NEW YORK – For officials of the 52nd edition of the TCS New York City Marathon, seeing nearly 50,000 athletes cross through the starting line at Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island to the sounds of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” was a welcome sight.
After the cancellation of the event in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and a field in 2021 of 30,000, getting back to normal was paramount amid strong gusty winds and temperatures that were unusually warm for this time of year in the five boroughs.
The empty streets along the 26.2-mile race course early in the morning quickly filled with millions of spectators with signs and encouragement for the runners. Records quickly fell in the professional races and ended with a Kenyan runner sweep.
In the men’s race, 24-year-old Daniel Do Nascimento of Brazil jumped out to a lead in the first 10 kilometers due to an aggressive start and kept up his blistering pace before falling apart late and losing to Kenya’s Evans Chebet.
Chebet, the 2022 Boston Marathon winner, was only 40 seconds behind Do Nascimento at the 20-mile mark. The Brazilian took an 18-second bathroom break at mile 21 and came to a complete stop minutes later only to find Chebet close on his heels. Do Nascimento’s day ended when he collapsed to the ground with five miles to go. Chebet cruised to victory from there.
Chebet’s victory in 2:08:41 continued a Kenyan stranglehold in marathon majors this year, where a male runner from that country had won all of five of those races coming into New York City.
Ethopia’s Shura Kitata was the runner-up and Abdi Nageeye of Netherlands came in third. Defending champion Albert Korir finished eighth.
Galen Rupp, a bronze medalist in the marathon at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2017 Chicago Marathon winner was competing in his first NYC marathon and dropped out during the race.
Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi, an NCAA champion in 10,000 meters in 2018, won the women’s pro race in her NYC Marathon debut. Lokedi picked up the pace in the final three miles to break away from the pack and cross the finish line in 2:23:23.
Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel came in second, seven seconds behind Lokedi, followed by Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia.
Three Americans finished in the top 10: Aliphine Tuliamuk (7th), Emma Bates (8th) and Nell Rojas (10th), with defending champion Peres Jepchirchir withdrawing from the race last month because of an undisclosed injury.
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug, whose nickname is the “Silver Bullet,” lived up to that moniker, crossing the finish line first in the men’s wheelchair race for the second straight year and a record-tying fifth time overall, finishing in 1:25:26 and collecting a $50,000 bonus for destroying the course record.
The previous mark of 1:29:22 was set by Kurt Fearnley, another five-time wheelchair division champion, in 2006. Runner-up Daniel Romanchuk of the United States also finished ahead of the old record. Hug’s trophy case this year includes marathon victories in Tokyo, Berlin, London and Chicago.
The women’s wheelchair course record also went by the wayside.
Susannah Scaroni, a gold medalist who won the 5,000 meters T54 event at the Tokyo Paralympics and recovered from a devastating accident last year, led from the start and blew away the competition taking home her first NYC Marathon victory, crossing the finish line in 1:42:43 and also taking home $50,000.
That broke the mark of 1:43:04 set in 2015 by five-time champ Tatyana McFadden, who finished eighth this year.
Switzerland’s Manuela Schär finished second at 1:45:11, and Australia’s Madison de Rozario, the defending champion came in third with a time of 1:45:24.
Hug and Scaroni also receive $25,000 for finishing first.
Among the notable sports figures and celebrities in the non-competitive event included former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber, who ran in his eighth NYC marathon, U.S. Olympic hockey players Meghan Wheeler, Erika Lawler and Haley Skarupa and actors Ashton Kutcher and Ellie Kemper. T.J. Holmes, from the third hour of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” and co-host Amy Robach also participated.
50,000 – Servings of Dunkin’ Coffee
62,000 – Science in Sports energy gels given out
289,188 – Liters of Flow Alkaline Spring Water available during the course
$870,000 – Guaranteed prize purse, plus time bonuses
1,308,021 – Finishers in the 51 previous NYC Marathons.
