NEW YORK - (November 5, 2000) - Spectacular but unseasonably warm weather settled over New York four or five days before Marathon day 2000. At the start, however, it was 47 degrees and a cold northwest wind that Paul Pilkington, the first American said " ...was the windiest conditions I've ever run in," faced the runners as they climbed the first mile up the Verrazano Bridge. The lead pack of about 25 completed the two mile on the bridge in 9:58.

This lead pack stayed together until the ninth mile when Abdelkhader El Mouaziz of Morocco and 1996 Olympic Marathon champion Josiah Thugwane of South Africa opened a 10 meter gap with a 4:37 mile. They reached 15K in 45:08 after which they broke the field apart and at 10 miles their split was 48:21. Three fast miles opened a 23 second lead as Thugwane began to drop off the pace trailing Mouaziz by 23 seconds at the half way mark that the Moroccan Olympian reached in 1:03:08.

By 15 miles, the race was not with the other athletes in the 2000 marathon but with Juma Ikangaa's course record of 2:08:01 run in 1989. As Thugwane faded to 5th El Mouaziz had a 20 second lead on the Ikangaa's record and close to 350 meters on the rest of the filed. The Moroccan covered the 5 kilometers from 25K to 30K in an amazing 14:39 compared to Ikangaa's 15:02 over the same distance in 1989.

Then the tough course and the wind began to take its toll and El Mouaziz began to lose his race with Ikangaa. 15:51 from 30K to 35K put him 35 seconds behind the record and that race was over. Fortunately no one was close enough to mount a challenge and El Mouaziz cruised home in 2:10:09 to win, 2:21 ahead of Japhet Kosgei of Kenya.

"After my disappointing finish in the Olympic Marathon at Sydney (7th place) I went straight to the altitude center and resumed training," said El Mouaziz, the first Moroccan to win the race. "I felt the pace was too slow so I broke away early. I was confident I was going to win so at 18 miles I eased off a bit," he added.

Second place finisher Kosgei said, "I struggled like never before in the final miles. I knew I would not drop out and I just wanted to drag my body to the finish line." The winner of this year's Tokyo and Rotterdam marathons, this was the first marathon Kosgei has entered without winning.

On the women's side, Ludmila Petrova of Russia and 1998 champion Franca Fiacconi of Italy led the field out, joined by defending champion Adriana Fernandez of Mexico and several other runners. With only brief exceptions, the pack stayed together through 12 miles. At that point, the lead trio emerged--Petrova, Hellen Kimutai of Kenya and Yingjie Sun of China, with Fiacconi trailing and looking tired. The leaders passed the half-marathon in 1:12:38 a quick pace in the face of the strong northwest winds.

The trio remained together for the following miles, with Fiacconi dropping further back and Tegla Loroupe of Kenya, who had held back in the early miles, making a strong charge. Just past 19 miles, Yingjie dropped back, leaving Petrova and Kimutai to battle for first. Loroupe passed the fading Fiacconi, but was making no headway against Petrova and Kimutai. They stayed that way until beyond 22 miles, when Petrova started pushing the pace. At that point, Fiacconi, seemingly beaten just a few miles before, made a strong move, passing Loroupe and gaining on the leaders.

The Russian, however, was firmly in control, creating space between herself and Kimutai with every stride. Kimutai began to tire visibly, giving Fiacconi the opening she needed. Fiacconi swept into second place at the 25-mile mark, and closed the gap with Petrova slightly, but not enough. Petrova crossed the finish line in 2:25:45, a personal record and became the first Russian to win the New York City Marathon. Fiacconi crossed 18 seconds later, followed by Margaret Okayo of Kenya and the spent Kimutai.

Left off the Russian Olympic team, Petrova said, "My husband has not been much help. He made me care for the two kids and do woman's work. Lately he has done all the cooking and cleaning and allowed me to train! I'm extremely, extremely very, very happy to win because of the quality of the field."

The winners took home $65,000, a Pontiac Aztek automobile and Vespa scooter plus El Mouaziz also earned a $10,000 time bonus (sub 2:11) and Petrova got $25,000 (sub 2:26:00). Top Americans were Paul Pilkington, 42, of Roy, Utah who finished 19th in 2:23:33 and Gordon Bakoulis of New York City who placed 16th in 2:45:17 (provisional) and Suzi Morris, 43, of Encinitas, Calif. same time, 17th place.

