An American woman won the NYC Marathon for the first time in 40 years
Shalane Flanagan crossed the New York City Marathon finish line just a few minutes shy of two-and-a-half hours after she started.
It was fast enough to win the women's race portion of the annual competition, making the 36-year-old runner from Portland, Oregon the first American woman to bring home a victory in 40 years. The last time that happened was in 1977, when Miki Gorman won -- for the second year in a row -- with a time of 2:43:10.
Flanagan's win shut down a record-breaking moment for the women's race runner-up, Mary Keitany. A Keitany win would have made it four in a row for the Kenyan runner and defending champ, an honor that only a handful of NYC Marathon competitors can claim.
Only one other women's race runner -- Norway's Grete Waitz -- can claim that achievement, with five consecutive wins. Waitz is also the all-time great of the NYC Marathon, with more consecutive wins (5) and more overall wins (9) than any racer in any division.
Ethiopia's Mamitu Daska, who was running in the New York City Marathon for the first time, finished third, with a time of 2:28:08.
Flanagan's final time of 2:26:53 was almost a full minute ahead of Keitany's, who finished with 2:27:54. The two runners embraced at the finish line after it was all over... and then no doubt fled soon after for a dark, quiet bedroom and some well-earned rest.
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
