A Last Competitive New York Marathon for Abdi Abdirahman Ali
The New York Marathon takes place on 4 March, and the world record for men is currently set at 2 hours and 4 minutes. It is run off a 5 kilometre route, which is followed by a marathon style interval. This year’s New York Marathon has the highest number of world records among all marathons; all eight marathons since 2008 have had at least one world record set in them. As of 2011, the world record is held by Yohan Blake, who set the mark in 2005 in 2:04; this time is four seconds faster than the previous record and the fastest competitive time for men since the year 2000. The world record has been bettered by Haile Gebrselassie, who beat Blake in 2:06 in 2009.
While the men may have the world record, the women have held it for many years and have never been beaten. Currently, the New York race records for women go to Mary Keitany (3:15:31) and Jacqueline Stokes (3:15.36). Since 1989, the fastest time for a woman in the race has been held by Nadezda Krstic (2:15:30), who broke the course record by over four minutes with her win in 2003. In fact, Krstic beat the men’s world record held by Blake by four seconds in the 2005 race, which caused Krstic’s coach and agent to tell the media that “Krstic is a professional athlete and not a professional coach.”
While this is a marathoning world record for men, Abdi Abdirahman Ali has broken the record for women in New York. Over the past two years, Abdi has improved her best performance in the race and she currently holds the fastest time for the women over the distance. Abdi is the only woman to break two hours for the marathon so far.
