Keitany aims to become only the second athlete to win four consecutive New York City Marathon titles and her form in 2017 indicates its unlikely anyone will topple her off the podium. If the Kenyan achieves the honour she joins Norwegian great Grete Waitz with the honour in the Big Apple.

The 35-year-old set a fantastic personal best earlier this year to win the London Marathon in 2:17:01, and more recently in September, she won a third title at the Great North Run clocking 1:05:59. Keitany’s dominant victory in the half marathon showed her preparations have not faltered and will look to carry that momentum into Sunday’ race.

While Keitany is the strong favourite the leading challenge will come from compatriot Edna Kiplagat, who won the Boston Marathon this year in 2:21:52.

This summer the 38-year-old, who has a personal best of 2:19:50, won marathon silver at the World Championships in London clocking 2:27:18.

Keitany has also outlined that well as a fourth win, the course record on the rolling route which stands at 2:22:31, is a target.

Other leading entries in the women’s race include USA’s Shalane Flanagan, Betsy Saina of Kenya, Ethiopian Mamitu Daska and Jessica Augusto of Portugal.

Eritrean Ghebreslassie became the youngest men’s champion in the history of the New York City Marathon when he broke the tape at in 2:07:51 at 20 years and 358 days last year.

It was the third-fastest winning time in the history of the race, and a similar or better performance will be needed on Sunday if he is to retain his crown.

The 21-year-old, who won the world title in 2015 and finished fourth at Rio Olympics in 2016, hasn’t been in stellar form this year, clocking a best 2:09:57 at the London Marathon to finish sixth.

In New York, he faces 2014 champion Wilson Kipsang, who has a personal best of 2:03:13 set in Berlin last year.

At this year’s edition of the Berlin Marathon – billed as the showdown with Kenenisa Bekele and Eliud Kipchoge, the 35-year-old dropped out at 30km, but he feeling confident ahead of New York saying: “My training was excellent before Berlin, but I had a bad day there. Now, I am very happy and thankful I was given a chance to use my training effort in New York City and will try to win there as I did three years ago.”

Also aiming for honours are Ethiopian duo Lemi Berhanu and Lelisa Desisa, with bests of 2:04:33 and 2:04:45 respectively, and Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor, a two time World Half Marathon and World Cross Country champion. The 24-year-old has a 2:06:12 personal best over 26.2 miles.

Another worthy mention is American marathon great Meb Keflezighi will make his last career appearance over 26.2 miles.

The New York champion in 2009 and Boston champion in 2014 will be racing his 26th career marathon and 10th New York City Marathon. When the 42-year-old crosses the line on Sunday he will also set a new record for the most appearance in the elite division of the race.

In the elite wheelchair race, Marcel Hug of Switzerland and USA’s Tatyana McFadden aim to defend their titles. British interest comes with Jade Jones the women’s race and Simon Lawson and John Smith in the men’s. Richard Whitehead, the 200m Paralympic and world champion, also makes a return to the marathon for the first time in three years.

The weekend’s action get’s underway on Saturday with the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K which incorporates the USA Track & Field 5K Championships, and following the terrorist attack on Tuesday that killed eight in New York, race organisers released a statement to say they were “monitoring the situation closely with our city, state and federal agency partners”, to ensure the safety and security of runners and spectators, staff and volunteers, but the marathon and weekend of events will go ahead.

Leading entries in the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K/USA Track & Field 5K Championships include Molly Huddle and Abbey D’Agostino in the women’s field and Paul Chelimo and Ben True in the men’s.

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Ghebreslassie, the 21-year-old from Eritrea, became the youngest men’s winner in the history of the New York City Marathon, breaking the tape in 2:07:51 last year. He posted the third-fastest winning time in history and was the first Eritrean winner.

In 2015, he became the youngest winner in World Championships marathon history, and his gold medal was Eritrea’s first ever at the event. He was also fourth in the marathon at Rio 2016 Olympics. At the London Marathon last year he set his personal-best of 2:07:46 for a fourth place finish.

“I’m proud to return to New York to defend my title,” Ghebreslassie said. “The crowds along the course are fresh in my memory, and I will work hard to do well again this year.”

New York Marathon History
The first New York City Marathon, was organised in 1970 by Fred Lebow and Vince Chiappetta, and was ran entirely in Central Park. Of 127 entrants, only 55 men finished; the sole female entrant dropped out due to illness. The entry fee was $1 and the total event budget was $1,000.

Kenyan Keitany, has won the race for the last three years, including a dominating performance last year in which she surged ahead fourteen miles in to finish the course on a solo run in 2:24:26.

Her 3:34 margin of victory was the greatest in the women’s race since 1980, and she became the first able-bodied runner since Grete Waitz to win the event three years in a row.

This year, she won her third career London Marathon in April, breaking the women’s only marathon record in a blistering time of 2:17:01.

They will join the previously announced American field that includes Shalane Flanagan and  Meb Keflezighi, who races his 26th and final career marathon.

Flanagan, who recently received her 2008 Olympic medal upgrade, is the second-fastest U.S. female marathoner of all-time and a four-time Olympian. In 2010, she finished as the runner-up at the New York City Marathon, the best finish by an American woman in 27 years.

“Seven years ago, I started my marathon career on the streets of New York City,” Flanagan said. “It was one of the most thrilling experiences in my career, so I’m beyond excited to be returning this fall to where it all began. New York has always had an abundance of top competition. and I look forward to testing myself against the best in the world once again.”

Keflezighi, a four-time Olympian who will be racing the New York City Marathon for the 11th time, his 26th and final professional career marathon. In 2009, Keflezighi became the first American in 27 years to win the New York City Marathon, and five years later he was victorious at the Boston Marathon.

New York Marathon History
In 2004, world record-holder Paula Radcliffe won the women’s race by three seconds over Kenya’s Susan Chepkemei in the closest women’s finish in race history.

Back to the men’s international field, it also includes Lemi Berhanu, the 22-year-old from Ethiopia won the Boston Marathon in 2016 and has a personal best of 2:04:33. He has the fastest personal best in the field.

Lelisa Desisa, also from Ethiopia, finished second in New York in 2014 and third in 2015 before failing to finish last year. The two-time Boston Marathon champion owns a personal best of 2:04:45 from the 2013 Dubai Marathon.

Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya also returns. The 24-year-old was the runner-up in 2015 and is a four-time world champion, twice in cross-country and twice in the half-marathon. His personal-best time of 2:06:12 came from his marathon debut in 2012 when he finished third at the Berlin Marathon.

The women’s field will include Kenyan duo Edna Kiplagat and Betsy Saina. The 37-year old Kiplagat owns titles from the 2010 New York City Marathon, 2014 London Marathon and 2017 Boston Marathon. She is a three-time World Championship medallist, most recently taking silver at the World Championships in London.

Saina, 29, finished fifth over 10,000m in Rio Olympics in 2016 and will be making her marathon debut.

Joining them in the field is Ethiopian Tigist Tufa, 30, who finished third and eighth in her two previous New York City Marathon appearances. She won the London Marathon in 2015 and was the runner-up in 2016.

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