Race day forecasts ahead of Sunday’s New York City Marathon are calling for near perfect weather: sunny skies with a 10AM temperature of 45 degrees, dew point of 33, and light 4-6 mph winds from the north-northeast. By noon, the temperature will rise to 49, dew point will remain at 33 and the wind will drop to 3-4 mph. The cool temperature and very low dew point are near perfect, as is the light wind, save that 18 of NYC’s 26.2 miles trend into the expected north or northeast winds. The final 6 miles would have a tailwind so give it a 9 on a scale of 10 for marathon weather—and very similar to the weather when Geoffrey Mutai ran his amazing 2:05:06 course record.
With a field that includes Kenyans Geoffrey Kamworor and Daniel Wanjiru, and the Ethiopian trio of Tamirat Tola, Lelisa Desisa, Shura Kitata, Mutai’s venerable record might be in play. Defending champion Kamworor seems best positioned to challenge Mutai’s mark as he trains with Eliud Kipchoge who successfully ran down the World Record a few weeks ago. Kamworor, who ran 13:01 for 5K at the close of his IAAF World Half victory in Valencia in March, also seems well equipped to match Mutai’s spectacular running that closed out the final 10K of his NYCM triumph in 28:44. Only time will tell, but in the meantime check out the map, check out NYC’s rolling course topography and track Mutai’s course record, mile by mile.
With sub 2:19 Kenyans Mary Keitany and Vivian Cheruiyot racing Sunday, Margaret Okayo’s 15-year-old women’s course record of 2:22:31 might also be challenged.
