Race Week Gallery

Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya and Irina Mikitenko of Germany, the World Marathon Majors champions for 2008-2009, were honored on November 2. Wanjiru won the Beijing Olympic marathon in 2008 after finishing second in London; this year, he won in course-record times in London and Chicago. Mikitenko won the London race in both 2008 and 2009, won in Berlin in 2008 in a course record, and was second in Chicago this year.
The champions! Meb Keflezighi (top, left) became the first American men's winner of the ING New York City Marathon since 1982, while Derartu Tulu (top, right) became the first Ethiopian winner of the women's race. Three-time defending champ Kurt Fearnley (bottom, left) of Australia added a fourth wheeler title to his résumé, while Edith Hunkeler (bottom, right) of Switzerland handily won her fifth. [Race Day Coverage]
Gary Muhrcke, who won the inaugural New York City Marathon in 1970 when the race had only 55 finishers, ran 3:46:25 this year at age 69, and declared: "The best thing was Meb--an American winning the race. That's great."
The Continental Airlines International Friendship Run is a festive, colorful event that celebrates running throughout the world and gives marathon participants a chance to complete a non-competitive, 2.5-mile shakeout starting at United Nations Plaza and ending at the marathon finish line in Central Park. [CAIFR Gallery]
Champions from around the world met the press on Friday. Back row, left to right: Four-time Boston Marathon winner Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot of Kenya, 2000 New York City Marathon champion Ludmila Petrova of Russia, ING New York City Marathon 2004 champ Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa, two-time Olympic gold medalist Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia, 2:04 marathoner James Kwambai of Kenya, and 2008 Healthy Kidney 10K winner Patrick Makau of Kenya. Front row: ING New York City Marathon 2008 women’s wheelchair third-place finisher Christine Dawes and three-time defending champ Kurt Fearnley, both of Australia.
Olympic gold medalist speed skater Dan Jansen (left) and former NHL hockey player Pat LaFontaine will run on Sunday for the ING Run for Something Better to support children’s fitness programs in NYC.
Christie Dawes (AUS) and Jorge Torres (USA) visited Mighty Milers school P.S. 38 in East Harlem on Friday, October 30.
Paula Radcliffe has won the ING New York City Marathon three times--more than any other woman except Grete Waitz, who amassed a near-inconceivable nine New York victories from 1978 to 1988. The two women appeared together at a news conference on Friday, two days before Radcliffe, the two-time defending champion, would try for her fourth victory--and possibly to accomplish something she has yet to achieve: a women's course record.
A team representing Shoe4Africa, a charity with the goal of building the first public hospital in Eldoret, Kenya (and the largest in sub-Saharan Africa), will run the ING New York City marathon on Sunday. Left to right: Shoe4Africa chairman and Emmy Award-winning actor Anthony Edwards (Dr. Mark Green on ER), Tony Award-winning actor Sarah Jones, two-time New York champion (1994, 1995) Tegla Loroupe of Kenya, and Shoe4Africa founder Toby Tanser. Supporters will donate one dollar for each mile that Edwards runs on Sunday. Judging by the speed at which he’s been seen training in Central Park recently, they'll each be donating $26.21.
Matthew Reeve, the son of actor Christopher Reeve and a member of the board of directors of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, will run the 2009 ING New York City Marathon wearing number 1275 in honor of the 1.275 million Americans currently living with spinal cord injury. He hopes to raise $26,000 individually; some 70 members of Team Reeve are also entered. Christopher Reeve died in 2004 from complications of his paralysis after a horse-jumping accident in 1995.
Friends from the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, geared up as soon as they received their official shirts at the ING New York City Marathon Health and Fitness Expo today. They came here together and vowed to return home with stories of their 26.2-mile journey on the streets of New York.
Olympian and kids’ running advocate Deena Kastor inspired children from NYRR youth programs and attendees at the Celebrate the Runners of the Future benefit on Wednesday night. Kids like Anagely spoke about the positive effects running has had on their lives, and guests were thrilled to meet the kids they’re supporting.
Professional runners and city school kids warmed up together before the annual Run with Champions, a competition for kids in NYRR’s youth programs. From left, Ethopian runner Derartu Tulu, American Nick Arciniaga and Kenyan Salina Kosgei.
New York City Council member Robert Jackson connected with kids in NYRR’s youth programs at the Run with Champions on Thursday, October 29 in Central Park. The ING New York City Marathon 2009 is Jackson’s third five-borough race.
