Laura Manninen (No 6) pulled away from Kate Pallardy en route to setting the women’s indoor marathon record during the 2^nd Annual Armory NYC Indoor Marathon World Record Challenge; New men’s indoor marathon world record holder Christopher Zablocki (center) alongside runner-up Tony Migliozzi (left) and Eric Blake. Photos by Myles Gaymon

Two world records and one American record were recorded during the World Record Challenge of Saturday’s 2^nd Annual NYC Indoor Marathon Presented by the New York Road Runners.

Christopher Zablocki, 28, from Essex, Connecticut, was buoyed by a strong and exciting finish to a 2:21:48 to surpass Malcolm Richards’mark of 2:21:56.

With fans trackside cheering for a world record, Zablocki ran a 39.8 and 39.3 during his last two laps on the famed 200-meter Armory track to secure the Armory NYC Indoor Marathon’s second straight men’s world mark

“This feels good,” said Zablocki, who earned $5,000 for breaking a world record and $1,000 for the victory. “It’s been years of training hard, and to get a world record is payback. The last two or three (miles) I was at a pretty bad place, but I wanted the record.

“In my head I heard the crowd cheering me on and I was able to make the most of it.”

For the second consecutive year Tony Migliozzi was runner-up. Migliozzi recorded a 2:23:26 over the 211-lap indoor marathon course.

Laura Manninen, 43, of Espoo, Finland, overtook New York City’s Kate Pallardy with 40 laps to go en route to a 2:42:30 to establish the new women’s indoor marathon world record. Her time eclipsed New York’s Allie Kieffer’s 2:44:44 set during last year’s Armory NYC Indoor Marathon. Pallardy, running for Central Park Track Club, registered an American indoor marathon record of 2:44:11.

Manninen said she didn’t panic though she trailed Pallardy by 200 meters for much of the race.

“I was still ahead of my time so I tried to keep a steady pace,” Manninen said. “With 20 laps to go people started shouting I ‘will do it.’ I didn’t think about the record too much and continued to run my race.

“This is something special, but every race is something special to me. Of course, this is unique.”

Manninen received $5,000 for the women’s world record bonus and $1,000 for the win.

Pallardy was happy with her American record performance.

“Laura is really a strong runner,” Pallardy said. “I saw where last year during the New York City Marathon she did the first half and the second half in the exact same splits. That tells me this girl knows what she’s doing. If I was going to have a chance in this I had to make her run faster or try to get ahead.

“I couldn’t hold on. Listen, I’m happy because this is my first marathon back since my having my second kid.”

The relay portion of the Armory NYC Indoor Marathon continues through Sunday. Proceeds benefit the Armory College Prep program. More than 100 marathon relay teams are participating this weekend.

For more information on both the relay and individual marathon portions of the NYC Indoor Marathon, please click HERE.

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