New York Road Runners – Something Better Than Winning

If you’re in New York, you’ve probably seen the photos around town of Wilson Kipsang breaking the tape in last year’s TCS New York City Marathon. Take a moment to study them.
 
Kipsang once owned the world record, and he has broken 2 hours and 5 minutes six times, the most of any human being in history. So although his 2:10:59 in New York last year was a comparative crawl, you are nonetheless observing an historic moment.
 
“For me, it was the most difficult race of all my races,” Kipsang declared in an email interview.
 
It’s one thing for a race to eschew pacemakers—New York quit using them in 2007—but it’s another to have pace-wreckers, and that’s what the temperature (in the 40s) and wind (gusting to nearly 50 mph) were last year to Kipsang’s planned assault on the course record of 2:05:06. Instead, he hunkered down amid a large pack for most of the race. Not until the group was almost in Central Park did Kipsang and Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa break away in a duel to the tape, with Kipsang prevailing by seven seconds in his debut.
 
But in the end, the time didn’t matter. The 2012 Olympic bronze medalist needed the win, and nothing but the win, to become the 2013-2014 World Marathon Majors champion and collect the $500,000 that comes with the coveted title.
 
His hero, Paul Tergat, might deserve a cut. The two met in training in 2002, and the five-time IAAF World Cross Country champion, first man to break that 2:05 barrier in the marathon—and a 2015 inductee into the NYRR Hall of Fame—soon became “a man of great advices” to him.
 
Such as? “Stay focused till the end,” says Kipsang.
 
Kipsang remembers watching on television as Tergat ran 2:04:55 at the 2003 Berlin Marathon to shatter the world record. “One day, I will break the world record also,” Kipsang vowed. He did, at the same race 10 years later, winning in 2:03:23. And he is well aware of Tergat’s never-say-die effort in the 2005 New York City Marathon, where he outsprinted Hendrick Ramaala for a one-second win, the closest margin of victory in race history.
 
“I learned from that race that you have to beat the last one and never give up,” says Kipsang.
 
He might also have learned that embracing the challenge of the tough New York course is a reward in itself. Several days before last year’s race, Kipsang told reporters that it would be a good test, allowing “a real measure” of himself. Safe to say, he measured up.
 
“The weather conditions were terrible,” he says. “It was a race without pacemakers. It was a race on a hilly course. It was different than my [flat, paced] races before, but also a good experience! I had a great victory in New York!”
 
Still, he’s hoping for better weather this year.
 
By Barbara Huebner
 
Watch the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon on November 1 on WABC-TV, Channel 7, in the New York tri-state area from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. EST and watch it across the country on ESPN2 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST.
 
Enter to win guaranteed non-complimentary entry to the 2016 TCS New York City Marathon now.
 

If you’re in New York, you’ve probably seen the photos around town of Wilson Kipsang breaking the tape in last year’s TCS New York City Marathon. Take a moment to study them.
 
Kipsang once owned the world record, and he has broken 2 hours and 5 minutes six times, the most of any human being in history. So although his 2:10:59 in New York last year was a comparative crawl, you are nonetheless observing an historic moment.
 
“For me, it was the most difficult race of all my races,” Kipsang declared in an email interview.
 
It’s one thing for a race to eschew pacemakers—New York quit using them in 2007—but it’s another to have pace-wreckers, and that’s what the temperature (in the 40s) and wind (gusting to nearly 50 mph) were last year to Kipsang’s planned assault on the course record of 2:05:06. Instead, he hunkered down amid a large pack for most of the race. Not until the group was almost in Central Park did Kipsang and Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa break away in a duel to the tape, with Kipsang prevailing by seven seconds in his debut.
 
But in the end, the time didn’t matter. The 2012 Olympic bronze medalist needed the win, and nothing but the win, to become the 2013-2014 World Marathon Majors champion and collect the $500,000 that comes with the coveted title.
 
His hero, Paul Tergat, might deserve a cut. The two met in training in 2002, and the five-time IAAF World Cross Country champion, first man to break that 2:05 barrier in the marathon—and a 2015 inductee into the NYRR Hall of Fame—soon became “a man of great advices” to him.
 
Such as? “Stay focused till the end,” says Kipsang.
 
Kipsang remembers watching on television as Tergat ran 2:04:55 at the 2003 Berlin Marathon to shatter the world record. “One day, I will break the world record also,” Kipsang vowed. He did, at the same race 10 years later, winning in 2:03:23. And he is well aware of Tergat’s never-say-die effort in the 2005 New York City Marathon, where he outsprinted Hendrick Ramaala for a one-second win, the closest margin of victory in race history.
 
“I learned from that race that you have to beat the last one and never give up,” says Kipsang.
 
He might also have learned that embracing the challenge of the tough New York course is a reward in itself. Several days before last year’s race, Kipsang told reporters that it would be a good test, allowing “a real measure” of himself. Safe to say, he measured up.
 
“The weather conditions were terrible,” he says. “It was a race without pacemakers. It was a race on a hilly course. It was different than my [flat, paced] races before, but also a good experience! I had a great victory in New York!”
 
Still, he’s hoping for better weather this year.
 
By Barbara Huebner
 
Watch the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon on November 1 on WABC-TV, Channel 7, in the New York tri-state area from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. EST and watch it across the country on ESPN2 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST.
 
Enter to win guaranteed non-complimentary entry to the 2016 TCS New York City Marathon now.