Radcliffe relinquishes NYC Marathon crown

Mon Nov 2 2009 09:07:00

Paula Radcliffe's reign as New York City Marathon champion ended as the British world record holder placed fourth behind Ethiopian veteran Deratu Tulu.

After six months on the sidelines recovering from bunion surgery, Radcliffe, 35, was running her first marathon since winning this race 12 months ago.

She had missed the world championship marathon in Berlin in August and then sat out the world half-marathon championships in Birmingham last month due to tonsilitis.

In windy conditions the Briton had led from the gun but the relatively slow pace meant she had been unable to shake off her rivals.

And, at 23 miles, she was dropped from the leading quartet as Russia's Ludmila Petrova took off followed by Tulu and France's Christelle Daunay.

Two-time Olympic 10,000 metres champion Tulu, 37, first shook off Daunay and then the dogged Petrova as she turned for home at the 26-mile mark and won the race in two hours 28 minutes and 52 seconds, eight seconds ahead of the Russian with Daunay third in 2:29:16 holding off a late Radcliffe rally, the Briton finishing fourth in 2:29:27

Cheshire-born Radcliffe's misery appeared to be compounded with injury as she crossed the line in obvious discomfort.

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