Gebremariam wins NYC race in marathon debut

Marathoning's dichotomy again was on full display for the annual Running of the Humans through Gotham's five boroughs. An obese collection of skinny, fit people (45,344 filled Big Town's streets), its distance (26 miles, 385 yards) both celebrated human perseverance and broke the race's most accomplished athlete Sunday.

Even as a write-in candidate won the men's division of the 41st New York City Marathon - 26-year-old Ethiopian Gebre Gebremariam never had run a marathon before - the event's reigning world record-holder, 37-year-old Haile Gebreselassie of Ethiopia, dropped out after the 16th mile with an aching knee.

And there was no flabby prose from Gebrselassie afterward. "What this means," he said, "is it's better to stop here." He developed fluid on his right knee from tendinitis late last week, and he is hereby retired, he said, from a sport in which he has won more than 130 races, set 27 world records and earned two Olympic gold medals (at 10,000 meters).

All around him, the usual mix of uplifting achievement and sobering humility was at play. Amid the saturating energy and optimism flowing from the Verrazano Bridge start to the Central Park finish, tens of thousands met personal goals, Gebremariam among them with his 2:08:14 victory.

Gebremariam, theoretically undertrained with 70-mile weeks - roughly half what most elite marathoners cover - suddenly burst from the dwindling pack of leaders in the 22nd mile and steadily pulled away from Kenyans Emmanuel Mutai, 26, and Moses Kigen Kipkosgei, 27.

Farther back in Gebremariam's wake were former New York champions Meb Keflezighi, the 35-year-old American who won last year; Brazil's Marilson Gomes dos Santos, 33, who won in 2006 and 2008, and South Africa's Hendrick Ramaala, 38, the 2004 champ.

Keflezighi finished sixth in 2:11:38, Gomes seventh in 2:11:51 and Ramaala, like Gebrselassie, dropped out past the halfway mark. Even Gebremariam's wife, Weknesh Kidane, was done in by the marathon before it even started; preparing for her debut at the distance, Kidane had to withdraw because of lower leg pain before the race.

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"She prepared very well," Gebremariam said, "but it's, you know, life. Sometimes that happens. Maybe next year she'll come and she'll win, too."

Maybe. But the event's unpredictability regularly trumps any sort of predictive abilities. After a surprisingly strong showing by American men in last year's New York City Marathon, when the race was designated a national championship and six of the top 10 finishers were from the United States, Sunday was a slight step back for the Yanks.

After Keflezighi, the U.S. list had Dathan Ritzenhein eighth, Jorge Torres 11th, Tim Nelson 13th, Matt Downin 17th and Michael Cassidy 22nd.

"Once again," said race director Mary Wittenberg, "the theme is: You can't script sport. You can't want anything too much. You set the stage and let it play out."

Gebremariam, in fact, became the first man since 1980 to win New York in his marathon debut. American Alberto Salazar won in 1980.

In the staging tents before the race, the rookie Gebremariam asked veteran Keflezighi for advice.

"I said, 'Be patient of First Avenue, ' " Keflezighi said. Once there, as Gebremariam surged, he called to Keflezighi, "Come on, let's go, let's go."

Keflezighi was unable to find another gear. He shrugged. "Everyone's happy for Gebremariam," he said. "I mean, distance running is something you share. It's all about passing the knowledge."

Because the distance is the common enemy.