Nov. 5 (UPI) — Shalane Flanagan was the first American woman to win the women’s race in decades and Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor won the men’s race by 3 seconds Sunday in the New York City Marathon.
The last American woman to the marathon was Miki Gorman, who won back-to-back titles in 1976 and 1977.
Flanagan defeated three-time NYC Marathon champ Mary Keitany, who came in second place 1 minute later.
“It’s indescribable,” Flanagan, 36, said of her win. “It’s a moment I’m trying to soak up and savor.”
She finished the race in 2 hours, 26 minutes and 53 seconds.
The men’s race was a bit closer, with 3 seconds separating Kamworor from fellow Kenyan Wilson Kipsang. Kamworor, 24, finished the race in 2 hours, 10 minutes and 53 seconds.
Kamworor finished in second place in 2015, his first year to run the full NYC Marathon. He also is a two-time champion in the half marathon.
The NYC Marathon kicked off Sunday morning under the watchful eye of the city’s police department days after a truck drove into people on a bike path, killing eight people in Manhattan.
New York Police Department Chief Carlos Gomez said the 47th annual race will be a “very-well policed event, with many layers of security.”
The 26.2-mile race snaked through all five boroughs of the city and included more than 50,000 runners.
The NYPD said it has received no credible threat to the race.
The Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for the truck attack last week, calling suspect Sayfullo Saipov a “soldier of the caliphate.”
