2015 NYC Marathon stars defending champion Wilson Kipsang

The 2015 New York City Marathon will feature defending champion Wilson Kipsang, Boston marathon champion Lelisa Desisa and past winners Meb Keflezighi and Gebre Gebremariam

Former marathon world record holder Wilson Kipsang of Kenya will return to defend his 2014 New York City Marathon title on Nov. 1, race organizers announced on Tuesday morning.

“We’re thrilled to welcome back our defending champion Wilson Kipsang, along with Meb Keflezighi, America’s top marathoner, and this year’s Boston Marathon champion, Lelisa Desisa, for the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon,” New York Road Runners CEO Peter Ciaccia said in a press release.

“Fans lining the 26.2-mile route across the city will get to see the world’s top marathoners, many of whom will be running for their home countries in the 2016 Olympic Games next summer in Rio. This is one of our most exciting fields in years and a key race in the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series IX. More than a million people will watch the race live while the global television broadcast will make it available to 500 million homes worldwide.”

Kipsang followed up his New York City marathon victory with a second place finish in April's London Marathon before not finishing the IAAF World Championship marathon in Beijing in late August. Kipsang faces stiff competition as last year's top four finishers have been welcomed back for the 2015 edition of the race.

Runner-up Desisa, 25, rebounded from his loss to Kipsang in the final mile of last year's race by finishing second at the Dubai Marathon in February in 2:05:52 before winning April's Boston Marathon in 2:09:17. Most recently, Desisa finished seventh at the IAAF World Championships marathon in Beijing on Aug. 22. New York will be his fourth marathon of the year – something he has never done before.

Watch the final mile of last year's New York City Marathon battle between Kipsang and Desisa:

Last year's third place finisher was Gebre Gebremariam, 31, winner of the 2010 New York City Marathon in 2:08:14 in his debut at the 26.2 mile distance, will return as well.

Keflezighi, 40, was last year's fourth place finisher and top American. He announced his intentions to return to the race at Sunday's Fifth Avenue Mile. New York will be Keflezighi's final marathon before February's U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Los Angeles, where he will attempt to become the America's oldest Olympic runner with a top three finish for his third Olympic team.

• Meb Keflezighi to run his tenth New York City Marathon

The United States will also be represented by Nick Arciniaga, 32, who finished 10th in last year's New York City Marathon and Craig Leon, 31, who is coming off a fifth place finish at the Pan American Games Marathon. Will Nation and Chris Bendtsen will make their 26.2-mile debuts after successful runs at the half-marathon distance.

Other notables in the field include Kenyan Stanley Biwott, who holds a 2:04:55 personal best and fourth place finish at this year's London Marathon as well as Yemane Tsegaye of Ethiopia and Geoffrey Kamworor, world champion silver medalists in the marathon and 10,000-meters respectively.

Below is the full elite men's field for the 2015 New York City Marathon:

Name	Marathon Personal Best	Twitter handle
Wilson Kipsang, KEN	2:03:23	@Kipsang_2_03_23
Lelisa Desisa, ETH	2:04:45
Yemane Tsegaye, ETH	2:04:47
Gebre Gebremariam, ETH	2:04:53
Stanley Biwott, KEN	2:04:55
Geoffrey Kamworor, KEN	2:06:12	@kipsangkamworor
Yuki Kawauchi, JPN	2:08:14
Meb Keflezighi, USA	2:08:37	@runmeb
Daniele Meucci, ITA	2:11:08	@MeucciDaniele
Nick Arciniaga, USA	2:11:30	@NickArciniaga
Zicheng Li, CHN	2:13:12
Craig Leon, USA	2:13:53	@cleonrun
Juan Luis Barrios, MEX	2:14:20	@JLBRunniingTeam
Stefano Sciani, ITA	2:16:26
Harbert Okuti, UGA	2:17:30
Matt Flaherty, USA	2:21:20	@MattAFlaherty
Kevin Chelimo, KEN	2:29:40
Will Nation, USA	Debut
Chris Bendtsen, USA	Debut	@chrisbendtsen