by RBR AdminWalt Murphy is one of the finest track geeks that I know. Walt does #ThisDayinTrack&FieldHistory, an excellent daily service that provides true geek stories about our sport. You can check out the service for FREE with a free one-month trial subscription! (email: WaltMurphy44@gmail.com ) for the entire daily service. We will post a few historic moments each day, beginning February 1, 2024.
by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com), used with permission
This Day in Track & Field–November 2
(NY City Marathon; Born On This Day-Holly Bradshaw, German Fernandez, Moncur, Ngeny, Aouita, Munyala, Kathy Hammond/R.I.P.-Ducky Drake, Pen Hallowell/Eva Cassidy, Cubs Win)
1991—South Africa’s Elana Meyer set the first IAAF-ratified World Record for 15 kilometers, running 46:57 in Cape Town. The previous best of 47:17 was set by Norway’s Ingrid Kristiansen in 1987.
TCS NY City Marathon
1986—Grete Waitz (2:28:06) won the Women’s division, the 8th of her eventual 9 victories in the event. Italy’s Gianni Poli won the Men’s race in 2:11:06 and was followed by Australia’s Rob de Castella (2:11:43), the 1983 World Champion, Italy’s Orlando Pizzolato (2:12:13), the 2-time defending NYC champion, and Kenya’s Ibrahim Hussein (2:12:51), who would win the race the following year. (20,502 starters)
Other Notable Finishers
Men: 9.Pete Pfitzinger 2:14:09
Women: 2.Lisa Ondieki (Australia) 2:29:12, 3.Laura Fogli (Italy) 2:29:44…9.Christa Vahlensieck (Germany) 2:38:12
Results: https://results.nyrr.org/event/861102/finishers
Top 25: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_New_York_City_Marathon
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/grete-waitz-wins-her-eighth-nyc-marathon
Full TV broadcast(2:18): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsO2q8dPHjA
1997—Despite stopping 2 times to re-tie the shoelaces on his new pair of shoes (they would become undone a 3rd time, but he didn’t stop this time), Kenya’s John Kagwe won the Men’s race in 2:08:12 (He would win again the following year). As reported in the NY Times, it was a “miserably humid, windy and rainy day”. Those conditions, plus the time lost securing his shoes, might have cost Kagwe a chance to break the Course Record of 2:08:01, set in 1989 by Juma Ikangaa of Tanzania,
Switzerland’s Franziska Rochat-Moser was the surprise winner of the Women’s race in 2:28:43. Kim Jones (2:32:07), the top American finisher in the Women’s race (6th), complained that some of the leaders had received an unfair advantage at some of the water stations (see link). Suffering cramps during the race, Kenya’s Tegla Loroupe, a crowd favorite after winning in NY in 1994 and 1995, finished 7th in 2:33:31. (30,434 finishers)
Other Notable Finishers
Men: 2.Joseph Chebet (Kenya) 2:09:27, 3.Stefano Baldini (Italy) 2:09:31…5.Germán Silva (Mexico) 2:10:19, 6.Domingos Castro (Portugal) 2:10:23, 8. Dionicio Cerón (Mexico) 2:13:01…18.Mark Coogan (USA) 2:20:41
Women: 2.Colleen De Reuck (South Africa) 2:29:11…4.Anuța Cătună (Romania/defending champion) 2:31:24
Results: https://results.nyrr.org/event/971102/finishers/1688170
Top-20: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_New_York_City_Marathon
Kagwe’s Shoelaces: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/sports/other/110397ny-marathon-men.html
Controversy: http://partners.nytimes.com/library/sports/other/110397ny-marathon-women.html
Lots of NY Times Links:
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/sports/other/97nyc-marathon-index.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franziska_Rochat-Moser
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kagwe
2003—Margaret Okayo (2:23:03) was the winner of the Women’s race, outdueling fellow Kenyan Catherine Ndereba (2:23:03) and the Netherlands’ Lornah Kiplagat (2:23:43) as all three bettered Okayo’s previous Course Record of 2:24:21, set in 2001.
Kenyans swept the top 4 places in the Men’s race, with Martin Lel (2:10:30) winning over defending champion Rodgers Rop (2:11:11), Christopher Cheboiboch (2:11:23), and Elly Rono (2:11:31).
Among the record number of 34,729 finishers was Sean “P.Diddy” Combs, who ran 4:14:54 as part of a fund-raising effort to aid needy children.
