2010 New York City Marathon: Schedule & Preview

The 2010 New York City Marathon is set for Sunday, November 7 with 37,000 participants expected. The NYC race is one of five World Marathon Majors-a series of prestigious races around the world. Like most urban marathons, the New York City Marathon features both professional runners who will be vying for lucrative prize money and personal prestige and amateur runners who are in just for the experience. The field is broken down to different age groups and divisions. Top finishers of each division will receive prizes of up to $130,000. In this article, I will preview the 2010 New York City Marathon and offer schedule information.

The NYC Marathon is one of the world's most attended marathon races. The event regularly draws big crowds of both runners and spectators. The 2010 New York City Marathon will be 41th edition of the popular competition. The starting line for the race is expected to be near Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on Staten Island. The marathon will conclude at Tavern on the Green in New York City's Central Park. The race's start times vary according to age groups and divisions. The first start time is 8:30 AM EST; the last start time is 10:40 AM EST.

Despite a strong presence of elite American runners in each edition of the New York City Marathon, foreign runners have dominated the event for the last 3 decades. As a matter of the fact, 2009 men's winner Meb Keflezighi was the first American to win either a men's or women's race since 1983. Keflezighi will be looking for a two-peat at the 2010 New York City Marathon. The Eritrea-born American is expected to be challenged by top international runners from Brazil, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Keflezighi's chief rivals are two-time winner Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil and Kenya's Martin Lel.

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On the women's side, the race is as open as it could be with several contenders having a shot at winning the coveted prize. As experience is the most important factor in performing well in the New York City Marathon, all recent winners of the race are favorites to win the competition. The event became even more open after 3-time winner Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain had to withdraw due to her pregnancy. This leaves this year's marathon a three-way contest between defending champion Derartu Tulu and former winners Jeļena Prokopčuka of Latvia & Kenya's Margaret Okayo.

My predictions for the 2010 New York City Marathon: Kenyan runners win both men's and women's races; defending champion Keflezighi finishes second. The event is set for Sunday November 7, and will be broadcast live by Universal Sports starting 9 AM EST. NBC Sports will show highlights of the race. The marathon will also be streamed live over the web for people who don't have cable TV.