In the final moments of the Los Angeles Marathon last weekend, announcers were already calling out favorite Michael Kimani Kamau’s finish when Nathan Martin suddenly propelled himself forward, surprising the announcers and viewers.
Martin, 36, won with a single stride, crossing the finish line an almost imperceptible fraction of a second before Kamau and becoming the first black American to win the competition. He had challenged himself in the final miles of the race to continue pushing himself as hard as he could, despite physical exhaustion, and finished the 26.2-mile race in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 18 seconds.
“It’s wonderful to win, it’s wonderful to get recognition, but it’s even better to push yourself and achieve as much as you can,” a weary Martin told journalist John W Davis after the race.
The finish was the closest in the 40-year history of the Los Angeles Marathon and a monumental achievement for Martin, a track and cross country coach and substitute teacher at a Michigan high school.
It came nearly three years after Martin became the fastest American-born black marathoner, with an even faster finish of 2 hours, 10 minutes and 45 seconds, at Grandma’s Marathon, an annual race in Duluth, Minnesota. But despite Martin’s impressive record, his last-second victory was a surprise given Kamau’s lead.
Martin had stayed with a group of five or six runners for much of the race, but broke away from the group with about five miles remaining, struggling to keep going, he told reporters.
Kamau, of Kenya, appeared in his line of sight about a mile and a half from the finish line, the Athletic reported, and in the last 100 meters he experienced a “life or death” feeling that forced him to strain.
He was in the “hurt box,” but he went deeper, he told Davis.
“I always challenge myself to push myself, no matter if there’s someone to chase or if I’m alone because I want to know I’m done giving it everything I had,” he said. “You can’t always win, but you can always push.”
Martin crossed the finish line just before Kamau, who immediately fell to the ground. Commentators have noted that Kamau’s performance in the final 200 meters of the race was hampered after a spectator holding a flag stepped on the course, forcing him to veer, and he then appeared to follow a marathon caravan in the wrong direction before reversing in the right direction.
The Los Angeles Marathon organization said in a statement that there were no protests over the victory and that the race results remained unchanged.
“The vehicles made their planned exit 300 meters from the finish line at the intersection of Century Park West and Santa Monica Boulevard, within sight of the finish line structure,” the organization said. “As with all major road racing events, our lead vehicles leave the course before approaching the finish line. Our vehicles did not take a wrong turn at this point or any other point during the event.”
Spectator behavior was a cause for concern, the statement said, adding that the organization “will review how future issues of this type can be avoided as part of our post-race discussions.”
The organization continued: “Marathon road racing is a dynamic sport in which professional athletes must combine endurance, tactical awareness and mental toughness to succeed. All of these elements were on display this weekend. We congratulate our podium finishers and all of our runners who participated in our event.”
Martin is only the second American to win the Los Angeles Marathon in three decades. Last year, 25-year-old Matt Richtman won the race, the first American to do so since Paul Pilkington’s victory in 1994.
Martin described the victory as “surreal.”
“It’s amazing,” he told Davis. “You hope you can achieve something. It’s one of those things you have to believe in, but until you say it, it’s just an idea.”
He ran in college and has spent years constantly improving his skills. Martin previously qualified for the US Olympic Trials Marathon.
The coach is committed to both athletics and his school, where the cross-country season just began this week. Last summer he told Run that because of training, he sometimes didn’t run late into the night.
“Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy pushing myself, trying and seeing what I can achieve, but the best days are when I can help you,” he said.
His coach said of the victory: “Today Nathan led the (marathon) with one stride. The only stride that mattered.”
