Geoffrey Mutai shatters New York City Marathon record

Geoffrey Mutai shattered the course record in the New York City Marathon, no surprise after he ran the fastest marathon ever earlier this year.

Firehiwot Dado wasn’t a favorite coming into the women’s race and victory seemed impossible with even a few miles left. But the Ethiopian made a stunning comeback for her first major marathon title

Mutai finished in 2 hours 5 minutes 6 seconds, crushing the previous mark of 2:07:43 set by Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia a decade earlier.

Dado won in 2:23:15 — almost a minute better than her previous personal best.

ETC.

Kaymer shoots 63 to win HSBC Champions tournament

Martin Kaymer ran off nine birdies over the last 12 holes to blow past Fredrik Jacobson and a host of stars on his way to a nine-under-par 63 and a three-shot victory in the HSBC Champions at Shanghai.

Kaymer wound up setting two World Golf Championship records that showed just how well the “Germanator” played on a cool, overcast day. It was the largest comeback (five shots) in the final round, and his 63 was the lowest final round by a winner since this series began in 1999.

Kaymer, who finished at 20-under 268 and earned $1.2 million, moved to second on the European Tour money list and to No. 4 in the world ranking. Jacobson had a 71 to finish second.

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Jay Don Blake won the Charles Schwab Championship at San Francisco for his second victory of the season after a 20-year drought, and Tom Lehman took the Champions Tour season points title and a $1-million annuity.

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The St. Louis Blues changed coaches after a disappointing 6-7 start, firing Davis Payne and hiring Ken Hitchcock to a contract through next season.

Payne, 40, was the second-youngest coach in the NHL but had only one full season with St. Louis after he was hired in January 2010.

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Surfing legend Kelly Slater won his 11th world championship Sunday after Round 4 in the Rip Curl Pro Search at San Francisco.

Slater was thought to have won it last week, but the Assn. of Surfing Professionals admitted it made a calculation error and had crowned him prematurely.

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The USC women’s doubles team, Kaitlyn Christian of Orange and Sabrina Santamaria of Los Angeles, won the title at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships. They defeated Kristy Frilling and Shannon Mathews of Notre Dame, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, in the final.

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Defending champion Roger Federer beat Kei Nishikori, 6-1, 6-3, in the Swiss Indoors final at Basel and won his first title in 10 months.