NEW YORK CITY, November 03 — Abdi Nageeye bounced back from a disappointing DNF at the Olympics in August to come out on top in an intense final battle at the New York City Marathon. He pulled away from ’22 champ Evans Chebet in the closing moments to become the race’s first winner from the Netherlands. “Every day I was thinking about Paris,” he said of his motivation after stepping off the Olympic course late in the race.
There was little sense of urgency in the opening stages of this race on a comfortably brisk morning. The first 5K passed in a sluggish 15:59, which would translate to a finishing time roughly 10 minutes slower than the course record (2:04:58) that Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia set last year.
The pace gradually picked up — but only slightly — through 10K (31:27), 15K (46:54) and 20K (1:02:17). At halfway (1:05:33), 17 men were still in the lead pack, including ’21 Olympic silver medalist Nageeye, Kenya’s Chebet, newly crowned Olympic champion Tola, Olympic silver medalist Bashir Abdi of Belgium, ’21 NYC winner and ’23 runner-up Albert Korir of Kenya, 2-time winner Geoffrey Kamworor (’17 and ’19) of Kenya, Addisu Gobena of Ethiopia and Americans Conner Mantz and Clayton Young, training partners who finished 8th and 9th in Paris.
Coming off the Queensboro Bridge at about 16M, Chebet — who sandwiched his NYC win 2 years ago with victories in Boston in ’22 and ’23 — surged to the front. The pack strung out going up First Avenue in Manhattan, as Korir, Nageeye, Gobena, Tola, Korir, Kamworor and Wesley Kiptoo stuck to the quickened tempo. The 17th and 18th miles went by in 4:27 and 4:38, part of the fastest 5K segment of the day (14:09).
“I think I could have covered it and made it to mile 20 with that pack, but it was risky,” said Mantz. “So I held back and ran a pace I thought was conservative enough.”
In the 20th and 21st miles, Kiptoo and Korir lost contact and not long after that Tola drifted back. After covering the stretch from 30K to 35K in a brisk 14:23, Chebet, Nageeye and Kamworor had appeared to gain separation up front, but approaching 24M, Tola made a final bid to regain contact. He moved into 3rd ahead of the fading Kamworor.
At 40K (2:01:10), Nageeye and Chebet led Tola by 14 seconds and were set for a 2-man duel as they left the park for a brief section down Central Park South. Tola was unable to hold his position, however, and soon Korir rallied to pass him and move up to 3rd.
Reentering the park at Columbus Circle for the final 600-meter ascent to the finish line, Nageeye surged ahead. “I knew at the end I would have a little bit more in my tank,” said the Dutchman — who finished 4th here last year, 3rd in ’22 and 5th in ’21. He looked back a few times, just briefly enough to see that his lead was gradually growing. With 100m to go he waved to the crowd, covered his face in shock and then hit the tape in 2:07:39.
“I told myself, ‘You will never get it back,’” Nageeye, 35, said of overcoming his Olympic disappointment. “You can only do one thing: in less than 2 months, you can do something great.” Mission accomplished with the first World Marathon Majors title of his career — not to mention a $100,000 paycheck.
Chebet (2:07:45) took the runner-up spot, while Korir (2:08:00), Tola (2:08:12) and Kamworor (2:08:50) followed.
Mantz (2:09:00) finished 6th as the top American, one spot ahead of the fast-closing Young (2:09:21), while C.J. Albertson (2:10:57) rounded out the top 10 just 3 weeks after placing 7th in Chicago.
NYC MARATHON MEN’S RESULTS
(point-to-point)
1. Abdi Nageeye (Neth) 2:07:39 (1:05:35/1:02:04) ($100,000); 2. Evans Kiplagat (Ken) 2:07:45; 3. Albert Korir (Ken) 2:08:00; 4. Tamirat Tola (Eth) 2:08:12; 5. Geoffrey Kamworor (Ken) 2:08:50; 6. Conner Mantz (US) 2:09:00; 7. Clayton Young (US) 2:09:21; 8. Abel Kipchumba (Ken) 2:10:39; 9. Bashir Abdi (Bel) 2:10:39; 10. CJ Albertson (US) 2:10:57; 11. Ryan Ford (US) 2:11:08 PR; 12. Colin Bennie (US) 2:11:16; 13. Frank Lara (US) 2:11:21 PR;
14. Jonathan Mellor (GB) 2:11:22; 15. Rory Linkletter (Can) 2:11:45; 16. Wesley Kiptoo (Ken) 2:11:58; 17. Futsum Zienasellassie (US) 2:12:32; 18. Joel Reichow (US) 2:12:52; 19. Elkanah Kibet (US) 2:13:27; 20. Ryan Eiler (US) 2:13:36 PR; 21. Teshome Mekonen (US) 2:14:12; 22. Addisu Gobena (Eth) 2:14:49; 23. Callum Hawkins (GB) 2:15:12; 24. Josh Izewski (US) 2:16:58.