British wheeler Shelly Woods met kids in NYRR’s Mighty Milers and Young Runners youth programs, then answered their questions as part of the Run with Champions in Central Park on Thursday, October 29.
Actor Edward Norton, Maasai warrior Samson Parashina, and Luca Belpietro, founder of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, will run Sunday’s ING New York City Marathon to benefit the East African Maasai community. Their team of 30 runners, including three Maasai warriors and various corporate sponsors, are running to raise funds and awareness to preserve the traditional Maasai way of life.
Marathon race director Mary Wittenberg joined NYC Department of Transportation First Deputy Commissioner Lori Ardito on Thursday in cutting a cake to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Queensboro Bridge, which marathoners cross from Queens into Manhattan at the race's 15-mile mark.
The American men's field is perhaps the strongest in New York City Marathon history. Left to right: Abdi Abdirahman, sixth here last year and fifth in 2005; Meb Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist and a two-time top-three New York finisher; Ryan Hall, the second-fastest American ever at 2:06:17 and the 2007 Olympic Trials winner in New York; Brian Sell, third in the 2007 Trials and 22nd in the Beijing Olympic Marathon; Jorge Torres, a 2008 Olympian at 10,000 meters who's won two national 8K championships in New York, and Jason Lehmkuhle, fifth in the 2007 Trials and eighth in New York last year. They'll be competing for the USA Marathon Championship.
Joan Benoit Samuelson, the 1984 Olympic Marathon gold medalist, will run the ING New York City Marathon 2009 a quarter-century after her victory in Los Angeles. At a news conference on Thursday, she said she'll run in a celebratory spirit but will still aim to break three hours. (Benoit Samuelson is still the second-fastest American woman in history by virtue of her 1985 winning time of 2:21:21 at the Chicago Marathon.)
The ceremonial painting of the marathon "blue line" took place at the finish line Thursday morning following a tribute to sponsors and NYC agencies. From left: NYC Sports Commissioner Ken Podziba, Bill Rudin of longtime sponsor The Rudin Family, NYC Commissioner of Parks & Recreation Adrian Benepe, race director Mary Wittenberg, ING vice president of brand sponsorship Scott Rolf, NYC Department of Transportation First Deputy Commissioner Lori Ardito, and NYPD Commanding Officer, Central Park Precinct, Philip Wishnia.The blue line following the 26.2-mile route will be painted tonight, using 65 gallons of paint.
As part of the celebration of the New York City Marathon's 40th running, NYRR named eight extraordinary champions as the Marathoners of the Decades. From left to right: Bill Rodgers (1970s), Grete Waitz (1980s), Tegla Loroupe and Gérman Silva (1990s), and Marilson Gomes dos Santos (2000s). Not pictured are Miki Gorman (1970s), Alberto Salazar (1980s), and Paula Radcliffe (2000s). The five pictured winners won the race 19 times altogether; adding the other three raises the total to 27.
Allan Steinfeld, former president and CEO of New York Road Runners, was taken by surprise at a Wednesday news conference when he was named the recipient of the 2009 Abebe Bikila Award, given to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the sport of distance running. When he was announced by nine-time New York champion Grete Waitz, Steinfeld was briefly speechless and then said, "I thought this award was for good athletes! I guess they couldn't find anyone else this year." This elicited shouts of "No!" from the assembled group of longtime running journalists.
Olympic medalist Jaouad Gharib of Morocco, Boston Marathon champion Salina Kosgei of Kenya, and 2:24 marathoner Yuri Kano of Japan are among the race’s top international entrants. They appeared at a news conference this morning, at which the withdrawal of Kenya’s Martin Lel from the race (due to injury) was also announced.
The 2009 Foot Locker Five Borough Challenge team met the press on Wednesday. These five working moms, one from each NYC borough, will run a “race within a race” on Sunday to inspire moms and marathoners everywhere. From left: Jessica Lebron, Bronx; Angela Gonzalez, Queens; Lisa Stavros DeFillipo, Staten Island; Magdalena Lewy Boulet, Olympian; Beth Segaloff, honorary member; Allyson Hentel-Koplin, Manhattan; Dorothy McPhee, Brooklyn.
Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil, the ING New York City Marathon defending men's champion, will go for his third win on Sunday. He'll face perhaps the strongest men's field in the race's history, but he's not intimidated. "I'm confident," he said at a news conference at Tavern on the Green on Tuesday. "I'm physically and mentally prepared."
Runners ran under a canopy of green and gold foliage at the Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff on Sunday, October 25. The race, which takes place one week before the ING New York City Marathon, "kicks-off" the week of events and activities leading up to the big race.