TCS NYC Marathon returns to full capacity; Chebet, Lokedi win men's, women's races
The 2022 marathon is the biggest since the start of the pandemic with more than 50,000 runners from 150 countries
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- From the Verrazzano Bridge to Central Park, tens of thousands of runners have hit the pavement for the TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday.
Participants were still crossing the finish line 14 hours later in Central Park -- giving it everything they have.
The wheelchair and handcycle division athletes were first to embark on the marathon journey before the professional runners hit the pavement.
Rookie Sharon Lokedi of Kenya won the women's race in her first-ever marathon.
She finished in 2 hours, 23 minutes and 23 seconds - just ahead of Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel. The 28-year-old Lokedi was in a tight race before she pulled ahead of Chemtai Salpeter in the final two miles to win by seven seconds and finish about 50 seconds off the course record.
Evans Chebet of Kenya had a comfortable lead in the men's race before coming in first across the finish line at 2:08:41.
Chebet, 33, pulled away from the pack chasing Daniel Do Nascimento as they headed over the bridge into Manhattan for the first time.
There was a scary moment in the men's race when Do Nascimento, who had been leading the entire way, collapsed 21 miles in. Race officials said later that he was OK.
After Do Nascimento's collapse, Chebet took the lead and never was threatened the rest of the way. Chebet won the Boston Marathon earlier this year.
Chebet saw Do Nascimento on the ground and said he "felt bad for him, but had to continue to race."
"He knew that it was hot and humid and (Do Nascimento) was going at a high pace," Chebet said through a translator. "He has a lot of experience and he knew he was going to surpass him."
History was made early on when Marcel Hug set a new course record for the men's wheelchair race in 1 hour, 25 minutes and 26 seconds
The 36-year-old Hug, nicknamed the "The Silver Bullet," has been on quite a streak, winning four gold medals at the Tokyo Paralympics last year as well as the Tokyo, Berlin, London and Chicago Marathons in 2022.
And Susannah Scaroni also set a new record as she won the women's wheelchair race, finishing in 1:42.43. That was 21 seconds better than the old mark, which was held by Tatyana McFadden.
Scaroni, a 31-year-old from Illinois, pulled away from the field early and also earned the bonus money for topping the course record. She beat runner-up Manuela Schar of Switzerland by 2 1/2 minutes, and last year's winner, Madison de Rozario of Australia, finished third.
The warm weather wasn't ideal for the 50,000 runners who started the 51st edition of the marathon, which was back to full capacity for the first time since the pandemic. Race organizers said that there were nine misting stations on the 26.2 mile race course and there was plenty of water available along the way as well as bananas and energy gels.
The unseasonably warm day, with temperatures in the 70s, made it one of the hottest in race history since the marathon was moved to November in 1986.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
RELATED: More coverage of the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon
HOW TO WATCH THE TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHON
Marathon Day in New York is coming up November 6th! The TCS New York City Marathon will be broadcast to more than 530 million homes around the world, with a Spanish language broadcast being produced nationwide for the first time by ESPN.
WABC-TV and ESPN2 have been home to the award-winning broadcast of the world's largest marathon since 2013.
It will be the first Spanish-language broadcast of any marathon to air on ESPN Deportes, airing live on ESPN3 and the App from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and then will re-air on ESPN Deportes from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. EST.
Joining the talent team for this year's domestic broadcast will be five-time TCS New York City Marathon champion and 13-time Paralympic medalist Kurt Fearnley and running reporter Chris Chavez. Fearnley will be in the broadcast booth as a race analyst for all four professional divisions, and Chavez will make his broadcast debut on the men's moto. John Anderson, Lewis Johnson, three-time Olympian and former American record-holder Deena Kastor, Sage Steele, and Olympian Carrie Tollefson will round out the national talent.
The group will be joined by a talented array of reporters at the start, finish, along the course, and in the sky, including ABC7's Eyewitness News reporters Ryan Field, Sam Ryan, Anthony Johnson, Kemberly Richardson, Michelle Charlesworth, Lee Goldberg, Brittany Bell, and Josh Einiger.
The broadcast, produced in coordination with 45 Live and distributed by IMG, will air on ABC7/WABC-TV and ESPN2 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST. Pre-race coverage from Fort Wadsworth begins at 7:00 a.m. EST.
The race will also stream live on the ESPN App nationally from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST.
Pre-race and continuing coverage will also be streamed live nationally on ESPN3 (accessible on the ESPN App and ESPN.com) from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ESPN3 will present a view of the finish line from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST.
A two-hour encore presentation of the race broadcast will air on ABC affiliates around the country from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST.
The international broadcast will include three-time TCS New York City Marathon champion and four-time British Olympian Paula Radcliffe providing race analysis, alongside veteran track and field commentator Paul Swangard.
International broadcast partners secured by IMG for the race include: FloSports (Australia, Canada, United Kingdom), ESPN Brasil (Brazil), SMG Sports (China), Eurosport (Pan Europe, Pan Asia, India), L'Equipe (France), RAI (Italy), TV Asahi (Japan), Sky Mexico (Mexico), NOS (Netherlands), Sky (New Zealand), SuperSport (Sub-Saharan Africa), ESPN International (South America), and TVE and TV3 (Spain).
