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A Race Like No Other
The 43rd Running of the New York City Marathon - The Women's Race
by John Elliott
Two Favorites
The favorites for the 2013 World Marathon Majors race were two Kenyans: Priscah Jeptoo and Edna Kiplagat - and much of the pre-race hoopla and coverage focused on these two and any competition between them. Jeptoo and Kiplagat were one-two at the 2013 London Marathon; Jeptoo was the Silver Medalist at the 2012 Olympic Marathon; and Kiplagat won the World Championships Marathon earlier in 2013. The two also had the fastest marathon records in the field: 2:19:50 for Kiplagat and 2:20:14 for Jeptoo - the next best time run by someone in the field, at least more recently than 2005, was more than three minutes slower. Six other women had personal bests in the 2:23-2:24 range and could compete for support cast credits, but most expected Jeptoo and/or Kiplagat to take the prize. In addition, a win at the New York City (or second place for Kiplagat) could allow either woman to capture the World Marathon Majors Series bonus of $500,000 - if money were an incentive, that would be it.
photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
One mile In, Deba and Tufa with a commanding lead
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Deba / Tufa - Ethiopians in New York
26.2 miles is a long distance and strategy can play a big role in the marathon. Some runners choose to run their own race or stick to their plan - ignoring all others in the field; others choose to act and react to the other runners and base their race on the field. Some runners will go out too fast - making a tactical error and sacrificing their ability to complete the distance and sometimes taking others with them.
From the first steps of the 2013 race, two women - training partners living in New York - started to run away from the field. While the main group of women - including Jeptoo and Kiplagat - went out on pace for a 2:33 marathon; Buzunesh Deba and Tigist Tufa Demisse started running on pace for a 2:25 marathon. Deba was runner-up in 2011 in 2:23:19; and she told us later that her plan was always to go at her pace - although this race day featured a heavy headwind making her pace an even harder effort. Tufa, whose marathon PB was a 2:40:45 runner-up finish at the 2013 Jacksonville Marathon, had no legitimate right to go out at the pace Deba was running; but it was clear that the two training partners had planned to run together; one at her own pace and the other hanging on for however long she could. By mile 3 (off the Verrazano Bridge and when the electronic mats were recording results for the press), Deba and Tufa were already 1-1/2 minutes ahead of the other women. And although the following pack of 20 women gradually increased their pace, Deba/Tufa added to their lead with every mile until at mile 14 they were a full 3-1/2 minutes ahead of all others and still on target for a 2:25ish finish.
photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
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The Second Pack
We often see the professional women marathoners start their marathons at a conservative pace - watching the other runners and saving the real race for further along the course. At the halfway mark, there were 16 women together running through at 1:16:00 (a 2:32:00 marathon pace) - but all of those women had run under 2:29 for the marathon distance and most sub-2:26. This was an easy pace. The advantage of this is that the women will have more energy for the second half and sometimes the race plays out in a final sprint - good for some runners. The disadvantage is that the runners sometimes forget that there are others further up the road - Deba and Tufa - and wait too long and cannot compete for the win. The most famous example of this is the 2008 Olympics Marathon when Constantina Dita ran away from the slow moving field near the beginning of the race to build a lead that could not be closed by the favorites who moved too late...
Through the halfway mark, the average pace for the main pack had been 5:48/mile. The split into mile 14 was 5:38, but that was still slower than the leader who passed that mile in 5:32. The main pack made up five seconds through mile 15 - but gaining at that rate would not make up the distance. After mile 15 - on the upward slope of the 59h St. Bridge, Priscah Jeptoo seemed to get antsy and increased her pace - 5:15 for the uphill mile - and no other runners could run with her. Jeptoo was clearly going to distance herself from the others, but with ten miles remaining could she make up a nearly 3 minute lead? Could she run 18 seconds per mile faster than her competitors up the road and increasing her average pace from the 5:48/mile pace her pack had been running and the 5:14/mile she would have to run for the rest of the race?
photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
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Deba Robbed of Victory? The Chase...
The rules of road racing state that an athlete is not allowed to get advice or information from an individual on the course. We learned that someone on one of the bikes accompanying the runners told Jeptoo that Deba was "three minutes ahead." Of course, it wasn't Jeptoo's fault that that she received that information and it wasn't one of Jeptoo's people - but some race personnel (undoubtedly feeling like a fan) provided information that he should not, and it may have affected the race. Regardless, with this information, Jeptoo told us she wondered if she could catch the runners ahead and ran hard. The next miles for Jeptoo were among the fastest in the race: 5:04, 5:05, 5:12, 5:26 (uphill), 5:16, 5:08, 5:06... and Jeptoo caught and passed Deba. Deba briefly tried to counter, but she knew she could not compete with Jeptoo and a side stitch helped cement that decision. With three miles to go - in Central Park - it was clear that Priscah Jeptoo would be the race winner - finishing in 2:25:07 (1:16:00 for the first half / 1:09:07 for the second half). Buzunesh Deba continued to run strong over the final miles and easily held on to second place, finishing in 2:25:56 (1:12:38 for the first half / 1:13:18 for the second half).
The Rest of the Runners
By mile 20, the remaining women in the main pack were nearly four minutes behind Deba and rapidly losing ground on Jeptoo. Tigist Tufa was still holding second place, but slowing - so the main group would be battling for third or fourth. In that group were four women, all capable of winning the marathon in the right circumstance: Edna Kiplagat, the fastest of the bunch; Valeria Straneo, the runner-up at the 2013 World Championships Marathon; Christelle Daunay; and Jelena Prokopcuka, the 2005/2006 champion. Of this group, Edna Kiplagat was the one who would fade first - the opposite of what was expected. Prokopcuka made a decisive move at mile 25 - and the other women let her go. Ultimately, Prokopcuka - who had taken three years away from the sport and only recently returned, had her dream come true as she managed to gain a podium spot with her third place finish in 2:26:36.
photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
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Top Finishers
1. Priscah Jeptoo (KEN) 2:25:07 - $100,000 + $25,000
2. Buzunesh Deba (ETH) 2:25:56 - $60,000 + $21,000
3. Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) 2:27:47 - $40,000
4. Christelle Daunay (FRA) 2:28:14 - $25,000
5. Valeria Straneo (ITA) 2:28:22 - $15,000
6. Kim Smith (NZL) 2:28:49 - $12,500
7. Sabrina Mockenhaupt (GER) 2:29:10 - $10,000
8. Tigist Tufa Demisse (ETH) 2:29:24 - $6,000
9. Edna Kiplagat (KEN) 2:30:04 - $3,000
10. Diane Nukuri-Johnson (BDI) 2:30:09 - $2,000
11. Risa Shigetomo (JPN) 2:31:54 - $1,500
12. Lisa Stublic (CRO) 2:34:49 - $1,000
13. Adriana Nelson (CO/USA) 2:35:05
14. Firehiwot Dado (ETH) 2:38:06
15. Katie DiCamillo (RI/USA) 2:40:03
16. Aziza Aliyu (ETH) 2:40:27
17. Mattie Suver (CO/USA) 2:41:18
18. Yolanda Caballero (COL) 2:41:23
19. Amy Hastings (RI/USA) 2:42:50
20. Danna Kelly Herrick (IA/USA) 2:44:19
21. Julia Mallon (CA/USA) 2:45:36
22. Alisha Williams (CO/USA) 2:47:04
23. Claudia Pinna (ITA) 2:51:00
24. Alexandra Cadicamo (NY/USA) 2:51:33
25. Lisa Bentley (CAN) 2:52:52
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A Race Like No Other
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