Geoffrey Mutai, the fastest marathoner in history, to battle World and Olympic champ Stephen Kiprotich and Ryan and Meb at 2013 ING New York City Marathon
by LetsRun.com
September 19, 2013
The international field for the 2013 ING New York City Marathon was announced today in a press release by the New York Road Runners meaning with the exception of a late addition or subtraction the 2013 field is set as the American elites were announced in July.
The men’s race features 2012 Olympic and 2013 World champion Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda taking on the the fastest man in history, 2:03:02 man Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya. Mutai is also the Boston and New York course record holder and the reigning New York champion. 2:05:12 man Stanley Biwott who won the 2013 Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon on Saturday can’t be discounted either.
Leading the American charge is the most successful marathoner in recent years Meb Keflezighi (2004 silver, 2009 first in NYC) and the fastest American in history Ryan Hall (2:04:58 at 2011 Boston, 8 times under 2:10), both of whom will be looking for their first good marathon result in more than a year.
New York will be Keflezighi’s first marathon since finishing fourth at the 2012 Olympics as 2012 New York was cancelled and he pulled out of Boston with an injury. Hall will be looking to re-start his marathon career as hasn’t finished a marathon since January of 2012 when he was second to Meb at the US Olympic Trials, as he dropped out of the Olympics and then pulled out before starting the 2012 New York and 2013 Boston marathons when his training wasn’t going well.
Geoffrey Mutai setting the New York Course record in 2011
The field also includes LetsRun.com favorite ‘citizen runner’ Yuki Kawauchi of Japan as well as former Louisville runner and Boston marathon champ Wesley Korir of Kenya and the un-sponsored Jason Hartmann of the US, who has been fourth in Boston the last two years.
Quick take analysis and then the full field below.
Quick Take (QT) #1: Kiprotich vs Mutai is a great matchup people can relate to.
We figured Mutai would be returning to New York as the reigning champ almost always comes back. We hoped for Kiprotich’s arrival when we read a few weeks ago that he’d already begun training for another 2013 marathon after winning Worlds last month. New York was the most logical destination.
New York is a good fit for Kiprotich as he’s the king of non-rabbitted races and New York never has rabbits.
QT #2: How does New York compare to most competitive marathon in the world, London, in terms of depth?
Kiprotich with his 2:07:20 pb was the 10th fastest starter at London 2013 which featured seven sub-2:05 guys. In New York, which has two sub-2:05s, Kiprotich is seeded sixth based on times.
New York is rarely about times. While the field is certainly weaker up front in terms of depth of times, New York is always about having a balanced field with interesting stories. Like it or not, for the average American fan, Meb Keflezighi and Ryan Hall are a lot more interesting to have in the field than most 2:05 guys from Africa.
In that light, the official NYC press release boasted that the men’s and women’s field features “a total of 23 Olympians, representing 23 countries,” and then quoted Mary Wittenberg as saying, “This year’s international field, headlined by champions and World Marathon Majors title chasers, will celebrate the diversity of the Marathon, and in essence, the diversity of New York City.”
That vision is very marketable and New York does an admirable job of putting together a compelling story line.
QT #3: We do have one big question on the New York field, “Where are the Ethiopians?”
There’s not a single Ethiopian man in the men’s elite field? That is pretty surprising considering there are nine Ethiopian men under 2:07 this year. Hopefully, NY plans to add a few names to the field.
Figuring out where everyone is going is like a full time job. Let’s try to account for all nine of the sub-2:07 Ethiopian marathoners in 2013.
We know where three of them are racing. 2012 Dubai champ Ayale Absherho is in Chicago as is 2013 Rotterdam champ Tilahun Regassa. Getu Feleke (2:06:45 this year, 2:04:50 last year) is going to Amsterdam.
Lelisa Desisa and Tadesse Tola just ran Worlds and we guess might return to Dubai in February where they excelled last year (2:04:45 and 2:04:49 respectively). That’s five.
2013 London champ Tsegaye Kebede just finished fourth at Worlds. We wonder where he is going? He’s won Fukouka in the past. Anyone know if he’s going there? That’s six.
