News16 Sep 2015


Defending champion Keitany heads women’s field for New York City Marathon

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Mary Keitany in action at the New York City Marathon (© AFP / Getty Images)

Kenya’s defending champion Mary Keitany and her compatriot, Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Sally Kipyego, will head an accomplished women’s field at the TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday 1 November.

Joining Keitany and Kipyego on the start line of the IAAF Gold Label Road Race will be world silver medallist Helah Kiprop, Ethiopia's London Marathon champion Tigist Tufa, and USA's Laura Thweatt who, like Kipyego, will be making her marathon debut.

“We are excited to welcome an extremely talented women’s field of marathon veterans, including our defending champion Mary Keitany, and newcomers to the marathon distance, including Sally Kipyego and Laura Thweatt, to the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon,” said Peter Ciaccia, president of events for New York Road Runners and race director of the TCS New York City Marathon.

“Along with Helah Kiprop, Caroline Rotich, and Tigist Tufa, this star-powered field will lead the way for a community of 50,000 runners along an amazing journey through the five boroughs of New York City.”

Keitany, 33, won the 2014 New York City Marathon with a time of 2:25:07, improving upon her third-place performances in 2010 and 2011.

She finished second at the 2015 London Marathon and won two consecutive London marathons in 2011 and 2012, the latter in 2:18:37, making her the second-fastest performer in history. Last Sunday, she won the Great North Run in 1:07:32.

“I am happy and proud to go back to New York to defend my title,” said Keitany. “To be the defending champion is a great honour, but also a big responsibility for me. Therefore, I have been doing my own preparation since June to ensure that I will reach the best shape possible to perform even better than last year in order to make my supporters happy, who will be watching me run in the streets of New York.”

Kipyego to make marathon debut

Kipyego, 29, lives and trains in the US city of Eugene. In 2014, she was the fastest 10,000m runner in the world and won the NYC Half in an event record of 1:08:31.

“I'm very excited to be making my marathon debut in New York this year,” said Kipyego. “I have had great opportunities to race over different distances on the streets of New York and I look forward to this new distance.

“The distance is definitely daunting but I’m grateful to New York Road Runners for giving me the opportunity a few years ago to ride on the lead car, which was a fantastic way to check out the course. I’m simply thrilled, but nervous at the same time.”

The field also includes Kenya’s 2013 London and New York marathon winner Priscah Jeptoo, Ethiopia’s 2015 Dubai Marathon winner Aselefech Mergia and her compatriot, two-time New York City Marathon runner-up Buzunesh Deba.

Portugal’s Sara Moreira and Latvia’s two-time New York City Marathon winner Jelena Prokopcuka are also in the race.

Organisers for the IAAF

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