Susannah Scaroni claims third New York City Marathon women’s wheelchair title to complete domestic sweep
Susannah Scaroni’s incredible run through the World Marathon Majors calendar finished up with another win Sunday morning at the New York City Marathon in the women’s wheelchair division.
The 34-year-old standout, who grew up in Tekoa, crossed the finish line in New York City’s Central Park in 1 hour, 42 minutes , 10 seconds in a dominant performance.
The victory is Scaroni’s third in four years in the Big Apple, including wins in 2022 and last year. She also finished the year as the winner of all three United States races (Boston, Chicago and New York City), along with the Sydney Marathon.
It is the second time in her career that Scaroni has held all three domestic titles at the same time. She also won the Chicago and New York City Marathons at the end of 2022 before her first Boston win in early 2023.
Scaroni set the pace early Sunday as the race took off from Staten Island and crossed into Brooklyn. By the 10-kilometer mark, Scaroni had built a one-minute lead over fellow American racer Tatyana McFadden. At the halfway mark, the lead was nearly 2:30. She finished nearly six minutes ahead of McFadden.
In a post-race interview on ESPN, Scaroni said the race conditions Sunday were perfect.
“There was barely any wind,” Scaroni said in the interview. “And honestly, what felt like a tailwind on Fifth Avenue, which is one of the toughest places.”
Scaroni also earns a $50,000 prize for the win, up from $35,000 last year.
The victory caps Scaroni’s most successful year as a professional, and continues a 15-month run in which she won five World Marathon Major events and claimed four medals at last summer’s Paralympic Games in Paris.
Scaroni was born in Burns, Oregon, but raised in Tekoa and graduated from Tekoa High School in 2009 before attending college at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Scaroni lost the ability to use her legs at the age of 6 after her family vehicle was involved in a car accident.