More than 50,000 runners will hit the streets from Staten Island to Central Park on Sunday for the TCS NYC Marathon. This year’s field includes 11 former champions, 13 Olympians and 19 Paralympians as well as some celebrities.
Here’s a look at five runners to watch — and then some.
Mary Keitany
Talk about a dynasty. The 37-year-old Kenyan is not only looking to defend her title but win the NYC Marathon for the fifth time in six years. Keitany (pictured above) already held the race’s women’s record (2:17:01), and her winning time last year (2:22:48) was the second fastest in the marathon’s 48-year history. The one year recently when she did not win it — 2017 — she finished second.
Des Linden
Two years ago, Shalane Flanagan ended the 40-year title drought for American women in New York. Linden hopes to make it two out of three for USA. The 36-year-old California native won in Boston in 2018 — becoming the first American woman to do so in 33 years — and she also has some second-place finishes in Boston and Chicago on her résumé. The two-time Olympian placed sixth in New York last year.
Sara Hall
Hall made a name for herself as a middle-distance runner — she has eight national titles, including the last three in the 10-mile. But in September, the 36-year-old Californian ran the sixth-fastest time ever by an American woman in a marathon — 2:22:16, which earned her a fifth-place finish in Berlin.
Lelisa Desisa
Desisa sprinted past fellow Ethiopian Shura Kitata to win the men’s division of last year’s NYC Marathon by two seconds. His time of 2:05:59 was the second fastest in event history. The 29-year-old is a two-time Boston Marathon champ and is a fixture on the podium in the Big Apple.
Jared Ward
Ward is trying to become the first American man to win in New York since Meb Keflezighi in 2009. The 2016 Olympian and Utah native just set a personal record by running 2:09:25 in Boston, good for eighth place. He finished sixth in NYC in 2018.
Fans of “Shark Tank” are probably well aware of Ward. The BYU statistics instructor and his colleagues recently pitched their MyoStorm massage therapy ball on the reality show.
Celebrities
Every year, marathon-goers can do a little stargazing, and this year’s race is no different. Celebrities slated to run include:
• Actress Uzo Aduba, best known for playing Crazy Eyes on “Orange is the New Black”
• “Bachlorette” stars Andi Dorfman and Tyler Cameron
• “Good Morning America” co-host Amy Robach
• “Catfish” host and producer Nev Schulman
• Giants great Tiki Barber
• “House of Cards” and “Boardwalk Empire” actor Paul Sparks
• Broadway star Christy Altomare
• NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth
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