by Larry EderPaula Radcliffe has hammered the crowd. Paula has never looked back from the time she took the lead just after the race started. Remember, the ING NYCM course is like a cross country course, and Radcliffe knows how to excel at broken field running…….
Paula Radcliffe continues her long run to Central Park. The pace continues to drop, and in the wind, the pace will hurt all. Over the 20 to 25k split, Radcliffe dropped the pace to 5:35 per mile. The 25k was hit in 1:26:56. Kara Goucher was in third, one second back, with forty year old Ludmilla Petrova of Russia in second. Geta Wami of Ethiopia in fourth, and Dire Tune of Ethiopia in fifth. Rita Jeptoo in sixth, three seconds back and Catherine Ndereba in seventh, thirty three seconds back. Kim Smith of New Zealand, also in her debut, is one minute back in 1:27:56.
The thirty kilometer mark is where the cracks began to appear. Kara Goucher of the US is having a rough patch, something that would come in her first marathon. She has dropped back to fifth. Radcliffe leads in 1:43:32, again a 5;33 pace! Each five kilometers has gotten faster, and faster! Forty year old Ludmila Petrova of Russia is
in second, looking very good, with Dire Tume and Geta Wami in third and fourth. What is wrong with Kara?
Kim Smith, at 1:47:20 is 52 seconds back. Debut marathoner Katie Macgregor of the US moved ahead of Smith, in 1:46:14 for ninth, 46 seconds back….
Now, Paula Radcliffe shows her stuff. The nineteenth mile in 5:18, the twentieth mile in 5:12 and the twenty-first mile in 5:14!. Ludmilla Petrova was holding on for dear life, as Paula Radcliffe shows her talent, focus and drive. Petrova starts to fall back, a meter, two meters, and then…Paula is by herself. She is on her way to winning her eighth of ten marathons she has won!
While Goucher had dropped back to fifth, Kara Goucher has moved back into third place, she is moving closer and closer to Petrova.
What is clear is that Paula Radcliffe, is exorcising a few demons with this race. Hitting 20 miles in 1:50.55, 21 miles in 1:56:13, twenty-two miles in 2:01:25, twenty-three miles in 2:06:40, and twenty four miles in 2:12:12.
Paula has a lead of over a minute, forty by twenty-four miles. When the breaks happen, Petrova lost over a minute, twenty in three miles! Radcliffe, to my knowledge, did not look back the entire race.
Forty kilometers was passed in 2:16:40 and Paula had to know, from the cheering crowds, that she is winning. What a great feeling! Twenty-five miles was hit in 2:17:26, and twenty-six miles was hit in 2:22:45. The final three hundred, eighty-five yards must have been true redemption for Paula Radcliffe, who, three times now, has
come back from difficult races, terrible injuries, to win the ING New York in 2004, 2008 and now 2008.
Hitting the finish line in 2:23:56, the number eight time on the ING New York course, Paula Radcliffe of Great Britian has now become the only women to win three NYCN races, second only to Grete Waitz of Norway’s nine wonderful wins at the ING New York City marathon!
The battle for second was fantastic! Kara Goucher moved from fifty-four seconds back to ten seconds down on Petrova, but Ludmila Petrova held on, running 2:25:43, for second, setting a world masters record, breaking the mark of Priscilla Welch, which was set in 1987 as Welch won London!
Kara Goucher finished third in her debut marathon, breaking the American debut record of one Deena Kastor (Deena ran her debut in 2001 at ING New York), with her time of 2:25:53. Goucher has just put the first American on the podium since Anne Letko in 1994!
Fastest Mile Splits | Split: | Event: Split: Finish Print | View Full List
Top 10 Leaders
Place Bib# Runner Country / State Time Differential Pace / Mile
1 F1 Radcliffe, Paula GBR 2:23:56 +0:00 5:29
2 F40 Petrova, Ludmila RUS 2:25:43 +1:47 5:33
3 F7 Goucher, Kara USA / OR 2:25:53 +1:57 5:33
4 F5 Jeptoo, Rita KEN 2:27:49 +3:53 5:38
5 F3 Ndereba, Catherine KEN 2:29:14 +5:18 5:41
6 F2 Wami, Gete ETH 2:29:25 +5:29 5:41
7 F4 Tune, Dire ETH 2:29:28 +5:32 5:42
8 F9 Simon, Lidia ROM / CO 2:30:04 +6:08 5:43
9 F6 Morgunova, Lyubov RUS 2:30:38 +6:42 5:44
10 F14 Macgregor, Katie USA/Minn 2:31:14 +7:18 5:46
Today was Paula Radcliffe’s day of redemption! Three wins with three starts at ING New York City Marathon! Ludmila Petrova of Russia held on for as long as she could and was rewarded with a world Masters’ womens record. Kara Goucher, running a her third place time was fastest time ever by an American women in New York!
More to come on the next update. Kim Smith dropped out….
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Athletics Quarterly (www.coachingathleticsq.com), and USATF Fast Forward (www.usatf.org). All of the above magazine websites can be found at RunningNetwork.com (www.runningnetwork.com).
