48th NYC Marathon Winds Through The 5 Boroughs

NEW YORK (AP/WCBS 880) — Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia has won the New York City Marathon, holding off countryman Shura Kitata by 1.99 seconds.

Desisa finished in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 59 seconds. Last year’s winner, Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya, finished third.

Mary Keitany of Kenya became the second woman to win the marathon four times, beating countrywoman Vivian Cheruiyot by 3 minutes, 13 seconds.

Keitany ran the race in 2:22:48, the second fastest in history. Margaret Okayo of Kenya holds the record of 2:22:31, which was set in 2003.

The victory was Keitany’s fourth in New York in the last five years. She won in 2014, 2015 and 2016 before coming in second last year to American Shalane Flanagan. Keitany joined Grete Waitz as the only women to win the marathon four times. Waitz, a Norwegian, won the marathon nine times between 1978-1988.

Flanagan finished third.

More than 50,000 runners began their 26.2-mile journey across the five boroughs on a sunny Sunday morning as part of the 47th New York City Marathon.

They trained in darkness and rain, and through pain, for this day, which starts on Staten Island, winding through Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx, before ending back in Central Park.

2018 New York City Marathon in Photos

Thousands cheered from the sidelines as the runners — among them professional athletes, celebrities and every day Joes — hit the pavement.

Women’s marathon running is having its own #MeToo movement this year, with all eyes on the women’s race Sunday as Shalane Flanagan and Desiree Linden compete in a strong U.S. women’s elite field.

A 70-year-old runner from Cleveland is proving age is just a number, and a Brooklyn woman who was told she was too overweight to run a marathon is proving the naysayers wrong.

Neil A. Carousso produced the “TCS NYC Marathon in 88 Seconds” video and multi-media coverage of the 2018 TCS New York City Marathon for WCBS Newsradio 880.

(© 2018 WCBS 880. The Associated Press contributed to this report)