NEW YORK — Mary Keitany of Kenya and Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia won the New York City Marathon titles, with Keitany dominating the women’s side with a time of 2:22:48 and Desisa pulling away from a crowded lead pack at the event’s 25-mile mark to finish at 2:05:59.
The win was Keitany’s fourth in five years in one of the world’s premier distance events. Not since Norway’s Grete Waitz has a runner put together such a dominant stretch: Waitz won eight of nine marathons from 1978-86, the last six in a row. In addition to taking four of the past five events, Keitany finished second in last year’s marathon.