Mary Keitany of Kenya and Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia won the New York City Marathon on Sunday, with Keitany dominating the strong women's field for her fourth victory in the event and Desisa surging ahead of two other runners near the finish line.

Desisa held off countryman Shura Kitata by 1.99 seconds for his first win in New York, joining victories at the Boston Marathon in 2013 and 2015. He finished second in New York in 2014 and third in 2015 and 2017.

Desisa, 28, finished in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 59 seconds, the second-fastest time for the course in history. Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya set the record of 2:05:05 in 2011.

"This is my dream," Desisa said. "To be a champion."

After two thirds and a second in previous New York City marathons, Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa ran away from Shura Kitata and Geoffrey Kamworor in the closing stages to finally get his win in 2018. AP Photo/Craig Ruttle

Last year's winner, Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya, finished third.

"I'm pretty happy to finish on the podium," Kamworor said. "I came out the best that I could in the race. I tried my best, and I'm happy to be third."

Keitany became the second woman to win the marathon four times. She ran the race in 2:22:48, the second-fastest time for the course in history. Margaret Okayo of Kenya set the record of 2:22:31 in 2003.

Keitany, 36, won in 2014, 2015 and 2016 before coming in second last year behind American Shalane Flanagan. She joined Grete Waitz, who won the marathon nine times between 1978 and 1988, as the only women to win the marathon four times.

"I can say the course record was not in my mind," Keitany said. "For me, winning was very important."

Keitany pulled away at the 19-mile mark and held a 1:27.83 lead at the 21-mile mark. From that point, the question was not whether Keitany would win. Rather, it was by how much. She beat countrywoman Vivian Cheruiyot by 3:13.

Flanagan finished third.

"You have to find motivation, things to focus on," Flanagan said. "When I finally got to third place, I got another level of excitement because I was fighting."

Flanagan had contemplated retirement after her New York City win and a tough race at the Boston Marathon. On Sunday, she didn't commit to a decision but implied she could end her professional running career.

"I think I'm going to take a few hours postrace to decompress and really evaluate, so I don't want to be too soon to make a decision, but I do feel like my heart is leaning toward serving others in the knowledge that I've gained," she said.