He has had his share of success on different courses, but world record holder and Berlin Marathon champion Wilson Kipsang of Kenya will be gunning for his first bit of the Big Apple when he lines up on Nov. 2 at the streets of New York City.

Kipsang, 32, has been reserved this year since his participation in the London Olympics back in April.

Arguably the world's best marathoner, Kipsang rewrote history when he set the current marathon world record of 2:03:23 to win the 2013 BMW Berlin Marathon.

"Time will not be essential in New York. I just want to see how fast I can go, against a spirited challenge from my competitors. It is my first time running in New York so I have no specific targets at the moment, apart from what any athlete expects in a competition, to win," Kipsang said Thursday in Eldoret.

The 2012 London Olympic Marathon bronze medalist has run under 2:05 five times, the most in history.

He won his second London Marathon in 2014 in a course record of 2:04:29 after narrowly missing the record in the 2012 event by four seconds with his time of 2:04:44.

He is the two-time champion and the course record-holder at the Frankfurt Marathon, at which he coincidently fell four seconds short of the standing world record in 2011.

At the 2009 RAK Half-Marathon, he became the fifth person in history to break 59 minutes with a time of 58:59.

Kipsang also won the highly competitive Great North Run in 2012. He will make his New York City Marathon debut in his first return to the city since winning last year's New York Half marathon.

"I'm getting my New York on!" said Kipsang. "My preparations for the marathon have begun, and every day before training I know that without self-discipline, success is impossible," he said.

But there is a small matter of settling old scores with his compatriot Geoffrey Mutai.

In addition to Kipsang and past New York City Marathon champions Mutai and Ethiopian Gebre Gebremariam, the men's international field reads who is who from 17 countries.

There is reigning Olympic and World Championship gold medalist Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda; London Marathon runner-up Stanley Biwott of Kenya; former 10K world record-holder and Olympic bronze medalist Micah Kogo of Kenya; 2013 New York City Marathon third-place finisher Lusapho April of South Africa and 2012 Tokyo Marathon champion Michael Kipyego of Kenya.

Throw in Japanese rivals Yuki Kawauchi and Masato Imai, who finished 11th and sixth, respectively, at last year's New York City Marathon; 2012 NYC Half champion Peter Cheruiyot Kirui of Kenya; two-time Olympian Abderrahime Bouramdane of Morocco; 2012 Norwegian Olympian Urige Buta and Irish 5000- and 10,000-meter record-holder Alistair Cragg.

New York City Marathon runner-up Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia will face four past New York City Marathon champions in Firehiwot Dado (Ethiopia), Priscah Jeptoo and Edna Kiplagat (Kenya), and Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia. Not to forget Mary Keitany, who is returning from motherhood.

The elite lists will include top women from 11 countries. Others are World Championships Marathon silver medalist Valeria Straneo of Italy, 2012 European 10,000-meter champion Ana Dulce Felix of Portugal, Moroccan Rkia El Moukin, making her debut at the distance and 2013 European Indoor 3000-meter champion Sara Moreira of Portugal.

"This year's international field of past New York City Marathon champions, record-setters, and global championship medalists echoes the inspirational spirit of the race -- bringing the world together to celebrate the diversity of New York City and strive to achieve something bigger than ourselves -- a global running community," said Mary Wittenberg, President of New York Road Runners. Endi

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