Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today presented Keys to the City to the first place winners in several categories of yesterday's 32nd New York City Marathon, including Tesfaye Jifar, 25, of Ethopia, and Margaret Okayo, 25, of Kenya, both of whom set new course records in the Men's and Women's categories respectively. The Mayor also presented Crystal Apples to the top New York City finishers, and congratulated everyone who participated in the 26.2-mile, five-borough course during a ceremony in the Blue Room in City Hall.

"I want to congratulate the winners of this year's New York City Marathon for their outstanding performances, especially Tesfaye Jifar and Margaret Okayo who both set new course records in the Men's and Women's categories," said Mayor Giuliani. "The dedication, determination and drive of these two fine athletes, as well as all the other 26,000 runners who competed yesterday, are to be admired and commended."

The Mayor added that, "the running of this year's Marathon gave the City a terrific opportunity to show itself off, and to demonstrate that New Yorkers will not be deterred from doing the things that they enjoy. The millions of spectators who lined the course was a great display of support for not only New York City but for this wonderful and thoroughly exciting annual five-borough race."

The Mayor today also offered special thanks to the New York Road Runners Club for organizing this year's Marathon.

Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia set a new course record in the Men's division by completing the race in 2 hours, 7 minutes and 43 seconds. He was awarded $80,000, a new car and an additional $50,000 for setting the new Men's course record. Margaret Okayo of Kenya set a new course record in the Women's division by completing the race in 2 hours, 24 minutes and 21 seconds. She was awarded $80,000, a new car and an additional $35,000 for setting the new course record for Women.

For the second straight year, the New York City Marathon and the Mayor recognized wheelchair participants. Saul Mendoza, 34, of Wimberley, Texas won the men's push rim wheelchair division with a time of 1 hour, 39 minutes, 25 seconds; while Francesca Porcellato, 31, of Valeggio, Italy finished in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 57 seconds.

The men's winner of the handcrank wheelchair division was Ziv Bar-Shira, 44, of Moshav Kidron, Israel who finished with a time of 1 hour, 27 minutes and 49 seconds. Helene A. Hines, 53, of Lido Beach, New York was the first woman to finish, with a time of 1 hour, 46 minutes and 22 seconds.

Each of the four winners in the wheelchair division were presented with Keys to the City by the Mayor

Mayor Giuliani presented a Crystal Apple to Brian Clas, 29, of Manhattan who finished 31st overall, to become the top New York City male finisher, with a time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, 30 seconds. Mayor Giuliani also presented a Crystal Apple to Gordon Bakoulis, 40, of Manhattan who finished 157th overall - and 17th for all women - to become the top female finisher from New York City with a time of 2 hours, 41 minutes and 43 seconds.

The race kicked off Sunday on the Staten Island side of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at 10:51AM, and ended in Central Park across from the Tavern on the Green. More than two million people were on hand to watch the Marathon, making it the world's largest spectator sporting event.

For thirty-two years the New York City Marathon has been an autumnal tradition in New York City. It is widely recognized as one of the premier international sporting events, attracting top runners from all over the globe. Over 100 nations and all 50 states in the Union were represented in yesterday's race, with another 80 million viewers watching during the worldwide broadcast.

On September 13, 1970, New York Road Runners Club President Vince Chiappetta and entrepreneur Fred Lebow staged the inaugural New York City Marathon in Central Park. The 127 runners, who each paid a $1 entry fee, raced four laps around the Park with no water stops. In 1976, a decision was made to create a five-borough marathon that would showcase the City's many and diverse neighborhoods.

Abdelkhader El Mouaziz of Morocco and Ludmila Petrova of Russia won the 2000 New York City Marathon in 2 hours, 10 minutes, and 9 seconds, and 2 hours, 25 minutes and 45 seconds, respectively.

www.nyc.gov