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A Race Like No Other
The 40th Running of the New York City Marathon - The Women's Race
by John Elliott
After a truly exciting and deep field for the 2008 New York City Marathon: Paula Radcliffe, Kara Goucher, Gete Wami, Catherine Ndereba, and more and more... The 2009 field was disappointing. A number of women were late withdrawals and when the women came to the starting line, most recognized that this would be a race among six women, with Paula Radcliffe the overwhelming favorite. The pundits recognized that Radcliffe would gain her fourth New York City Marathon win and then there would be a race for the remainder of the podium between Salina Kosgei, Derartu Tulu, Yuri Kano, Ludmila Petrova and Christelle Daunay. But of course we were talking about a marathon here - so anything could happen.
As we prepared for the race, we did get our other stories ready, just in case the Radcliffe script did not come to pass. If the Radcliffe scenario didn't play out, we would write one of these stories: Kosgei adding the 2009 New York crown to her 2009 Boston crown and then also becoming the leader for the next round of the World Marathon Majors series; Petrova bettering her 2008 runner-up spot against Radcliffe and becoming the oldest champion at New York; Tulu becoming the first Ethiopian woman to win New York; or Daunay becoming the first French citizen to win the New York City Marathon. But who could imagine that Radcliffe would not win and thereby add to her position as the most storied marathoner of all time?
 The race started as scripted. Paula Radcliffe set the pace and it was clear the respect with which the others held the world-record holder and three-time New York City Marathon champion. In pre-race conversations, Kano told us that she just hoped that she would see Radcliffe and Tulu told us: "In the marathon, let alone beat [Radcliffe], I've never been able to run very far with her." At mile 3.6, Kano and Kosgei go down and Magdalena Lewy Boulet jumped and went through contortions to not fall as well... That incident took Kano out of contention and she fell back. Kosgei would continue with the field, but would eventually be affected by the fall as well and be out of the running.
The New York City Marathon often starts in earnest on first avenue and that's where things start to happen - after mile 16... For the 2009 New York City Marathon, some strange things seemed to happen as Christelle Daunay started to push the pace and created a gap between herself and the others - and, surprisingly, Paula Radcliffe started to falter and looked to be in trouble. Further up the avenue things settled back to their natural order as Radcliffe worked her back up to the front and the group reformed, but something still seemed amiss.
The group of five: Paula Radcliffe, Ludmilla Petrova, Christelle Daunay and Derartu Tulu continued on their tour of New York coming to Central Park - but then Radcliffe started to fade. Radcliffe was in trouble and she told us afterwards that her hip was bothering her from mile 11. Tulu looked back and tried to encourage Radcliffe to get back into the mix - a sign of her respect. But it was clear that Radcliffe was no longer in contention for a win - the script was being rewritten.
Into the final miles, Ludmilla Petrova set the pace with Derartu Tulu easily following. Christelle Daunay lost ground and at one point it appeared that Radcliffe might catch her and regain third place, but that could not happen.
Petrova, the 2008 runner-up and oldest in the field at 41 led, but it was clear to onlookers that Tulu was just waiting to make her move, which she made with a mile to go in the race.
And 2008 saw the two oldest women in the elite field - champions from another era - prove that age is not a barrier in women's marathoning. Derartu Tulu, 37 and best known for her 2001 win of the London Marathon and her gold medals in the 1992 and 2000 Olympics 10,000m, was the victor of the 2009 New York City Marathon in 2:28:52, the first Ethiopian to take the title. Ludmila Petrova, 41 and best known for her 2000 win of the New York City Marathon, finished second in 2:29:00. Christelle Daunay, 34, finished third in 2:29:27. And the expected winner - Paula Radcliffe, running in the weakest New York City Marathon field she has participated in, finished fourth in 2:29:27 - nearly six minutes slower than any of her last three performances in New York...
Final Standings:
1. Derartu Tulu 2:28:52
2. Ludmila Petrova 2:29:00
3. Christelle Daunay 2:29:16
4. Paula Radcliffe 2:29:27
5. Salina Kosgei 2:31:53
6. Magdalena Lewy Boulet 2:32:17
7. Buzunesh Deba 2:35:54
8. Serkalem Biset Abrha 2:37:20
9. Yuri Kano 2:39:05
10. Desiree Ficker 2:39:30
Coverage Homepage
Post Race: Men's Race |
Women's Race |
USA Men's Championships |
Complete Searchable Results
Race Day: As It Happens - Live Coverage
Pre-Race:
Men's Marathon:
Men's Race Preview and Starter List |
International Men's Bios
Women's Marathon:
Women's Race Preview and Starter List |
Women's Bios
USA Men's Marathon Championship:
Championships Race Preview |
USA Men's Bios
Extras:
Pace Calculator/Pace Guide |
Videos (Athletes/Archival & Past Races/Course Information/More...)
More News:
Press Releases |
News
Featured Book/Movie:
Run For Your Life |
A Race Like No Other
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