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 Kipsang and Keitany both pulled away in the last Central Park
stretch, with Kipsang's victory bringing him a $600,000 payday as
the win also gave him the $500,000 World Marathon Majors bonus.
"Of course I was thinking about it," Kipsang said about the bonus.
"My only chance to win the jackpot was to win this race. I was
trying to apply all the tactics to make sure I would win."
With temperatures around 42 degrees Fahrenheit (6 Celsius) and wind
gusting to 40 miles per hour (64 kph), some 50,000 runners set off
in the world's largest marathon on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in
Staten Island.
Runners wore ski hats or head bands over their ears and some pulled
on sleeves or knee-high socks to deal with the elements that eased
during the course of the 26.2-mile (42.2 km) race.
Conditions led to deliberate, tactical races that did not see the
leading packs break up until after the 20-mile mark.
Kipsang, the London Marathon champion running the New York race for
the first time, ran shoulder to shoulder with Lelisa Desisa of
Ethiopia over the last few miles.
In the final half mile, Desisa snuck ahead of Kipsang, who turned on
a final burst to claim victory.
Kipsang crossed the finish line in two hours 10 minutes 55 seconds
to win the $100,000 first-place price and catapult past compatriot
Dennis Kimetto to win the massive bonus.
Desisa, the 2013 Boston Marathon winner, who said he felt discomfort
from missing a bathroom stop, faded at the last and finished 11
seconds behind Kipsang, with fellow Ethiopian Gebre Gebremariam, the
2010 New York champion, third in 2:12:13.
Keitany won an exhilarating duel with compatriot Jemima Sumgong to
claim the women's crown.
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The 2012 London Marathon winner, whose best New York showing was
third place in 2011, edged ahead of Sumgong in the last two miles of
the race that covers all five New York City boroughs.
Keitany, whose best New York showing was third place in 2011,
widened her lead at the end as she crossed the line in 2:25:07,
three seconds ahead of Sumgong in tying the closest women's finish
in the New York race.
The winner started her push at the 20-mile mark.
"I knew we still have only five miles to go. So I say let me push in
and dig in in order to be in good position," said Keitany.
Said Sumgong: "My target was to win, but it was Mary's day."
Portugal's marathon debutante Sara Moreira finished third in
2:26:00.
Tennis player Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who finished her season
last week ranked eighth in the world, completed her first marathon
in 3:26:33 while running for a charity that benefits youth runners.
(Editing by Frank Pingue)
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