In the last 50 meters of the New York City Marathon men’s race on Sunday, Alexander Mutiso Munyao was catching up to Benson Kipruto, and making one final surge as they approached the finish line. But ultimately, Kipruto edged him out, winning by just three-hundredths of a second.
While there may have never been a New York marathon that close, there have been some razor-tight finishes.
In 2005, Paul Tergat of Kenya won a desperate sprint against the defending champion, Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa, to win by one second. Ramaala’s lunge for the tape left him on the ground after crossing the line.
“It’s not nice,” Ramaala, said of the last yards. “You don’t enjoy it.”
In 1994, German Silva of Mexico was less than a mile from the finish when he turned into Central Park instead of heading to Columbus Circle. He took 12 strides the wrong way. “I saw the faces and I knew I had made a mistake,” he said. “I didn’t have to ask anybody.”
Silva turned around and managed to catch the other front-runner to win by a mere two seconds.
On the women’s side, the smallest margin is three seconds, which has happened twice: Paula Radcliffe in 2004 and Mary Keitany in 2014.
Victor Mather, who has been a reporter and editor at The Times for 25 years, covers sports and breaking news.
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