Kamworor Set To Defend New York City Marathon
2nd November 2018
The 25 year-old clocked 2:10:53 to win last year’s race, beating compatriot Wilson Kipsang by three seconds
- Kamworor who will headline the men’s race has been unbeaten so far in 2018
- A training partner of Eliud Kipchoge, who set the marathon world record of 2:01:39 in Berlin in September, Kamworor is confident of his form ahead of Sunday’s race
- Kenya’s Daniel Wanjiru should also make
his presence felt, the 2017 London Marathon champion will be taking part in the race for the first
time
- Mary Keitany may have been beaten into fifth at the London Marathon in April, but the 36-year-old is a three-time winner of the women's race between 2014 and 2016
NEW YORK,United States- Defending champions Geoffrey Kamworor and Shalane Flanagan will be hoping for a sweet sense of deja vu on their return to the Big Apple on Sunday for the TCS New York City Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label road race
Kamworor who will headline the men’s race has been unbeaten so far in 2018.The 25-year-old Kenyan returns to New York as defending champion, having unleashed a strong finish through the rolling hills of Central Park last year to clock 2:10:53 and come home three seconds clear of runner-up Wilson Kipsang.
It was Kamworor’s first victory at one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, though he has been almost invincible at shorter distances in recent years, racking up three straight titles at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and the past two men’s titles at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
A training partner of Eliud Kipchoge, who set the marathon world record of 2:01:39 in Berlin in September, Kamworor is confident of his form ahead of Sunday’s race.
“My preparation is going as well as last year – it’s almost the same and so far, so good,” he said. “I believe in what I have done and I am ready to race. If I win, I will be the happiest man in the world because I will have won everything this year.”
Standing in his way is a formidable line-up of East Africans, chief among them Shura Kitata, who produced an outstanding showing to finish second at the London Marathon in April, just 32 seconds behind Kipchoge in a PB of 2:04:49.
Kitata blitzed the field at the Philadelphia Half Marathon in September, clocking a PB of 59:16 and coming home almost four minutes clear of an international field.
Kenya’s Daniel Wanjiru should also make his presence felt, the 2017 London Marathon champion will be taking part in the race for the first time. But so far this year the 26-year-old has been out of sorts, finishing eighth at the London Marathon in April and seventh at the Great North Run in September in 1:03:40.
Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa was runner-up in New York in 2016 and the two-time Boston Marathon champion will be hoping to go one better this time. He failed to finish in Boston earlier this year but the 28-year-old impressed at the Copenhagen Half Marathon in September, clocking a PB of 59:52 to finish seventh.
Flanagan appears to face the more difficult task to regain the women’s title, given the presence of a strong US contingent and a formidable foreign line-up.
Kenyan challenge
Flanagan sealed a memorable win in last year’s race in 2:26:53, powering away from three-time champion Mary Keitany of Kenya in the final miles through Central Park, though the 37-year-old has had a low-key year so far, coming home sixth in dire conditions at the Boston Marathon in April, the last race she completed.
But she’s confident of a stout title defence when she takes to the start line in Staten Island on Sunday.
“My fitness is good, I couldn’t ask for better,” said Flanagan, who admits she has made no career plan beyond this weekend. “Over the past two years I’ve acted as if each marathon is my last, not knowing where it’s going to take me. Until I cross the finish line, I honestly don’t know.”
To succeed, she will have to overcome an athlete she has faced on 11 occasions in the past and never beaten: Vivian Cheruiyot.
The Kenyan enters as favourite after a commanding win at the London Marathon earlier this year where she clocked 2:18:31 in warm conditions, and the 35-year-old proved preparations were going well when taking victory at the Great North Run in Newcastle in September, clocking 1:07:43 for the half marathon.
However, this will be Cheruiyot’s first time tackling the New York City Marathon and in that realm, one of her compatriots will have a major advantage.
Mary Keitany may have been beaten into fifth at the London Marathon in April, but the 36-year-old is a three-time winner of the race between 2014 and 2016 and the Kenyan had an impressive win over 10K in New York in June, clocking 30:59 in what was her last competitive outing.
-Story sourced at https://www.iaaf.org