paula radcliffe defends title and wins nyc marathon; kara goucher debuts with third place finish!

paula radcliffe's 2:23:56, in windy conditions was enough to defend her title and win the nyc marathon! with her third win in the books, she joins grete waitz as the only woman to win the nyc marathon 3 times (although paula has a long way to go to reach, much less surpass, grete's amazing 9 new york city victories)!



even more thrilling was kara goucher's 2:25:53, third place finish! not only was it the best debut marathon performance by an american woman, it was also the highest finish at the new york city marathon by an american since anne marie letko took third in 1994! awesome!

if that wasn't enough excitement for one race, ludmila petrova of russia finished second with 2:25:43 and, at the young age of 40, set a world masters record! she also become the oldest woman to finish in the top two since 42 year old priscilla welch of great britian won the race in 1987!