The 2015 TCS New York City Marathon is in the books, and the consensus is that it rocked. The day featured near-ideal weather, new records, inspiring American performances, a new 1.8-mile race for kids, and Spike Lee—the quintessential New York sports fan—serving as Grand Marshal. Race director Peter Ciaccia exhorted the approximately 50,000 runners to “have fun at New York’s biggest block party.”
On a weekend when the city also hosted the World Series and countless Halloween happenings, that was a pretty bold statement. But the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon lived up to it.
The race crowned four champions: runners Mary Keitany—defending her 2014 title—and Stanley Biwott, both of Kenya, and wheelchair athletes Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa and two-time defending champ Tatyana McFadden, who broke the course record. Meb Keflezighi set an American masters record and his compatriot Laura Thweatt cracked the top 10 in her marathon debut.
The top finishers—along with Lee and Ciaccia, who cruised the course in a souped-up vintage pace car—led the field through 26.2 miles of spectator-lined NYC streets. Both runners and supporters—including some 10,000 race-day volunteers—appreciated the mild, slightly breezy conditions, which were a welcome contrast to last year’s gusty winds and chilly temps.
“Much better than last year, in every way,” said Chris Dawes of New York and the Dashing Whippets Running Team. “It was actually fun because we weren’t fighting the weather.”
Out-of-towners were blown away by NYC’s enthusiastic spectators. “The crowds never stopped cheering the whole way,” said Scott Cale of Iowa. “I kept pushing even when I was struggling—I didn’t want to let them down,”
Also buoyed by the support was NYRR president and CEO Michael Capiraso, who completed his 24th New York City Marathon in 3:54:05.
Before the race, hundreds of schoolchildren ran the last 1.8 miles of the course in the inaugural NYRR Youth Invitational and crossed the TCS New York City Marathon finish line. The event was part of the WABC-TV, Channel 7, television broadcast. By Gordon Bakoulis -