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A record 43,741 runners competed in the 2009 ING New York City Marathon.
NYRRC Press Releases -- New York, November 1, 2009: With USA emblazoned in large red letters across his white running singlet, Meb Keflezighi on Sunday became the first American man to win the ING New York City Marathon since Alberto Salazar in 1982.
Keflezighi, who finished second in 2004 and third in 2005 in New York, recorded a time of 2:09.15 to defeat a world-class field. Four-time Boston winner Robert Cheruiyot, from, Kenya, was second in 2:09.56, Morocco’s Jaouad Gharib third with a time of 2:10.25, and a second American, Ryan Hall, finished fourth in 2:10.36.
The six Americans in the top 10 tied the best collective home performance since the marathon moved into the five borough format in 1976. Rounding out the top 10, Jorge Torres was seventh(2:13.00), Nick Arciniaga eighth (2:13.46), Abdi Abdirahman ninth (2:14.00) and Jason Lehmkuhle tenth (2:14.39).
The 34-year-old Keflezighi kept a cool head during the first half of the race when South Africa’s Hendrick Ramaala, the 2004 champion, and Morocco’s Abderrahime Bouramdane made breakaway moves. Both were reeled in and, by the 15th mile, a lead pack of 11 included Ramaala, Bouramdane and four Americans – Keflezighi, Hall, Torres and Abdirahman.
Also still in contention was former double world champion and 2008 Olympic silver medallist Gharib and Cheruiyot, a late replacement for former world record holder Paul Tergat. But Marilson Gomes dos Santos, the Brazilian who was seeking to become the first three-time winner since Salazar in 1982, had become detached.
In the 17th mile, Ramaala kicked again, taking with him Bouramdane and two Kenyans, James Kwambai and Jackson Kipkoech. But the break did not survive for long as the chasing pack closed up and still the four Americans were hanging in there.
Now Hall and Torres were struggling and, at 20 miles, only six men remained in contention: Kwambai, Cheruiyot, Bouramdane, Keflezighi, Gharib and Kipkoech. In the 22nd mile, Bouramdane, Kwambai, Gharib and Kipkoech dropped back, leaving a duel between the Kenyan and the American.
Still running smartly, Keflezighi let Cheruiyot take the pace, slipping in behind him, waiting to pounce. Finally, in the 24th mile, Keflezighi made his move and it proved decisive as he pulled clear to win by 41 seconds.
Wearing all the way to the finish the hat and arm-warmers he had started out with, Keflezighi pointed proudly to the USA letters on his vest and held his thumbs up. As he crossed the line there was a spontaneous burst of applause in the media room.
Hot favorite Paula Radcliffe settled for 4th place on Sunday in the women’s division of the ING New York City Marathon as Ethiopia’s Derartu Tulu, 37, won the title for the first time. Tulu is the first Ethiopian winner of the women’s race. For Radcliffe, the world record holder and three-time New York winner, it was her first defeat in nine marathons outside the Olympic Games.
A former double Olympic 10,000m gold medalist and three-time World Cross Country champion, Tulu recorded finished the 26.2-mile course in 2:28.52 with Russia’s Ludmila Petrova second in 2:28.59, France’s Christelle Daunay third in 2:29.16 and Radcliffe, from Britain, 4th in 2:29.27. Magdalena Lewy Boulet was the leading American, sixth place at 2:32.17.
Tulu came back to haunt Radcliffe just when the Briton probably thought she had seen the last of her. Back in the mid 1990s, Tulu was a stubborn obstacle in Radcliffe’s path as she tried to win the World Cross Country title. The Ethiopian took a hat trick of wins before the Briton, for whom a victory in the event had become an obsession, finally took gold in 2001.
One of the greatest track and cross country racers in history, Tulu hadn’t quite measured up in the marathon since her debut in 1997. Her only victory, prior to Sunday, came in the 2001 London Marathon, and her personal record is 2:23.30 from her 4th-place finish in the 2005 World Championship, which Radcliffe won.
There was early drama in the race when, in the fourth mile, two of the favorites, Japan’s Yuri Kano and Kenya’s Salina Kosgei both tumbled to the pavement. Kosgei appeared to stumble, taking Kano with her. The Kenyan quickly recovered her place in the lead group but Kano did not and could not make up the deficit.
Lewy Boulet managed to jump the sprawling bodies, keeping her place in the lead group of six, which stayed together through 10 miles. Radcliffe and Daunay ran at the head with Tulu, Lewy Boulet, Petrova and Kosgei sheltering behind. In the 12th mile, the group was reduced to five as Lewy Boulet dropped off.
Five women, five boroughs, five nationalities – a Briton, a Russian, a Kenyan, a Frenchwoman, an Ethiopian.
Going through the half marathon in 1:14.05, nothing much changed until the 20th mile when Kosgei, the 2009 Boston Marathon champion, was unable to keep pace, and dropped out of the lead pack. With the 41-year-old Petrova, winner in 2000 and runner-up last year, forcing the pace past the 23-mile mark, Tulu and Daunay stuck close but Radcliffe began to drift back.
Daunay, who broke the French record with 2:25.43 for third place in the Paris Marathon in April, was next to lose contact, in the 24th mile. Now it was a duel between Petrova and Tulu, which the Ethiopian settled when she burst clear inside the last half mile.
Elite Runner Results
| Place | Bib | Name | Time | State | Country | Citizenship |
| 1 | 8 | Meb Keflezighi | 02:09:15 | CA | USA | USA |
| 2 | 6 | Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot | 02:09:56 | Kenya | KEN | |
| 3 | 4 | Jaouad Gharib | 02:10:25 | Morocco | MAR | |
| 4 | 5 | Ryan Hall | 02:10:36 | CA | USA | USA |
| 5 | 11 | Abderrahime Bouramdane | 02:12:14 | Morocco | MAR | |
| 6 | 9 | Hendrick Ramaala | 02:12:31 | South Africa | RSA | |
| 7 | 15 | Jorge Torres | 02:13:00 | CO | USA | USA |
| 8 | 19 | Nick Arciniaga | 02:13:46 | MI | USA | USA |
| 9 | 10 | Abdi Abdirahman | 02:14:00 | AZ | USA | USA |
| 10 | 16 | Jason Lehmkuhle | 02:14:39 | MN | USA | USA |
Women
| Place | Bib | Name | Time | State | Country | Citizenship |
| 1 | 117 | Derartu Tulu | 02:28:52 | Ethiopia | ETH | |
| 2 | 140 | Ludmila Petrova | 02:29:00 | Russia | RUS | |
| 3 | 115 | Christelle Daunay | 02:29:16 | France | FRA | |
| 4 | 111 | Paula Radcliffe | 02:29:27 | Great Britain | GBR | |
| 5 | 112 | Salina Kosgei | 02:31:53 | Kenya | KEN | |
| 6 | 118 | Magdalena Lewy Boulet | 02:32:17 | CA | USA | USA |
| 7 | 121 | Buzunesh Deba | 02:35:54 | NY | USA | ETH |
| 8 | 124 | Serkalem Biset Abrha | 02:37:20 | NM | USA | ETH |
| 9 | 114 | Yuri Kano | 02:39:05 | Japan | JPN | |
| 10 | 123 | Desiree Ficker | 02:39:30 | TX | USA | USA |
