For the fourth time in five years, world record-holding runner Mary Keitany sped past more than 50,000 other runners to win the women’s race at the New York City Marathon with a time of two hours, 22 minutes, and 48 seconds.
Thousands of spectators gathered to watch runners wind through all five boroughs as they completed the 26.2-mile course on Sunday. Keitany finished the race surrounded by nothing but open road, beating out Vivian Cheruiyot and Shalane Flanagan, who came in second and third, respectively, by more than three minutes. Keitany’s marathon time is the second fastest in history, reports The New York Times.
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“The course record was not on my mind,” Keitany told USA Today. “I was saying, okay, let me try to win. But I come to see that I missed by just 17 seconds. But it’s okay. For me, winning was very important.”
The Kenyan-born athlete holds records in the women-only London marathon and has held records for best half marathon time and best 10-mile time. She’s the winner of three London Marathons in 2012, 2016, and 2017. Keitany won the New York City Marathon in 2014, 2015, and 2016. She came in second last year to Flanagan, who finished third this year.
According to ESPN, Keitany joins Grete Waitz as the only women to win the New York City Marathon four times. She will have to win a few more times to beat Waitz’s record, though. Between 1978 and 1988, the Norwegian runner won the marathon nine times.
Keitany clearly had her eye on the prize. As fellow runners tried to keep up, Keitany dropped nearly a minute off her mile time in the second half of the race.
Next time we’re on a run, we know who we’ll be channeling to finish that final lap.