NYC Marathon full of elite women
— --
At the end of one of the deepest years in women's marathon history, New York has assembled a competitive field of past champions and new talent to chase after the $275,000 in guaranteed prize money in the women's race.
With four women in the field who have run under 2:20 and three who have previously tasted victory on the streets of New York, the race should be an exciting battle of the world's top talent.
The favorite
Edna Kiplagat, Kenya (personal best: 2:19:50, London 2012) -- Kiplagat has the best combination of experience and recent results of anyone in the field, with a win in London in April and the second-fastest non-Boston marathon time this year. (Boston's net downhill course can produce inflated times that are not recognized by some record-keeping bodies.)
Kiplagat knows how to win in New York, taking the victory there in 2010, but she's also had her share of misses, placing a distant ninth last year. This year she's already won a World Marathon Major race with her victory in London, and she ran an impressive 1:07:57 in the half-marathon in Glasgow on Oct 5. As an established competitor on the world stage, Kiplagat should be fit and savvy enough to cross the finish line first in Central Park this year.
The hometown hero
Buzunesh Deba, Ethiopia (personal best: 2:19:49, Boston 2014) -- Deba grew up in Ethiopia but moved to New York City at the age of 18 and has been living and training in the Bronx since 2005. She placed seventh in New York in 2009 in her second attempt at the distance and has nearly won twice, taking second in 2011 and 2013.
Last year Deba and Bronx-based Ethiopian training partner Tigist Tufa held the lead by over three minutes before being chased down by Priscah Jeptoo over the final miles. Deba has been consistent on the world stage, running seven marathons under 2:28. A second-place finish and personal best at Boston this year shows that Deba is perhaps in her best shape yet. With her current upswing in fitness and the crowd behind her, Deba should be in contention for her first major marathon win in the city she calls home.
The challengers
Kiplagat and Deba will have plenty of company at the front of the race.
In the 2011 edition of the New York City Marathon, Deba worked closely with fellow Ethiopian Firehiwot Dado to catch the leaders and push toward the finish, with Dado outkicking Deba by four seconds for the victory. Dado was 14th last year in New York, but took third in the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon in January of this year and easily won the Prague Marathon in May. Whether Dado resumes her partnership with Deba on Sunday remains to be seen, but Dado will certainly be a factor in the race.
Jemima Sumgong of Kenya has a solid background, with a second-place finish in Chicago last year and a fourth-place in Boston in April, and should mix it up with the lead pack. Fellow Kenyan Mary Keitany is the third-fastest woman in history over 26.2 miles, with a personal best of 2:18:37, but this will be her first time racing the distance since the 2012 London Olympics; she took maternity leave in 2013. Keitany's results in the 10K and half-marathon earlier this year suggest that she's in good shape, but it's tough to extrapolate from shorter distances to the full marathon.
Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia is one of only seven women to win New York in back-to-back years (2005 and '06), and though she's 38 years old, Prokopcuka took third in New York in 2013. So she should definitely be considered a threat in a tactical race.
The Americans
Though the top American women in the field have impressive personal records and exciting potential, they'll need a special day -- and stumbles from some of the bigger names -- in order to find the podium.
Deena Kastor may end up being the top American woman, even at age 41. Kastor is extremely fit for her age (she set a master's world record in the Philly Rock 'n' Roll half-marathon in September) and believes she's in 2:25 shape, which on New York's hilly course could place very well.
Kara Goucher and Desiree Linden -- veterans of the 2012 U.S. Olympic marathon team -- have fast personal records from Boston, but both are working their way back from injuries and can't be expected to perform commensurate to their personal bests. Linden has been on the comeback trail longer, however, and relishes the role of the underdog, so a big performance could be in the cards for her.
Lauren Kleppin is the second-youngest woman in the field at age 25, but has the fourth-best personal record for an American woman and benefits from having run recently (Los Angeles, March 2014). Kleppin has been training with Kastor and the Mammoth Track Club, so it will be interesting to see how the young talent performs relative to her mentor.
Related Stories
ABC News Live