On Sunday, Meb Keflezighi will look to become the first American male to win back-to-back New York City Marathons since Alberto Salazar accomplished the feat in 1982.
2010 ING New York City Marathon: Meb Keflezighi Looking To Defend Title
The 2010 ING NYC Marathon, the largest marathon in the world, with nearly 44,000 finishers in 2009, begins at 8:30 A.M. ET Sunday morning with the wheelchair division; the professional women and men starting at 9:10 A.M. and 9:40 A.M., respectively. (Visit the official site for a complete list of starting times for the NYC marathon.)
The marathon race course begins at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge -- the first of five bridges runners will cross -- winds through Brooklyn, briefly passes through Queens, crosses into Manhattan (and down the thunderous First Avenue), dips a toe in the Bronx before coming back to Manhattan and turning into Central Park, where it finishes, 26.2 miles later.
The elite runners will do all of that in a little more than two hours -- Keflezighi won last year with a time of 2:09:15; Ethiopia’s Derartu Tulu won the women’s division in 2:28:52.
For their efforts, the winner from each division receives $130,000 (it’s bumped up to $200,000 if they are a repeat winner). Second place earns $65,000 and third gets $40,000.
If you can’t join the estimated 2 million people that line the streets of New York City on Sunday, the marathon will be broadcast live on NBC 4 in New York, beginning at 9 A.M. For the rest of the United States, Universal Sports will air the race live, while NBC will show a two-hour highlight show from 2-4 P.M. ET.
For a better idea of what the runners can expect (not including blisters, chafed nipples and inflamed hamstrings), allow the runners to detail the course:
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