Course record shattered at NYC marathon

The top three runners in the men’s race all broke the course record on Sunday at the ING New York City Marathon.

Winner Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya surged ahead of the pack somewhere around the 20-mile mark and finished in a blistering 2:05:06. (The previous record was Tesfaye Jifar’s 2:07:43, set in 2001.) Mutai takes home the $130,000 purse, plus an extra $60,000 for breaking the course record.

Second place finisher Emmanuel Mutai crossed the line at 2:06:28, giving him the World Marathon Majors title and the $500,000 first place prize. Both Mutai and third-place finisher Tsegaye Kebede (2:07:12) will also get the $60,000 prize for breaking the course record.

In the women’s race, front-runner Mary Keitany took a blistering early lead, and appeared on track to set a new course record for women. She lost momentum after the halfway mark, and eventual winner Firehiwot Dado passed her just after the 25-mile mark.

Dado finished the race in 2:23:15, but did not break the course record. Buzunesh Deba also passed Keitany to come in second, just four seconds back from Dado in 2:23:19. Keitany placed third in 2:23:38.

Paula Keating of Miramichi, N.B., was the top Canadian in 29th. There were no Canadian finishers in the men’s top 100.