Imagine you’re a race organizer and you wanted to put together an incredibly memorable marathon. You might come very close to constructing the field that has been assembled for the women’s New York City Marathon on Sunday.

Since it’s a home race for Americans, you would start with them.

You would recruit Des Linden, who in April became the first American to win the Boston Marathon in 33 years after fighting the horrendous weather that crushed so many other contenders in the race.

And you would certainly bring back Shalane Flanagan, who last year became the first American woman to win the New York marathon since 1977. She finally beat Mary Keitany of Kenya, last year’s women’s runner-up, with a time of 2 hours 26 minutes 53 seconds in an effort that will be remembered for her expletive-laced, fist-pumping sprint to the finish.

You would want Keitany back, too. In 2016, she left behind her fellow competitors and ran alone to the finish for more than an hour without ever looking back. (As she said at the time, she “felt good.”) You would also want Vivian Cheruiyot, also a Kenyan, who won this year’s London Marathon in 2:18:31. They have run the second- and fifth-fastest marathons among women.