New York Marathon 2014: Results, Top Runners and Finishing Times from Big Apple

On one of fall's chilliest days, participants from across the world braved the howling winds to circle the five boroughs during the 2014 New York City Marathon.

Despite an unseasonably brisk day, a record 50,881 runners started the race circumventing New York on Saturday. According to Brian Dalek of Runner's World, via ESPN.com, an impressive 50,564 people finished, making it the largest marathon field ever.

Through a 26.2-mile course that takes hours for even the top runners to complete, both the men's and women's winners captured first place by mere seconds.

On the men's side, Wilson Kipsang crossed the finish line seven seconds before Lelisa Desisa Benti. Mary Keitany edged out Jemima Sumgong by three ticks to lead all women. Here are the finishing times for the NYC Marathon's top runners:

Finish	Name	Time	Country
1	Wilson Kipsang	2:10:59	Kenya
2	Lelisa Desisa Benti	2:11:06	Ethiopia
3	Gebre Gebremariam	2:12:13	Ethiopia
4	Meb Keflezighi	2:13:18	United States
5	Stephen Kiprotich	2:13:25	Uganda
6	Geoffrey Mutai	2:13:44	Kenya
7	Masato Imai	2:14:36	Japan
8	Peter Cheruiyot Kirui	2:14:51	Kenya
9	Ryan Vail	2:51:08	United States
10	Nick Arciniaga	2:51:39	United States

Rank	Name	Time	Country
1	Mary Keitany	2:25:07	Kenya
2	Jemima Sumgong	2:25:10	Kenya
3	Sara Moreira	2:26:00	Portugal
4	Jelena Prokopcuka	2:26:15	Latvia
5	Desiree Linden	2:28:11	United States
6	Rkia El Moukim	2:28:12	Morocco
7	Firehiwot Dado	2:28:36	Ethiopia
8	Valeria Straneo	2:29:24	Italy
9	Buzunesh Deba	2:31:40	United States
10	Annie Bersagel	2:33:02	Norway

While this represented Kipsang's first foray into the world's grandest marathon, he had previously set records in Berlin and London. In contrast, his winning time of two hours, 10 minutes, 59 seconds represented New York's slowest winning time since 1995.

The wind slowed him down, but it couldn't stop the Kenyan from earning an unmatched feat, as the event's official Twitter page noted before he secured his latest victory over the weekend:

He, of course, wasn't the only person fighting Mother Nature. Keitany, who hadn't ran a marathon since 2012, captured her first win at the New York City Marathon after prior close calls. ESPN's Hannah Storm gave a descriptive synopsis of her path to the finish line:

An American woman has not won the NYC Marathon since Miki Gorman cemented back-to-back triumphs in 1976 and 1977, but they were represented on the leaderboard. Desiree Linden posted the best time of any American woman, earning a fifth-place finish at 2:28:11.

She described the challenges presented by the heavy wind to The Wall Street Journal's Sara Germano. "It changed the whole race because it was like racing to survive in that wind," Linden said, "and you just felt like you were being blown backwards the rest of the race."

Alex Goodlett/Getty Images

Those efforts from everyone involved were recognized. Per a Newsday report, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio commended everyone who endured the unpleasant conditions to participate in what is already a grueling event during a perfect day.

"To all the runners who fought hard to get to this day, like all New Yorkers, you're not going to let some cold or wind hold you back," he said.

Those men and women were not limited to experienced marathon runners hunting for glory and personal records. Runner's World's Megan Hetzel documented some finishing times from notable participants.

Somebody needs to tell former NFL running back Tiki Barber to step up his game, as Katrina Bowden (Cerie from 30 Rock) beat the old New York Giants star by nearly a full hour. Come on, Tiki; running used to be part of your job description.

All kidding aside, it's essential for everyone to take a step back and appreciate the accomplishment of running 26.2 miles. A record number of people decided to challenge themselves, and over 99 percent of them finished what they started.