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A Race Like No Other
The 47th Running of the New York City Marathon - The Women's Race
by John Elliott
The Quick Race Summary
(also see the Real-Time mile by mile notes of the race for more details)
The 2017 New York City Marathon started as a slow affair, with favorite Mary Keitany foregoing her usual role as frontrunner and leaving the job to others. At the 20 mile mark, a group of three, initially led by Keitany, broke away and the race was left to Shalane Flanagan versus Mamitu Daska versus Mary Keitany. Ultimately Shalane Flanagan arrived victorious - the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon since 1977!
Multiple Choice Test:
In honor of one of our favorite teenagers who is currently studying for the ACT exams, we've decided to write up this year's post-race coverage of the Women's Race at the New York City Marathon as a multiple-choice question, with explanations of the correct answers following the answer choices.
Question: Describe the 2017 New York City Marathon Women's Race
a) Mary Keitany loses the NYC Marathon
b) Shalane Flanagan wins the NYC Marathon
c) Sara Dossena determined the NYC Marathon
d) Marathon, What Marathon? It was a 10K race!
e) All of the Above
The correct answer? e) All of the Above Explanations to the answers below.
photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
Mary Keitany Running
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a) Mary Keitany Loses the NYC Marathon...
Before the race, we knew that Mary Keitany would win her fourth New York City Marathon. The race was hers to win. Keitany was the three-time defending champion of the New York City Marathon, she should have known how to win the race again. Keitany was the fastest woman in the field - oh, wait, let's expand on that: Mary Keitany was the fastest woman in the world, by a lot: Keitany had set the world record for a women's-only marathon (record eligible races must be women-only) when she won the London Marathon in 2:17:01. And her world record was set earlier in 2017, it was clear that Keitany was at the top of her game.
Keitany, in all of her marathons, had a strategy that worked: i) Lead the field. ii) Keep everyone running at an honest/fast pace until the competition was somewhat tired. iii) And then... run even faster! Beyond that, if the victory was certain, Keitany might ease up for the last couple of miles when the race was clearly won.
Given Keitany's past successful race strategies and her speed at the marathon, we were confused by Keitany's strategy - or non-strategy in 2017. Keitany did not lead the race - rather, she sat back in the middle of the pack, something we haven't seen her do before. And the split times for Keitany at the 2017 New York City were much slower than in past years. Below are some intermediate splits for Keitany's last four New York City Marathons:
| |
2017 |
2016 |
2015 |
2014 |
| Halfway |
1:16:18 |
1:12:39 |
1:12:56 |
1:13:41 |
| Mile 16 |
1:32:38 |
1:27:55 |
1:29:06 |
1:30:09 |
| Mile 18 |
1:43:31 |
1:38:10 |
1:39:58 |
1:41:03 |
| Mile 20 |
1:54:39 |
1:49:03 |
1:50:49 |
1:52:06 |
As is clear from the table, the 2017 split times were significantly slower than Keitany's three victorious years. Keitany did not implement normal strategy in 2017 - and it likely cost her the win.
b) Shalane Flanagan wins the NYC Marathon
Before the New York City Marathon, Shalane Flanagan told all who asked that her plan was to key off of Mary Keitany. She stated and knew that Keitany was the woman to beat. Throughout the first half of the race, observers could clearly see that the Flanagan was simply watching and folllowing Keitany. The pace was slow, but Flanagan stayed patient and followed her plan. It worked.
photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
Sara Dossena Leads from the Start
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c) Sara Dossena determines the NYC Marathon
With Mary Keitany not taking the lead in the marathon and most other runners watching and keying off of Keitany, someone needed to set the pace and lead the race. Oddly, the woman who went to the frontof the pack, took the lead and set the pace for the first 25K was Sara Dossena of Italy. Dossena was a triathlete who was running her first marathon. We can only imagine how confused Dossena was as she was running her debut marathon against some of the best in the world and she was in the front of the field for much of the race.
Dossena ran a solid race and led the pack at the pace she would run the entire distance - perfect and impressive in a debut marathon. But ultimately, that pace was one that quite a few of the competition could maintain and set the stage for Flanagan's win and Keitany's loss.
photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun
Flanagan Breaks Away in the Final 10K
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d) Marathon, What Marathon? It was a 10K race!
After running a slow 20 miles, the women picked up the pace into the final 10K of the race. Keitany allowed her competitors, namely Shalane Flanagan to arrive at 20 miles rested and then the race became a 10K race from mile 20 to the finish of the marathon course...
The following table shows the times for the final 10K of the marathon for the years Keitany won and the current year:
| |
2017 |
2016 |
2015 |
2014 |
| Final 10K |
32:14 |
35:23 |
33:36 |
33:01 |
| Finish Time |
2:26:53 |
2:24:26 |
2:24:25 |
2:25:07 |
As we can see, Keitany was good for a 33 or 34 minute final 10K... But the 32:14 final 10K that Flanagan still had the strength for was too much.
Summary
From what we can tell and believe, the race really was Mary Keitany's to win or lose... and ultimately, the race played out as it did because Keitany did not take control and dominate as she had in prior years...
- Mary Keitany lost the race by not pushing the pace early to run away from or tire out her competition.
- Shalane Flanagan won the marathon precisely because she stuck to her plan and based her race on Keitany alone.
- Sara Dossena contributed to Flanagan's win by taking the mantle and setting a race pace that let Flanagan stay comfortable until the final miles.
- The marathon really played out as a warmup to a final 10K race - and Flanagan was the better 10K runner on the day.
Top Finishers
1. Shalane Flanagan (USA) 2:26:53 - $100,000 + $35,000
2. Mary Keitany (KEN) 2:27:54 - $60,000
3. Mamitu Daska (ETH) 2:28:08 - $40,000
4. Edna Kiplagat (KEN) 2:29:36 - $25,000
5. Allie Kieffer (USA) 2:29:39 - $15,000 + $15,000
6. Sara Dossena (ITA) 2:29:39 - $10,000
7. Eva Vrabcova (CZE) 2:29:41 - $7,500
8. Kellyn Taylor (USA) 2:29:56 - $5,000 + $10,000
9. Diane Nukuri (BDI) 2:31:21 - $2,500
10. Stephanie Bruce (USA) 2:31:44 - $2,000 + $5,000
11. Buzunesh Deba (ETH) 2:32:01
12. Christelle Daunay (FRA) 2:32:09
13. Aliphine Tuliamuk (USA) 2:33:18 - $3,000
14. Emma Quaglia (ITA) 2:34:10
15. Serkalem Biset Abrha (ETH) 2:34:23
16. Askale Merachi (ETH) 2:36:38
17. Adriana Aparecida Da Silva (BRA) 2:37:22
18. Jessica Augusto (POR) 2:37:33
19. Belaynesh Fikadu (USA) 2:39:01
20. Laurie Knowles (USA) 2:40:09
Coverage Homepage
Post Race:
Men's Post-Race (coming soon) |
Women's Post-Race
| Complete Searchable Results
Race Day: As It Happens - Live Coverage
Pre-Race:
Men:
Men's Preview & Starter List
Women:
Women's Preview & Starter List
Head-to-Heads: Elite Athlete Past Matchups
Extras:
Pace Calculator/Pace Guide/Viewing |
Videos (Athletes/Archival/More...)
More News:
Press Releases |
News (other sources)
Featured Book/Movie:
Run For Your Life |
A Race Like No Other
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