Paula Radcliffe defended her title at the New York City Marathon on Saturday to become the second woman to win the race three times.
Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil won the men’s race for the second time in three years, passing Abderrahim Goumri with about 1.6 kilometres to go.
Unlike Radcliffe’s tight victories in 2004 and ‘07, the world record holder from Britain pulled away from Ludmila Petrova of Russia during the 36th kilometre to win comfortably in 2 hours, 23 minutes, 56 seconds.
“The last two times it’s been a really close finish at the end,” Radcliffe said. “It was nice to make it a little easier on the husband.”
The 40-year-old Petrova was second in 2:25:43, the oldest woman to finish in the top two since Priscilla Welch of Great Britain won in 1987 at the age of 42.
Kara Goucher, in her marathon debut, took third, becoming the first American to make the podium since Anne Marie Letko was third in 1994. She posted the fastest time in a marathon debut by an American woman, breaking Deena Kastor’s mark set in this race in 2001.
Gomes dos Santos won in 2:08:43. Goumri settled for the runner-up spot for the second straight year in 2:09:07, and Daniel Rono of Kenya was third in 2:11:22.
Grete Waitz won the race a record nine times, the last in 1988.
New York was again the site of a stirring comeback for Radcliffe. As in 2004, she rebounded from a disappointing Olympic performance with a victory in New York. Last year, she won her first marathon since the birth of her daughter less than 10 months earlier.
Radcliffe has won eight of the 10 marathons she has started – all but her two Olympics.
“It was tough out there this year because of the wind. ... Everybody wanted to run behind me,” Radcliffe said. “This year I was determined to feel comfortable at the halfway point.”
Petrova, the 2000 NYC Marathon champ, set a Masters world record with her time, breaking Welch’s mark set in London in 1987. Petrova was fifth at the London Marathon this year.
Gomes dos Santos keeps finding magic in New York, where he has won his only two major marathon titles. He finished eighth last year.
Goumri finished in the top three in a major marathon for the fourth time in 19 months but is still seeking his first title.