Lel, Radcliffe Win ING New York City Marathon – Wami wins inaugural World Marathon Majors crown – By Jim Gerweck, Running USA wire

NEW YORK CITY – (November 4, 2007) – The men’s and women’s races in the 38th running of the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday wound up in almost identical finishes – a marathoner’s strength trumping a challenger with superior track credentials. But the way those conclusions were arrived at came via completely opposite approaches.

Paula Radcliffe and Martin Lel outlasted the theoretically faster speed of Gete Wami and Abderrahmin Goumri, pulling away to each’s second victory in New York. Both races were decided in the last mile as the duos raced along Central Park South, but the preceding 25 miles could not have been more different.

Radcliffe and Wami broke from the rest of the professional women’s field right from the start on Staten Island, and essentially waged a two woman duel, with the slighter Ethiopian, who had bested Radcliffe on the track and cross country since the two were teenagers, staying on her shoulder for each step through the five boroughs, Radcliffe unable to shake her shadow despite several surges on the final hills in Manhattan. It was Wami’s first bid to take the lead, just before the final turn back into the park near Columbus Circle, that ultimately proved her undoing and allowed Radcliffe to maintain her streak of never having lost a marathon she’s finished. Like a car running on fumes, Wami’s surge seemed to use up the last drops of fuel in the tank, and when Radcliffe responded, Wami suddenly dropped back several yards and wound up finishing 23 seconds behind Radcliffe’s 2:23:09.

„I thought it was kind of strange that she made her move that early,“ said Radcliffe. „I was thinking she couldn’t have thought the finish line was there.

„Once I took back the lead I kept building up the pace over the final 500 meters – I know that final climb very well, and my experience gave me a lot of confidence.“

„I can’t second-guess my decision,“ said Wami, who in spite of coming up short in the overall race title nonetheless received a nice half million dollar consolation prize. By finishing ahead of two-time defending race champ Jelena Prokopcuka, who was hampered by a hip injury, Wami, who moved into the series lead by winning Berlin 35 days ago, scored 80 points to win the inaugural two-year World Marathon Majors series, and gave herself a strong leg up on the second such cycle, which includes races from the 2007-08 season.

This was the first year New York did not employ pacemakers to ensure a fast race from the start, but the inclusion of Radcliffe, an inveterate frontrunner, made that point moot for the women. On the other hand, the men’s race was definitely impacted. A pack of 18 men stayed together through 7 miles, when 2004 race champion Hendrick Ramaala dropped in 4:27 and 4:44 miles to shake things up. However, as the race regained a more temperate pace, the pack reformed and stayed together until they hit Manhattan’s First Avenue, where the thickest, most vocal crowds in the race often spur runners to accelerate.

Once again, it was Ramaala doing the work, this time with 17th and 18th miles of 4:26 and 4:40. This thinned the pack down to a more manageable half dozen, which was halved as they race through the Bronx. As the men raced down Fifth Avenue, Ramaala suddenly dropped off, perhaps the victim of his own surges. That left Lel, who won here in 2003, and Goumri to duke it out over the same pavement the women had covered half an hour before. Lel had bested Goumri in a sprint finish from a larger pack in London this April, and was able to duplicate the feat here, pulling away at almost the exact spot Radcliffe had won, then cruised in to a 2:09:04 victory, 12 seconds clear of Goumri.

„I got some cramps in my legs near the end and couldn’t respond,“ said the Moroccan. Lel’s victory, coupled with his London win, gives him 50 points and the lead in the ’07-08 WMM cycle. Wami will be joined at the first WMM awards luncheon in Central Park Monday by men’s winner Robert Cheruiyot, who won three majors in the inaugural five marathon series.

38th ING New York City Marathon
New York, NY, Sunday, November 4, 2007

MEN
1) Martin Lel (KEN), 2:09:04, $160,000 plus Toyota Prius
2) Abderrahim Goumri (MAR), 2:09:16, $95,000
3) Hendrick Ramaala (RSA), 2:11:25, $45,000
4) Stefano Baldini (ITA), 2:11:58, $25,000
5) James Kwambai (KEN), 2:12:25, $15,000
6) Ruggero Pertile (ITA), 2:13:01, $10,000
7) Stephen Kiogora (KEN), 2:13:41, $7500
8) Marilson Gomes dos Santos (BRA), 2:13:47, $5000
9) Aleksandr Kuzin (UKR), 2:14:01, $2500
10) William Kipsang (KEN), 2:15:32, $1000

WOMEN
1) Paula Radcliffe (GBR), 2:23:09, $170,000 plus Toyota Prius
2) Gete Wami (ETH), 2:23:32, $105,000
3) Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT), 2:26:13, $55,000
4) Lidiya Grigoryeva (RUS), 2:28:37, $30,000
5) Catherine Ndereba (KEN), 2:29:08, $15,000
6) Elva Dryer (USA / CO), 2:35:15, $10,000
7) Robyn Friedman (USA / IA), 2:39:19, $3750
8) Tegla Loroupe (KEN), 2:41:58, $2500
9) Melisa Christian (USA / TX), 2:42:07, $1250
10) Alvina Begay (USA / AZ), 2:42:46, $500

Full results at:
INGNYCMarathon.org

Source/Courtesy: Running USA – RunningUSA.org

Ryan Lamppa,
Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232
Ryan@RunningUSA.org |
www.RunningUSA.org