Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel set the fastest time ever for an American in the New York City Marathon on Sunday, breaking the previous course record by more than a minute.
Then, just over an hour later, she revealed that she had done it with two broken ribs.
“It started to hurt later in the race, like really strong,” said Seidel. “But I didn’t feel like it was ruining my stride or anything. I did everything with what God gave me today. I think I made the most of the time. situation I was in. “
NYC MARATHON: Kenyans win men’s and women’s races
Seidel, 27, declined to elaborate on how she suffered the injury, but said it happened about a month ago. And until two weeks before Sunday’s race, she said she was so uncomfortable that she considered withdrawing from the event altogether.
After what she described as “candid” conversations with her trainer and agent, the Wisconsin native felt healthy enough to give it a go. She thanked a team of physiotherapists for helping with her recovery and said she was grateful to have sustained the injury so long before the race.
“(The broken ribs) definitely hampered the training a bit, but it was manageable for the race,” said Seidel.
“There’s not much you can do with it. You just wait for it to heal. Luckily, it happened quite a long way from the race – it was about a month – so it gave me the time to heal. “
Seidel ended up not only running and finishing the race – which was only the fourth marathon she has ever run – but also a fourth place with a time of 2:24:42.
The previous course record was held by Kara Goucher, who finished in 2h25’53 “in 2008.
“I actually didn’t know until I crossed the line that this was what happened,” Seidel said of the US record. “I’m incredibly honored. There are so many good women who have run on this course. I think it’s really a testament to the women who have been on this race that I was able to kind of hang on. to that group. Obviously I fell off the main pack, but I kind of kept pushing. “
Peres Jepchirchir ended up tearing himself apart to win Sunday’s race, which marked the 50th edition of the New York City Marathon. Jepchirchir and Seidel both finished on the podium at the recent Summer Olympics in Tokyo, with the Kenyan winning gold and the American taking bronze.
Seidel said one of the reasons she chose to compete in New York, despite her injury, was the promise of being able to celebrate the result with her family members, who had to watch her Olympic performance from home in because of the COVID-19 protocols at the Games.
A reporter asked Seidel how she plans to celebrate.
“Oh my God,” she said, “I hope there’s a beer waiting for me at the hotel.”
Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.