Edna Kiplagat, 46, Takes Fourth at the NYC Marathon — 16 Years After Winning It
Sixteen years after she won New York, and at 46, Edna Kiplagat ran 2:25:42 on Sunday to finish fourth — one place off the podium, ahead of almost the entire elite field.
The women's podium on Sunday belonged to a sprint finish: Sheila Chepkirui in 2:24:36, Jess McClain one second ahead of Hellen Obiri for second. The performance just behind them may have been the day's most remarkable. Edna Kiplagat of Kenya finished fourth in 2:25:42 — at 46 years old.
Kiplagat is not a ceremonial entry. She won this race in 2010, which means the runner who took fourth on Sunday first conquered this course 16 years ago, before some of Sunday's spectators were born and when the woman who beat her, Chepkirui, was still years from her first New York title.
Marathon fields turn over fast: of the favorites named before this race, Sifan Hassan and Fiona O'Keeffe did not even start, withdrawing beforehand through sickness and surgery. Kiplagat, at an age when most elite marathoners are a decade retired, started, raced at the front end of one of the deepest women's fields in race history, and finished fourth.
Her time, 2:25:42, was 66 seconds behind the winner. In a sport that measures greatness in seconds, a 46-year-old champion finishing a minute behind a champion in her prime is not a farewell lap. It is a result.
