{"id":17867,"date":"2018-11-05T02:16:46","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T02:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2018\/11\/05\/kenyas-mary-keitany-and-lelisa-desisa-of-ethiopia-win-new-york-city-marathon\/"},"modified":"2018-11-05T02:16:46","modified_gmt":"2018-11-05T02:16:46","slug":"kenyas-mary-keitany-and-lelisa-desisa-of-ethiopia-win-new-york-city-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/kenyas-mary-keitany-and-lelisa-desisa-of-ethiopia-win-new-york-city-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya's Mary Keitany And Lelisa Desisa Of Ethiopia Win New York City Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Emma Bowman<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n First place finishers Mary Keitany of Kenya, left, and Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia pose for a picture at the finish line of the New York City Marathon on Sunday.<\/p>\n

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Seth Wenig\/AP<\/p>\n

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At the New York City Marathon on Sunday, the race’s top long-distance runners greeted an ideally brisk and sunny fall morning with near record times.<\/p>\n

It was a day of many personal firsts, as a field of more than 50,000<\/a> sought to push their way through the city’s five boroughs in the annual race.<\/p>\n

Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia won the men’s race \u2014 his first in New York \u2014 in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 59 seconds.<\/p>\n

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\n Lelisa Desisa, of Ethiopia, crosses the finish line first in the men’s division of the NYC Marathon.<\/p>\n

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Seth Wenig\/AP<\/p>\n

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“This is my dream,” Desisa, 28, said after the race, The Associated Press reported. “To be a champion.”<\/p>\n

Shura Kitata, also of Ethiopia, took second place in the men’s race with a time of 2:06:01. Last year’s title defender, Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor, was favored to win going into the race, but ultimately placed third with a time of 2:06:26.<\/p>\n

In the women’s race, fellow Kenyan Mary Keitany, 36, became the third person to win the NYC marathon four times, according to The New York Times<\/a>. She ran the course in 2:22:48, the second fastest time for a female runner in NYC marathon history. Kenya’s Margaret Okayo’s record of 2:22:31 from 2003 remains unbroken.<\/p>\n

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\n Mary Keitany of Kenya is first to finish the women’s NYC Marathon.<\/p>\n

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Seth Wenig\/AP<\/p>\n

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Keitany said that setting a course record was never on her mind, according to the AP. She just wanted to win. <\/p>\n