ING New York City Marathon: Ethiopian Women finish 1-2
New York, USA – Mary Keitany took the most difficult path to winning a race; she went out hard and was forced to run most the race alone.
But Ethiopia‘s Firehiwot Dado’s passed Keitany with less than a mile to go, breaking free to win the 42nd New York City Marathon in 2:23.15, four seconds ahead of runner-up Buzenesh Deba.
It was the second closest finish in women’s NYC Marathon history.
Kenya‘s Keitany took third in 2:23.39, letting what was thought to be an insurmountable lead slip away.
Dado won the 2010 and 2011 Rome Marathons but was considered among the favorites.
Keitany had a 12-second lead at the five-kilometer mark, and by the time she came through the halfway point in 1:07.56, the lead had ballooned to 2:12 ahead of the chase pack.
Through 15 miles, she led a pack of four women by 2:23 but lost 18 seconds off her lead over the next two miles.
In between miles 23 and 24, Keitany lost another 30 seconds off her advantage, holding on by 30 seconds with a little more than two miles to go.
Once Dado took the lead, she never relented. And for Keitany, the hardest race strategy proved to be too much to handle.
