NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – The 52nd New York City marathon is taking over the city Sunday as 50,000 runners cover 26.2 miles through the five boroughs in the biggest race of its kind anywhere in the world.
The winner of the women's professional race, which began at 8:40 a.m., was Hellen Obiri of Kenya who secured her first New York City marathon win with a time of 2:27:23.
Obiri outsprinted second-place runner Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia in the final 400 meters to take the win in what was a close race.
The winner of the men's professional race, which began at 9:05 a.m., was Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia with a time of 2:04:58. Tola won and set a course record in one fell swoop.
Tola's time ousts Geoffrey Mutai's 2011 record of 2:05:06.
It takes standard racers much longer to finish, with a typical average of about four hours and 50 minutes, so runners will be crossing the finish line for hours into the afternoon in Central Park.
The marathon route took racers from Staten Island, over Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and into Brooklyn where they ran along Fourth and Bedford Avenues.
Racers reached the midpoint of the race on Pulaski Bridge, and entered Queens where they ran for two-and-a-half miles before crossing the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan.
A quick turn north into the Bronx allowed runners to navigate a few turns before sweeping back into Manhattan at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem.
Then, with four miles left, runners made their way to the finish line in Central Park.
The professional wheelchair division of the race began at 8:00 a.m. and was swept by two athletes from Switzerland.
Catherine Debrunner won the women’s wheelchair race with a time of 1:39:32, a course record that secured her first New York City marathon win.
Marcel Hug won his third straight men’s race with a time of 1:25:29, giving him his sixth New York City marathon win overall.