Other Notable Finishers
Men: 9.John Kagwe (Kenya) 2:14:08…17.Matt Downin (1st American) 2:18:48
Women: 4.Lyudmila Petrova (Russia) 2:25:00…10.Sylvia Mosqueda (1st American) 2:33:10…16.Jenny Crain 2:38:49, 17.Jen Rhines 2:43:01…20.Marla Runyan 2:45:12; DNF-Deena Kastor
Results: https://results.nyrr.org/event/NYC2003/finishers
Top 20: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_New_York_City_Marathon
P.Diddy: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/p-diddy-did-it-finishes-marathon/
Men: http://www.marathonguide.com/news/exclusives/NYC_2003/NewYorkMen.cfm
Women: http://www.marathonguide.com/news/exclusives/NYC_2003/NewYorkWomen.cfm
2008—World Record holder Paula Radcliffe, who had been limited by a stress fracture to a disappointing 23rd-place finish at the Beijing Olympics in August, rebounded to win the Women’s race in NY for the 2nd year in a row, beating runnerup Lyudmila Petrova of Russia by almost 2-minutes (2:23:56-2:25:43). Finishing 3rd was Kara Goucher, who ran 2:25:53, the fastest debut performance by an American woman at the time.
Brazil’s Marilson Gomes dos Santos (2:08:43), the 2006 winner, passed Morocco’s Abderrahim Goumri (2:09:07) in the last half-mile, pulling away to win his 2nd Men’s title. He was named to the NYRR’s Hall of Fame in 2019.
Other Notable Finishers (total 38,099)
Men: 4.Paul Tergat (Kenya) 2:13:10…6.Abdi Abdirahman (USA) 2:14:17, 7.Josh Rohatinsky (USA) 2:14:23, 8.Jason Lehmkuhle (USA) 2:14:30…10.Bolota Asmerom (USA) 2:16:37…12.Hendrick Ramaala (South Africa) 2:19:11 (2004 winner)
Women: 5.Catherine Ndereba (Kenya) 2:29:34, 6.Gete Wami (Ethiopia) 2:29:25…8.Lidia Șimon (Romania) 2:30:04…10.Katie McGregor (USA) 2:31:14; DNF-Kim Smith (New Zealand)
Results: https://results.nyrr.org/event/a81102/finishers
Top 20: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_New_York_City_Marathon
http://www.marathonguide.com/news/exclusives/NewYorkCityMarathon2008/
Goucher Looks Back: https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/kara-goucher-on-first-marathons/
Radcliffe-Goucher Friendship: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/sports/09marathon.html
NYRR Hall of Fame: https://www.nyrr.org/media-center/press-release/20191017_nyrrhalloffame
2012—Just hours after insisting that the race would go on as planned, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and race organizers announced the cancellation of the NY City Marathon. There had been growing opposition to conducting the race while the city was still recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/03/sports/new-york-city-marathon-will-not-be-held-sunday.html
2014–Both races were close, with Mary Keitany (2:25:07) winning the 1st of her 4 Women’s titles by only 3 seconds over fellow Kenyan Jemima Sumgong (2:25:10), and Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang (2:10:59) winning the Men’s race by 7 seconds over Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa (2:11:06), who would win the race in 2018.
With 50,869 starters (50,530 finishers), this was the largest marathon in history. It was the first year that TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) sponsored the event.
Other Notable Finishers
Men: 3.Gebre Gebremariam (Ethiopia) 2:12:13, 4.Meb Kefelzighi 2:13:18 (2009 winner), 5.Stephen Kiprotich (Uganda) 2:13:25 (gold medalist at the 2012 Olympics, 2013 World Championships)…9,Ryan Vail (USA) 2:15:08, 10.Nick Arciniaga (USA) 2:15:39
Women: 4.Jeļena Prokopčuka (Latvia) 2:26:15 (2005, 2006 winner)…5.Des Linden (USA) 2:28:11…9.Annie Bersagel (USA) 2:33:02, 10. Deena Kastor (USA) 2:33:18…12.Edna Kiplagat (Kenta) 2:36:24 (2010 winner), 13.Kara Goucher 2:37:03
Results: https://results.nyrr.org/event/M2014/finishers
Top 20: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_New_York_City_Marathon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsJ-Tn5RXxM
https://www.letsrun.com/events/2014-new-york-city-marathon-tcs-new-york-city-marathon/
Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlHbntVAMzM
Past NY City Marathon Winners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_New_York_City_Marathon
Media Guide (2024)
Through The Years:
