Editor's Note: The New York Road Runners put out this recent story detailing all of the facts and figures from this year's race. Take a look at the number of starters vs. the number of finishers. Pretty interesting that all but 266 runners completed the 2009 race.
The 40th ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 1, 2009 was a memorable and historic event with the first U.S. race champion since 1982 - Meb Keflezighi and the largest marathon field in the sport's history - 43,741 runners and 43,475 finishers (a 99.4% completion rate). Below is a summary of fast facts for the flagship marathon in 2009:
THE FIELD
All time high number of participants: 43,741 starters, 43,475 finishers
* Number of starters: 43,741
* Number of finishers: 43,475
* Largest number of marathon finishers in running history (previously
38,607 - at 2007 ING NYC Marathon; 4,868 more finishers than in 2007)
* Italy had the highest number of non-U.S. finishers: 3,093
* France was second with total finishers: 2,924
* Total countries represented: 110
* Total states represented: 50 plus DC, Puerto Rico and Guam
* Total finishers from the tri-state area: 12,661
* 102,486 people applied for the ING New York City Marathon 2009.
* Oldest Female Finisher: Yolande Marois, 84, 7:41:04
* Oldest Male Finisher: Peter Harangozo, 88, 7:53:02
PROFESSIONAL RACE SUMMARY
Winners
* Male Open race winner: Meb Keflezighi, USA, 2:09:15, personal record
* Female Open race winner: Derartu Tulu, Ethiopia, 2:28:52
* Male wheelchair race winner: Kurt Fearnley, Australia, 1:35:58
* Female wheelchair race winner: Edith Hunkeler, Switzerland, 1:58:15
* Male hand cycle race winner: Helene Hines, USA, 1:53:51
* Female hand cycle race winner: Dane Pilon, USA, 1:19:48
Achievements
* Meb Keflezighi became the first
U.S. man to win the race since Alberto Salazar three-peated in 1982.
Keflezighi has now finished in every podium position in New York:
champion (2009), runner-up (2004) and third (2005). The two-time
Olympian earned $200,000 in prize money and time bonuses.
* Derartu
Tulu became the first Ethiopian woman to win New York, and is the only
Olympic 10,000m gold medalist (male or female) to win here.
* Ludmila Petrova, 41, competed in her 9th ING NYC Marathon, taking her third podium finish.
* Even with the strongest men's fields ever in New York, six American
men finished in the top 10, the best U.S. finish at NYC since 1979.
* Professional women's field had 7 personal bests:
-Buzunesh Deba, Ethiopia, 2:35:54
-Serkalem Biset Abrha, Ethiopia, 2:37:20
-Desiree Ficker, Austin, TX, 2:39:30
-Catha Mullen, New York, NY, 2:43:13
-Christine Ramsey, Baltimore, MD, 2:44:37
-Hirut Mandefro, Ethiopia, 2:47:03
-Rebecca Yau, New York, NY, 2:51:22
* Professional men's field had 8 personal bests:
-Meb Keflezighi, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 2:09:15
-Jorge Torres, Boulder, CO, 2:13:00
-Nick Arciniaga, Rochester Hills, MI, 2:13:46
-Mike Sayenko, Bellevue, WA, 2:16:38
-Allen Wagner, Huntington Valley, PA, 2:17:49
-Max King, Bend, OR, 2:19:11
-Pat Tarpy, Providence, RI, 2:20:43
-Bryan Morseman, Addison, NY, 2:23:50
Athlete Payments
* Prize money totaled $800,000, the largest in race history.
Races within the Race Winners
* Alberto Salazar Award (top American finishers):
-Meb Keflezighi, 2:09:15
-Magdalena Lewy Boulet, 2:32:17
* Mayor's Cup Award: New York Fire Department (team scoring top 10 runners from each team)
* Foot Locker Five Borough Challenge: Allyson Hentel (Manhattan) 3:43:01
Other
* Abebe Bikila Award: Allan Steinfeld
* Lewis Rudin Award (top TFK Fund Raisers):
Male: Drew Swiss, bib 21803, 4:32:33, Armonk, NY
Female: Kathleen Olsen, bib 29612, 4:05:58, Port Washington, NY
CHARITY
* The race charities had over 6,700 runners raise more than $24 million dollars ($24 million - not a typo).
