish well. We were even more impressed that two smartest were runners who had never before finished a marathon: Molly Huddle, attempting her first marathon; and Sally Kipyego who had dropped out of her first marathon attempt the year before at New York. When Keitany smashed mile 10 in 5:06, Huddle stayed back somewhat and ran 5:12 for the mile. Kipyego stayed on the pace she had been running and ran 5:25 for the mile. For the next couple of miles Huddle would fall back slightly on the lead pack of three (then 2) and Kipyego would maintain her pace and lose even more distance on Huddle and the other leaders - but that was smart.
photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
Sally Kipyego Runs Alone to 2nd Place
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The marathon must be respected and while Mergia and Chepkirui ran too fast with Keitany, Huddle and - even more so - Kipyego respected the distance and were able to stay strong. Kipyego, learning her lesson well from her failed attempt in 2015, was at one point 25 seconds behind Huddle and nearly 1:30 behind Chepkirui would pass Huddle at 15.5 miles into the race and pass Chepkirui at mile 24. Kipyego, learning from the prior year by correcting some training and sticking to a plan, would finish second in 2:28:01. Molly Huddle, also running smart although perhaps overextending for a while would slow to be passed by Kipyego, but would pass Chepkirui 25.5 miles into the race and finish third in her debut marathon in 2:28:13.
The motto of the story: respect the marathon, even in your debut race. And/or learn from your mistakes...
Mary Keitany Again
Ooops, while we wrote that this story could be only about Mary Keitany, we forgot to include the details of three-time champion Mary Keitany's race.... Mary Keitany ran with the others at a 5:30 pace through the first nine miles. At mile 10, she threw down a 5:06 mile, followed by the following: 5:17/5:10/5:17/5:25/5:08/5:07 to take her to mile 18 in 1:38:10. That time and those paces were putting her on pace to set a new course record, was 1:50 faster than her time when she won the previous year and was 1:20 ahead of her next competitor. What was perhaps most impressive was that the times Keitany achieved were set while she was running alone into a strong headwind.
photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
Mary Keitany Leads Joyce Chepkurui
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After the race, Keitany would tell us she didn't know that she was on pace for the record, but she was just running and enjoying the race. She slowed over the next five miles, reverting back to the 5:30 miles she had been running earlier in the race and in the final two miles even slowed to 5:50/6:00 minute miles. Despite her slowing, Keitany showed that she far outclassed the rest of the field by winning with a margin of more than 3-1/2 minutes even as she finished one second slower than her winning time of 2015. Mary Keitany continues to prove that she is the best of the current crop of female marathoners and among the very best ever.
photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
Lanni Marchant: 7th, just two months
after running 10,000m + Marathon at Rio Olympics
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Top Finishers
1. Mary Keitany (KEN) 2:24:26 - $100,000 + $30,000
2. Sally Kipyego (KEN) 2:28:01 - $60,000
3. Molly Huddle (USA) 2:28:13 - $40,000 + $25,000
4. Joyce Chepkirui (KEN) 2:29:08 - $25,000
5. Diane Nukuri (BDI) 2:33:04 - $15,000
6. Aselefech Mergia (ETH) 2:33:28 - $10,000
7. Lanni Marchant (CAN) 2:33:50 - $7,500
8. Neely Gracey (USA) 2:34:55 - $5,000 + $15,000
9. Sara Hall (USA) 2:36:12 - $2,500
10. Ayantu Dakebo Hailemaryam (ETH) 2:37:07 - $2,000
11. Esther Atkins (USA) 2:37:11 - $10,000
12. Dot McMahan (USA) 2:38:46 - $5,000
13. Kellys Arias (COL) 2:39:14
14. Gwen Jorgensen (USA) 2:41:01 - $3,000
15. Laura Manninen (FIN) 2:41:08
16. Kim Conley (USA) 2:41:38
17. Emma Nordling (SWE) 2:45:22
18. Hilary Dionne (USA) 2:45:31
19. Janet Bawcom (USA) 2:48:13
20. Dawn Grunnagle (USA) 2:49:37
Coverage Homepage
Post Race:
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A Race Like No Other
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