McFadden Places 2nd In NYC Marathon Women’s Wheelchair Division

University of Illinois alum Tatyana McFadden placed 2nd behind Switzerland’s Manuela Schar in the women’s wheelchair division of the New York City Marathon Sunday.

The Russian-born McFadden finished with a time of 1 hour, 51 minutes and 2 seconds, behind Schar’s first-place time of 1:48:09. The U of I’s Amanda McGrory placed third, with a time of 1:53:11.

On her Facebook page, McFadden congratulated Schar on her victory, and wrote that she’s “really proud” of her own performance, having come back from surgery for life-threatening blood clots in April.

McFadden’s second-place finish came after winning the NYC Marathon’s women’s wheelchair division four years in a row, including setting a new course record of 1:43:04 in 2015. Her finish time Sunday of 1:51:02 was her slowest since the first year she won the NYC Marathon, in 2013, crossing the finish line of 1:59:13.

2017 breaks McFadden’s string of wheelchair marathon “grand slams”, in which she won the Boston, London, Chicago and New York City Marathons. This year, McFadden only won the Chicago Marathon, finished fourth at Boston and did not compete in the London Marathon.

Switzerland’s Marcell Hug won the men’s wheelchair division, with a time of 1:37:21. The U of I’s Brian Siemann was the top American finisher, placing 12th with a time of 1:44:18. U of I Wheelchair Track Coach Adam Bleakney placed 18th at 1:54:52, followed by U of I student Christian Clemmons in 19th place at 1:58:36.

Also at the New York City Marathon, Shalane Flanagan became the first American woman to win the women’s division since 1977. Flanagan finished in 2 hours, 26 minutes, 53 seconds, about a minute faster than Kenya's Mary Keitany,  who won the last three New York marathons. 

Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya won the men's race, with a time of 2:10:53, holding off countryman Wilson Kipsang by three seconds for his first major victory.  Kamworor and Kipsang embraced just past the finish line to huge cheers.