New York City Marathon 05 November 2001 - race report

It was 50 degrees F in Manhattan this morning, which is cool for spectators but as it gets warmer, might be uncomfortable for the marathoners.

At 10:25, the push-rim wheelchair race has started, this year including multi-year Boston champion Franz Nietlispach. We'll update the progress of that race when we get chances, but will focus on the four running races: the men's and women's open races, and the men's and women's U.S. Championships.

It's 53 degrees on Staten Island at 10:30.

They're at the starting line in Staten Island. Mayor Giuliani has made the trip back from Phoenix between World Series games to lead the race in the pace car. The elites are on the line, and there are warmup shirts flying out of the crowd.

They've sung the national anthem and released a flock of doves. There's a policeman singing "God Bless America," and then they will start.

Boom, they're going. They're going uphill for the first mile, up and over the crest of the bridge. The first two miles of the marathon are entirely on the bridge.

The crest of the bridge is the highest elevation in the race, and the leaders are beginning to descend into Brooklyn. The women will run a separate course through seven or eight miles. The downhill second mile is always fast relative to the uphill first, but we can't be too sure who's among the lead packs yet.

It appears that the leader through the first mile is Joe LeMay, number 23, in 4:49. As they come down the other side of the bridge, the pacemakers (Godfrey Kiprotich, Leonid Shvetsov, Joseph Kariuki and David Morris) are back in charge.

6:08 for the women's first mile, with Joan Samuelson among the leaders. Samuelson is wearing number F44 -- that representing her age. The men's pack is sixteen strong, at least, as they run through Brooklyn.

Joseph Chebet, John Kagwe and Shem Kororia are visible behind the pacemakers in the men's pack. Kiprotich ran 5:09 for the second mile (9:58). The men are spread wide across the road, but the women are running single file behind Sylvia Skvortsova, their pacemaker. Ludmila Petrova is right behind Skvortsova and Elana Meyer right behind her.

The U.S. Championship has now parted with the lead pack, running ten seconds slower than the leaders in the second mile. 14:50 for the men at three miles. Kariuki paced in Chicago as well. Scott Larson is leading the U.S. men.

There are four women in their lead, Skvortsova, Petrova, Margaret Okayo, and Madina Biktagirova. Elana Meyer has bridged up and joined that pack of four.

Susan Chepkemei is still in contact as well. The women are still single file. The chain of five in the front is followed immediately by a blob which includes a number of the U.S. women; Colleen De Reuck is with them, as is Deena Drossin.

At five miles the men were at 24:28 with the pacemakers (Kiprotich and Kariuki) still in the lead.

De Reuck is on one side of the women's pack, with Drossin on the other side. The same five are in the front: Skvortsova leading, with Petrova, Okayo, Meyer, and Chepkemei in a line, then the pack. 27:55 through five miles for the women.

Six miles in 29:14 for the men. At five miles, the U.S. men were a solid minute back from the lead pack, according to the official splits. The leaders are a large pack moving at a good clip; Japhet Kosgei, Silvio Guerra, and Tesfaye Jifar are also among the crowd, nearly twenty strong. There are several potential winners in this crowd, brimming with potential energy.

34 minutes for seven miles for the men's pack. The pacemakers are whipping the pack through Brooklyn like they get a bonus for early delivery in Manhattan. Eight miles in 38:52.

The women's pack disintegrates a little at a water table, but Skvortsova is immediately back in the lead. It's a much smaller pack than before, but Petrova is still right behind Skvortsova. Okayo still in third, but then Colleen De Reuck with Drossin right on her shoulder. There's pretty heavy traffic, then another five or ten women including another American or two; Leonid Shvetsov, the lion who shepherded the whole women's pack through the Bronx last year, has now dropped back to the back of the women's pack and is "sweeping up," making sure the men who have now merged with the women's course don't interfere with the race.

Jon Brown is among the pack of sixteen men, including the pacemakers Kiprotich and Kariuki. Faustin Baha is trailing the pack. Shem Kororia is right behind the pacemakers, almost looking antsy and ready to pop. Jon Brown looks grim -- not strained, but very determined. He could probably drop some of this pack if they just looked at him.

The U.S. championships right now is led by De Reuck and Drossin, then Milena Glusac, Christine Clifton, and Joan Samuelson in that order. The men are Scott Larson, then Terrence Mahon, Keith Dowling, Teddy Mitchell and Eddy Hellebuyck.

48:25 for the men at ten miles. Still a pack of sixteen plus, still sprawled comfortably across the road. The pacemakers are in charge, but now Silvio Guerra has moved to the front to push things a little. Kenneth Cheruiyot is right behind him; Chebet and Kororia are shadowing Kariuki and Kiprotich. This pack is going to explode on First Avenue. 53:23 for mile eleven. The women passed eight miles in 44:37, then 50:11 for nine miles.

Kariuki is leading the men's pack with the Fila Kenyans, Chebet, Kosgei, Cheruiyot and Kororia right behind. John Kagwe and Rodgers Rop are also in there, along with Paul Kipsambu, Julius Kimtai, Guerra and Brown. We're told they ran 58:09 for twelve miles. They've passed the halfway mark on the Pulaski Bridge. As usual, Kagwe is completely unreadable behind his shades, but he looks like he's holding back a smile. One newspaper reporter called him "the Silent Assassin."

At ten miles 55:33 for the women, their fastest mile yet in 5:22; then at eleven miles 1:01:17. Shvetsov is policing the pack aggressively, but it's getting difficult to distinguish how many women are in this pack. Skvortsova is still leading with Petrova right behind. Chepkemei, De Reuck, Drossin, and others are still visible in the crowd.

It's a mostly Kenyan pack, but we can find some others -- an Ethiopian (Jifar), an Ecuadorian (Guerra), and Jon Brown, just outside the medals in Sydney for Great Britain. Halfway was passed in 1:03:14, blazing for New York where the course record is just on the slow side of 2:08.

Skvrortsova is off the course and Petrova is leading the women's race, with Okayo and Biktagirova her closest competition. 1:12:30 for halfway.

Saul Mendoza won the push-rim division of the wheelchair race.

The men are on the Queensboro Bridge, making their way over to First Avenue. It's going to get very loud on First Avenue when this pack gets there.