Marathon Win in New York - Paula Radcliffe takes another big bite out of the Big Apple
Last updated 11/4/2008 9:41:18 AM
Paula Radcliffe takes another big bite out of the Big Apple
Dave Bedford's London Marathon remains Paula Radcliffe's home event but New York continues to provide her with the stimulus to keep on going.
On Sunday (November2), exactly 11 weeks after the Beijing Olympic Marathon, Paula slaughtered a world class field, leading from start to finish into the teeth of a strong wind.
It is strange but New York is proving to be decisive in Paula's future as she made her come back there in 2004 after the failure in Athens; she won it in 2007 after the birth of her daughter Isla (there to greet her at the finish this time) and regaining her world's number one spot this time as she won by the huge margin of one minute 47 seconds ahead of the veteran Ludmila Petrova, a 40 year old widow who runs to support her two young children.
This, they claimed, was the strongest New York field for 39 years but Radcliffe led throughout, relinquishing the lead only at feed stations where she had to manoeuvre as a left hander to pick up her drinks.
This was a tough race in the wind but, at the finish, Radcliffe was relaxed and looking ready to run a lap of honour! She swept Isla into her arms as she celebrated her third victory, the first woman to do that since the legendary Greta Waitz some twenty years ago.
Considering her awful year with a foot injury forcing her to pull out of London and a stress fracture leaving her dramatically under prepared for Beijing, it was a truly remarkable run.
Before the next Olympic rolls along Paula is contemplating another child and a few more shorter distances, saying: "I feel like I want to get out and race more, but shorter distances. I cannot run marathons all the time otherwise my body is not going to get to 2012."
Paula has now run ten marathons and has won eight of them. The other two? Both Olympic Games and she is determined not to let a third slip away.
Gold on the streets of London would be the perfect climax to the career of this super optimist who has always defeated adversity of every sort.