“I was going into my freshman year of high school. I was running downtown Grand Haven, and I had one of those cutoff sleeveless shirts that was just ratty. It was a really ugly shirt, worn-down. We ran through the mud in the woods, so I’ve got mud caked all over my legs. I sit down—I got a rock in my shoe—so I sit down outside one of these downtown buildings. I take off my shoe, and I got a big hole in my sock. My shirt’s just hanging all over the place. I’m dirty and sweaty. And I’m sitting against this building, and this woman comes up and hands me a dollar and walks off. She thought I was homeless. I kept the dollar.”
R: “I really like Alexi Pappas, mainly because she’s just different. Not many people know her; she’s not too big. She’s not like Mary Cain. I know that she’s friends with Jordan Hasay, and I really like Jordan Hasay, too. I just really like their friendship. And I like how [Alexi] does the steeplechase.”
L: “My inspiration is my boyfriend. He’s here today to race. He got me to keep running, because I wanted to quit.”
“I brought a flag just so that, when my teammates were running by, they could see that and know that we were out there supporting them.”
“Did you make the flag yourself?”
“Yes I did.”
“Out of what?”
“A few years ago I ran a 5K—my town has a little festival, and they had a 5K, so I turned [the race’s] shirt inside-out and made a flag out of it. The pole is a broomstick.”
“Who would you say is your biggest running inspiration?”
“My sister really got me to start running. She was the first person in our family to really start running, and everybody else in my family after her just kept running.”
“After Portage, we had team bonding. The girls went and had a sleepover at a girl’s house, and then the boys decided just to do their own thing. First what happened is we tried to go scare the girls—it didn’t really work. We really didn’t do much, and we just kinda said, ‘Oh hey, what’s up?’ and left. After that, we went back to the other guy’s house, and I left, but the other guys slept over. The next morning, they woke up, and their cars were just covered with tampons. They were all over the street, in everyone’s yards. This kid got a whole bunch of paint chipped off his car.”
“So when you next saw the girls team, how was it?”
“It was really upsetting. We made some fake threats that we were gonna call the police, just to see what they would do. We still haven’t gotten them back yet. Tell them to watch their backs.”
Wilson Kipsang leads the men’s race around mile 25 on Sunday.
Photos by Bethany Rogers
Those racing the 2014TCS New York City Marathonfaced difficult wind gusts, and over 50,000 took on the blustery conditions.
The wind quieted talks of course-record attempts, but Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang (2:10:59) and Mary Keitany (2:25:07) represented their country well with first-place finishes.
Men: Kipsang Has $600,000 Payday
Kipsang won in 2:10:59 in his NYC Marathon debut. He fought off Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa (2:11:06) for the $100,000 victory prize, also claiming theWorld Marathon Majorstitle. The 32-year-old Kipsang takes home an additional $500,000 for the WMM triumph.
Kipsang, who is sponsored by adidas, was celebrated by adidas Running:
Kipsang has a 2:03:23 marathon PR to his name, a then-world record run in Berlin in 2013. He won the London Marathon in 2012 and 2014, and he ran 1:01:02 to win the 2013 NYC Half Marathon. Kipsang is a menace to opponents on the roads.
Here are the top 10 men from Sunday:
1. Wilson Kipsang (KEN) — 2:10:59
2. Lelisa Desisa (ETH) — 2:11:06
3. Gebre Gebremariam (ETH) — 2:12:13
4. Meb Keflezighi (USA) — 2:13:18
5. Stephen Kiprotich (UGA) — 2:13:25
6. Geoffrey Mutai (KEN) — 2:13:44
7. Masato Imai (JPN) — 2:14:36
8. Peter Cheruiyot Kirui (KEN) — 2:14:51
9. Ryan Vail (USA) — 2:15:08
10. Nick Arciniaga (USA) — 2:15:39
The American men put three in the top 10, a nice showing for USA distance running. Meb won NYC in 2009 and the Boston Marathon earlier this year, and he led the American charge with a fourth-place finish on Sunday.
Meb, Vail and Arciniaga were the three Americans in the top 10, and here are the next five USA finishers:
Keitany defeated fellow Kenyan Jemima Sumgong by three seconds, crossing the line in 2:25:07. The marathon’s official Twitter account captured Keitany’s win:
Prior to this victory, the 32-year-old Keitany posted back-to-back wins at the London Marathon (2011, 2012). She holds a marathon PR of 2:18:37—the third-fastest woman ever.
Here are the top 10 women from Sunday:
1. Mary Keitany (KEN) — 2:25:07
2. Jemima Sumgong (KEN) — 2:25:10
3. Sara Moreira (POR) — 2:26:00
4. Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) — 2:26:15
5. Desiree Linden (USA) — 2:28:11
6. Rkia El Moukim (MAR) — 2:28:12
7. Firehiwot Dado (ETH) — 2:28:36
8. Valeria Straneo (ITA) — 2:29:24
9. Buzunesh Deba (ETH) — 2:31:40
10. Annie Bersagel (USA) — 2:33:02
Linden, who runs for Hansons-Brooks, gutted out a top-five finish to lead the Americans. Brooks Running congratulated Linden and Vail for their Sunday performances:
Hooray Run 