We have know idea where the following three might be going: Berhanu Shiferaw (2:04:48 this year), Endeshaw Shumi (2:04:52 this year) and Megersa Bacha (2:06:56). If you know about them or any of the nine, email us.
QT #4: The full field with their recent results included.
We certainly think it’s good that New York tries to tell stories. Their press release included the PRs and twitter handles of each athlete (if there is one). We believe the athlete’s key 2013 results are much more important than their twitter handle. As a result, we’ve added in key 2013 results for each entrant in the elite men’s field for the 2013 ING New York City marathon so you can’t start figuring out who is your favorite for the title. We’ve also added in the American entrants from July.
| 2013 ING New York City Elite Men’s Field | |||
| Elite Men | Marathon Personal Best | 2013 Highlights or Lowlights | |
| Geoffrey Mutai (KEN) | 2:04:15, Berlin, 2012 | Dropped out of London, 58:58 in Feb. 59:57 in August. | |
| Ryan Hall (USA) | 2:04:58 | @ryanhall3 | 29:16 at Peachtree, 29:44 at Beach to Beacon. 64:10 half in May |
| Stanley Biwott (KEN) | 2:05:12, Paris, 2012 | 58:56 in Feb, 8th in London (2:08:39), won Philly (59:36) last week | |
| Wesley Korir (KEN) | 2:06:13, Chicago, 2012 | @weskorir | 5th in Boston (2:12:30) |
| Peter Kirui (KEN) | 2:06:31, Frankfurt, 2011 | DNF in Otsu Marathon, 2:14:38 in Caen, 3rd at Peachtree in 28:11. | |
| Stephen Kiprotich (UGA) | 2:07:20, Enschede, 2011 | @stephenkiproti1 | 6th in London (2:08:05), Won Worlds in Moscow (2:09:51) |
| Yuki Kawauchi (JPN) | 2:08:14, Seoul, 2013 | Already run 7 marathons this year, one at 2:08:14, another at 2:08:15 and another at 2:10:00. | |
| Meb Keflezighi (USA) | 2:09:08 | @runmeb | 3 10ks between 28:57 and 28:38 on road, half marathon at 61:22 in June. |
| Masato Imai (JPN) | 2:10:29, Tokyo, 2013 | 19 year old was 11th in Tokyo marathon in 2:10:29 pb. | |
| Jason Hartmann (USA) | 2:11:06 | @JasonRHartmann | 4th in Boston in 2:12:12, 6th at New Haven 20k in 61:28 on 9/2. |
| Jeff Eggleston | 2:12:03 | @jde66leston | Two marathons at 2:14 this year including 2:14:23 for 13th at Worlds. |
| Ryan Vail (USA) | 2:11:45 | @ryanvail | 6th in 10,000 at USAs and 6th at USAs in xc. 17th at World XC where USA got silver |
| Daniele Meucci (ITA) | 2:13:49, Rome, 2010 | @MeucciDaniele | 2nd at NYC Hal fin March (61:06), 19th in Wchamp 10,000. |
| Bob Tahri (FRA) | Debut | @bobtahri | 2009 World Championship bronze medallist in steeple hasn’t steepled since 2009 but did run 3:32.73 in 1500 this year. Has 13:11 5000 pb from 2010 indoors. |
| Masters | |||
| José Manuel “Chema” Martinez (ESP) | 2:08:09, Rotterdam, 2003 | @chemitamartinez | 41 years old, 2:17:55 sb. |
More: Women’s Race: The Top Two Women’s Marathoners in the World, Priscah Jeptoo and Edna Kiplagat, To Clash At 2013 ING New York City Marathon – Kara Goucher Is Out With Injury
*MB: Discussion of New York City Marathon elite fields – Mutai vs. Kiprotich (plus Meb and Ryan) and Jeptoo vs. E. Kiplagat – No K. G
*MB: Kara Goucher OUT of 2013 New York City Marathon
*NYRR Press Release on 2013 International Field for 2013 ING New York City Marathon.
*July Press Release: Americans Meb Keflezighi, Ryan Hall, and Kara Goucher Running 2013 ING New York City Marathon
*LRC Vault: 2011 ING New York City Marathon Men’s Race Recap: Geoffrey Mutai Caps Year In Style -Sets 2:05:06 course record