NEW YORK — Marblehead native Shalane Flanagan, who came close to winning the Boston Marathon three years ago, finally achieved her dream Sunday, upsetting and dethroning Mary Keitany to become the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon since 1977.
Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya won the men’s race, holding off countryman Wilson Kipsang by 3 seconds for his first major victory.
Keitany had won three straight New York marathons, but Flanagan pulled away from the Kenyan great with about three miles to go. Flanagan finished in 2 hours, 26 minutes, 53 seconds, about a minute faster than Keitany. The American cried and yelled as she approached the finish line all alone.
The last American woman to win New York was Miki Gorman, who won consecutive titles in 1976-77.
Flanagan finished second in New York for her first marathon in 2010 but hadn’t run this race since. After a fracture in her lower back kept her out of the Boston Marathon in the spring, Flanagan trained hard for New York with an eye on Keitany.
Flanagan, a Marblehead High graduate, was a three-time state champion while running track and cross country for the Magicians. She also won two national championships with the University of North Carolina.
In the 2008 summer Olympic games in Beijing, Flanagan came home with a bronze medal in the 10K. However, this past April, Flanagan was upgraded to the silver medal after Elvan Abeylegesse had her medal stripped as a result of a doping violation.
In 2013, after terrorists bombed the Boston Marathon, Flanagan was among the first to sign up for the race the following year, and led through most of it before fading after the Newton hills. She ran a year later, but did not in 2016 to prepare for the summer Olympics.
Kamworor ran the race in 2:10:53. He and Kipsang embraced just past the finish line to huge cheers.
American running great and 2009 New York winner Meb Keflezighi completed his 26th and final marathon, collapsing as he crossed the finish.