Joyciline Jepkosgei, 26, won the New York Marathon in a stunning debut, setting a time of 2:22:38. Jepkosgei pulled ahead of defending champion Mary Keitany seven kilometres to the finishing line. Keitany, who is also Kenyan, came second at 2:23:32. Ethiopian Ruti Aga came in third at 2:25:51.
The race held as a battle amongst Jepkosgei, Keitany and Aga through the halfway mark as American Desiree Linden lost pace with them. Just before the 32km mark, Aga fell off and the battle for the win remained between Jepkosgei and Keitany. Jepkosgei increased her pace to hit the 40km mark at 2.15.19, with Keitany crossing the mark 25 seconds later and Aga crossing at 2.17.34.
Had Keitany won the marathon, it would have been her fifth New York City Marathon win. She had hoped to set the record this year. She set a new world record for the London Marathon in 2017 (2.17.01).
Jepkosgei has previously only competed in races ranging from 10 kilometres to half marathons. She is the previous half marathon world record holder with her personal best of 64:51 minutes and the record holder in the 10 km with 29:43 minutes. The New York Marathon was her first marathon.
Header Image Credit: IAAF