Mary Keitany Going for Repeat at New York City Marathon
Laura Thweatt leads the American field.
Mary Keitany of Kenya, the 2014 New York City Marathon champion, will be back to defend her title at the 2015 race on Nov. 1, organizers announced Wednesday.
Keitany will be joined by fellow Kenyans Caroline Rotich (this year’s Boston Marathon champion), Sally Kipyego (an Olympic silver medalist in the 10,000m making her marathon debut) and Priscah Jeptoo (the 2013 New York City Marathon champion). Ethiopia will be well-represented, too—Aselefech Mergia and Buzunesh Deba have both clocked sub-2:20 marathons, and Tigist Tufa won the London Marathon earlier this year.
The American field includes Laura Thweatt, who’s making her marathon debut and recently coming off a victory in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon. The 26-year-old also won the U.S. cross country national championship earlier this year.
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Other Americans in the field include Kaci Lickteig and 18-year-old Alana Hadley, who’s run a 2:38 marathon and will compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials marathon in Los Angeles next February.
Earlier this week, the New York City Marathon announced their elite men’s field, which included Americans Meb Keflezighi and Nick Arciniaga, defending champion Wilson Kipsang and reigning Boston Marathon champion Lelisa Desisa.
The New York City Marathon, the largest marathon in the world, starts in Staten Island and touches all five of the city’s boroughs before finishing in Manhattan’s Central Park. The race will be televised live on ESPN2.