31st New York City Marathon
New York City, NY, November 5, 2000

MEN
 1) Abdelkhader El Mouaziz (31) NIKE, MAR   2:10:09
 2) Japhet Kosgei (32) FILA, KEN        2:12:30
 3) Shem Kororia (28) FILA, KEN     2:12:33
 4) Elijah Korir (22) NIKE, KEN     2:13:00
 5) Abraham Assefa (28) ETH         2:13:16
 6) Josiah Thugwane (29) NIKE, RSA      2:15:25
 7) Yasuaki Yamamoto (28) ASICS, JPN    2:15:37
 8) Simon Bor (31) FILA, KEN            2:16:23
 9) Mathias Ntawurikura (36) RWA        2:16:26
10) John Kagwe (31) NIKE, KEN           2:17:02
11) Koji Shimizu (31) ASICS, JPN        2:18:55
12) Shadrack Hoff (27) ADI, RSA     2:18:57
13) Marco Orsi (28) ITA             2:20:09
14) German Silva (32) FILA, MEX     2:20:41
15) Joseph Mereng (29) NIKE, KEN        2:20:54
16) Benedict Kimondiu (22) KEN      2:21:27
17) Sam Ngatia (41) KEN             2:22:58
18) Chris Verbeeck (41) BEL         2:23:14
19) Paul Pilkington (42), Roy, UT       2:23:33
20) Fabien Manzanares (35) FRA      2:23:35

WOMEN
 1) Ludmila Petrova (32) SAUC, RUS        2:25:45
 2) Franca Fiacconi (35) ADI, ITA         2:26:03
 3) Margaret Okayo (24) FILA, KEN         2:26:36
 4) Hellen Kimutai (22) FILA, KEN         2:26:42
 5) Florence Barsosio (24) PUMA, KEN      2:27:00
 6) Tegla Loroupe (27) NIKE, KEN          2:29:35
 7) Yingjie Sun (21) NEWB, CHN            2:30:13
 8) Kerryn McCann (33) NIKE, AUS          2:30:39
 9) Esther Kiplagat (33) FILA, KEN        2:30:52
10) Yuko Arimori (33) ASICS, JPN          2:31:12
11) Hellen Kimaiyo (32) SAUC, KEN         2:32:11
12) Svetlana Zakharova (30) FILA, RUS     2:32:35
13) Adriana Fernandez (29) NIKE, MEX      2:35:20
14) Silvana Trampuz (34) FILA, AUS        2:37:02
15) Zofia Wieciorkowska (37) ADI, POL, CT   2:43:09
16) Gordon Bakoulis (39) MOVC, NYC, NY  2:45:17
17) Suzi Morris (43), Encinitas, CA       2:45:17
18) Dorian Meyer (40) NJ                  2:45:53
19) Kari Bertrand (30) NYAC, NY           2:47:45
20) Gillian Horovitz (45) MOVC, GBR, NY   2:48:17

Men's Age-Group Awards

Men's Age Group: 40 - 44
1 Sam Ngatia (41) KEN               2:22:58
2 Chris Verbeeck (41) BEL           2:23:14
3 Paul Pilkington (42) UT           2:23:33

Men's Age Group: 45 - 49
1 Jose Abrantes (45) POR            2:28:03
2 Andre Richard (46) BEL            2:35:45
3 Mario Rivas (45) WSX, NY          2:40:23

Men's Age Group: 50 - 54
1 Alan Oman (51) SRS, NY            2:44:50
2 Anders Risling (52) SWE           2:47:05
3 Klaus Urbschat (50) GER           2:47:12

Men's Age Group: 55 - 59
1 Luis-Antonio Flores (58) WSX, NY  3:07:07
2 Daniele Ruffilli (58) ITA         3:07:48
3 Andres Sanguino (56) VEN          3:08:02

Men's Age Group: 60 - 64
1 Andre Lacour (60) FRA             3:02:03
2 Manfred Claassen (60) GER         3:13:34

Men's Age Group: 65 - 69
1 Manuel Rosales (65) ESP           2:57:39
2 Epifanio Morales (65) APRC, NY    3:08:26

Men's Age Group: 70 - 74
1 Guenter Schulz (70) GER           3:49:25

Men's Age Group: 75 - 79
1 Lucien Thirion (76) FRA           4:45:41

Men's Age Group: 80 - 89
1 Toby Green (83) GBR               4:10:53

Women's Age-Group Awards

Women's Age Group: 40 - 44
1 Suzi Morris (43) CA               2:45:17
2 Dorian Meyer (40) NJ              2:45:53
3 Maryse Le-Gallo (40) FRA          2:53:55

Women's Age Group: 45 - 49
1 Gillian Horovitz (45) MOVC, NY    2:48:17
2 Kathy Kaiser (49) GBR             3:06:07
3 Marie Wickham (45) MCNY, NY       3:09:34

Women's Age Group: 50 - 54
1 Maria Morsiani (51) ITA           3:27:38
2 Melissa Kennedy (51) MRR, NY      3:28:37
3 Claudia Patrick (52) OK           3:29:38

Women's Age Group: 55 - 59
1 Inge Springer (56) GER            3:33:42
2 Marilyn Greeley (56) MILL, NY     3:38:06
3 Sue Lambert (59) GBR              3:39:49

Women's Age Group: 60 - 64
1 Anna Thornhill (60) WS, NY        3:25:39
2 Antonietta Motta (60) ITA         3:36:39

Women's Age Group: 65 - 69
1 Jutta Weiss (65) SUI              3:48:12
2 Ruth Craven (66) GBR              4:02:24

Women's Age Group: 70 - 74
1 Anna Salvador (71) FRA            5:06:18

Women's Age Group: 75 - 79
1 Pina Gurtner (75) SUI         4:56:14

For complete results, go to: http://www.nycmarathon.org

Special thanks to 
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Coordinator for providing us this press release.
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