NYC Half Marathon and Los Angeles Marathon

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The NYC Half Marathon took place Sunday in New York City. The race started in Central Park. Over on the west coast, the Los Angeles Marathon took place

So many elite American runners participated in the the NYC Half Marathon. Olympians Dathan Ritzenhein, Abdi Abdirahaman, Janet Bawcom and debuting in his first half marathon, Bernard Lagat. The half marathon started at 7:30 a.m. in Central Park. The temperature at the start was 30 degrees. With the temperature being so low, the men's and women's field went off slower then last year's pace.

Wilson Kispsang of Kenya won the men's race in 1:01:02. Daniele Meucci of Italy was second in 1:01:06 and American Ritzenhein was third in 1:01:10. US runners Leonard Korir was fourth (1:01:19), Jason Hartmann was ninth (1:01:52), Lagat finished 12th (1:02:33) and Abdirahaman was 15th in 1:03:20.

Caroline Rotich of Kenya won the women's race in 1:08:52, Diane Nukuri-Johnson of Burundi was second in 1:09:12 and Croatia's Lisa Stublic was third in 1:09:18. Top US finishers were Stephanie Rothstein Bruce with a 9th place finish in 1:10:53, Adriana Nelson in 11th (1:11:09), Janet Bawcom in 12th (1:11:13) and Serena Burla was 13th in 1:11:25.

Sterling Davis Photo

On the west coast, the Los Angeles Marathon was won by Aleksandra Duliba of Belarus in 2:26:08. The elite women's field started before the men. Duliba was the first to cross the finish line and earned $50,000 in the gender challenge. With her win, she set a Belarus national record. Coming in second was Ethiopia's Zemzem Ahmed in 2:30:33 and American Deena Kastor finished third in 2:32:38. Fellow Americans Colleen De Reuck was fifth in 2:41:23 and Joanna Zeiger sixth in 2:44:48.

Erick Mose of Kenya was the winner of the men's marathon in 2:09:43. Julius Keter of Kenya was second in 2:10:30 and Nicholas Chemlimo was third in 2:10:42. Nick Arciniaga was the first of two US finishers in 7th in 2:17:04 and Chris Chavez was 8th in 2:19:20.