NYC Marathon: Victory soothes Radcliffe's pain

By Andrea Adelson
The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Paula Radcliffe ran through Central Park confident and happy, the finish of the New York City Marathon in sight.

It hardly mattered that Susan Chepkemei of Kenya was on her elbow, the two women running side by side for nearly 5 miles. Or that she ate a pasta meal the night before that made her ill during the race. Radcliffe knew she had to pull this race out, knew she had to show her Athens heartache had healed.

So Radcliffe pulled away in the late stages, her head bobbing with each labored step, and won the tightest women's race in NYC Marathon history. The world-record holder from Britain crossed in 2 hours, 23 minutes, 10 seconds yesterday, beating Chepkemei by four seconds.

Radcliffe hugged Chepkemei when it was over, raised her arms in triumph and wrapped herself in the Union Jack. In August, Radcliffe had little to celebrate. She cried after dropping out of the Olympic marathon.

After the NYC Marathon, Radcliffe said, "I felt totally myself. Nothing like that horrible feeling that I had (at the Olympics), nothing like that."

The previous record for closest women's finish in New York was five seconds, Wanda Panfil's margin over Kim Jones of Spokane in 1990.

Hendrik Ramaala of South Africa got a bit of redemption of his own, winning the men's race in 2:09:28 for his first marathon victory. Ramaala dropped out of the Olympic marathon with a pulled hamstring.

Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi of the United States was next across, 25 seconds behind in a personal best 2:09:53. Ryan Shay was ninth in 2:14:08, marking the first time since 1993 that two American men finished among the top 10. It also was the first time in four years there was no Kenyan winner.

Radcliffe has had plenty of success in marathons, but what happened in Greece seemed to overshadow her victories. She entered the race at the Olympics with a left-leg injury that forced her to take anti-inflammatory drugs. She said the medicine, combined with the stress and heat, left her feeling queasy.

She could not finish under the blazing Greek sun, stopping to sit on a curb along the course with about 3 miles to go. Radcliffe sobbed uncontrollably. She later tried running the 10,000 meters and again failed to finish.

But she got back to training and decided about two weeks ago to compete in New York.

Defending champion Margaret Okayo of Kenya was fourth in 2:26:31. Amy Drury Esary of Bellingham was 82nd in 3:12:39.