NEW YORK (AP) — Abdi Nageeye and Sheila Chepkirui used strong kicks in the final mile to pull away from their nearest competitors and both win the New York City Marathon for the first time Sunday.

Nageeye, who became the first runner from the Netherlands to win the men’s race, was step-for-step with 2022 champion Evans Chebet before using a burst of speed heading into Central Park for the final time to come away with the win in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 39 seconds. Chebet finished 6 seconds behind.

“When I was finishing, the emotions weren’t there in the moment, but I just couldn’t believe that I was going to win it,” Nageeye said. “I felt like I was dreaming. Most people didn’t even expect me to be in the top five, but I know what I am capable of. This was my race today.”

He had run the New York race three times before with his best finish coming in 2022, when he was third.

“I know the course,” said Nageeye, who won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. “Today was two things: survive that race and my race is after 36 (kilometers; 22 miles). I was thinking like a cyclist, survive 36K and you’re going to win.”

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Nageeye ran in the Paris Olympic marathon, but dropped out about 10 miles in after a hard collision with Kenyan Alexander Mutiso before the halfway point.

Chepkirui was running New York for the first time and pulled away from defending champion Hellen Obiri in the women’s race in the last stretch.

“Let me push the last mile, let me give it my best,” the Kenyan said. “When we were around 600 meters to go, I said to myself I have to push harder. When I saw Hellen wasn’t coming, I knew I was going to win and was so happy.”

Chepkirui, who started to run marathons in 2022, won in 2:24.35. Obiri finished nearly 15 seconds behind.

Obiri was looking to be the first consecutive champion since Mary Keitany of Kenya won three in a row from 2014-16. Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya finished third, giving the African nation the top three spots. It was the first time ever that Kenyans had swept the women’s medal positions.

Tamirat Tola, the men’s defending champion and Paris Olympic gold medalist, finished fourth, right behind Albert Korir.

“I had a good year,” Tola told The Associated Press through a translator. “I won the Olympics and then to come back to New York after that, you know it’s a tough course. I know that I expended a lot of energy. Around the 33-kilometer mark I felt my muscle tighten and my muscles just couldn’t handle it.”

Tola, who set the course record last year, was looking to be the first back-to-back men’s champion since Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won in 2011 and 2013. The 2012 race was canceled because of Superstorm Sandy.

The top Americans finished sixth in both races. Conner Mantz led the men and Sara Vaughn the women. Vaughn was in the lead group heading into Mile 20 when they entered the Bronx before she dropped off the lead pack.

Vaughn was geared up to run Chicago before COVID-19 kept her from competing in that race. She was a late addition to this marathon.

The day got started with an upset in the men’s wheelchair race as three-time defending champion Marcel Hug was beaten by Daniel Romanchuk, who also won in 2018 and 2019. Susannah Scaroni won the women’s wheelchair race. It was her second victory in New York, also taking the 2022 race and giving Americans winners in both events — the first time that has happened.

The 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) course took runners through all five boroughs of New York, starting in Staten Island and ending in Central Park. This is the 48th year the race has been in all five boroughs. Before that, the route was completely in Central Park when it began in 1970. The first race had only 55 finishers while more than 50,000 competed this year.

A few hours after the top runners finished, it was announced that the Sydney Marathon would become the seventh world major marathon, joining Berlin, Chicago, Boston, Tokyo, London and New York.

The weather was perfect to run in with temperatures in the lower 40s when the race started. Last year, it was 61 degrees when the race started.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports