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Ramaala, Radcliffe Win ING New York City
Marathon NEW YORK - (November 7, 2004) - For Hendrik Ramaala and Paula Radcliffe, it was redemption for Olympic DNFs. For Meb Keflezighi, it was the culmination of a silver hat trick. And for Deena Kastor, it was proof that while the spirit may be willing, if the flesh is weak, even the magic and excitement of the ING New York City Marathon isn't enough to produce a miracle. Great Britain's Radcliffe and South African Ramaala, early leaders in the Athens marathons who never reached the finish line, rebounded strongly in the final big event of a year full of many spotlight races. Ramaala, 32, finally realized the promise he's shown in the past by winning a major marathon, pulling away from Athens silver medalist Keflezighi and 2004 Boston champ Timothy Cherigat in the final miles in Central Park to a convincing 25 second win in 2:09:28. "The time didn't matter to me," said Ramaala, who had finished 14th (2002) and fifth (2001) in his previous Big Apple runs. About the only mistake he made in running a tactically perfect race was missing the finish tape when he crossed the line. Less than half a minute later, Keflezighi, who had finished second in the Olympic Marathon Trials in Birmingham, Ala. in February and duplicated that performance in Athens, made it three second place finishes in three major marathons in a year, each one faster than the preceding one. His 2:09:53 was the second fastest time for an American this year (behind Khalid Khannouchi¹s 2:08:44 from Chicago last month) and gave him three of the top five U.S. annual performances. It was also the fifth fastest U.S. time at New York and made him the third fastest American in the race's history, behind Alberto Salazar and Ken Martin. It was the highest placing by an American in New York since Bob Kempainen's runner-up in 1993. "I just tried to be smart today. At about 16 miles, they threw in a really strong surge. I was struggling with a cramp. It took a lot of energy to catch up to those guys. Ramaala had his day today. People had doubts about what I was going to do, but the doubts have been answered," said Keflezighi, a two-time Olympian and UCLA grad. In addition, 1993 was also the last time two American men placed in the top 10, a feat that was equaled this year. Keflezighi of Mammoth Lakes, Calif. was followed across the line seven places later by Team Running USA training partner Ryan Shay, who recorded a 21 second PR with his 2:14:08 clocking. "I wanted to run in the 2:10s, be in the top three Americans, and top 10 overall, so two out of three, I have to be pleased with my run here today," said Shay. His time was the ninth fastest by an American this year, and makes him the seventh fastest performer for 2004. Three other Americans Abdi Abdirahman (14th, 2:17:09 in his debut for the distance), Matt Downing (16th, 2:18:50) and 2004 Olympian Dan Browne (20th, 2:23:27) cracked the top 20. As exciting as the men's race was it was overshadowed by the drama of the women, who, for the third year in a row, started 35 minutes ahead of the men. Right from the get-go Radcliffe, 30, who had decided to run just 12 days before, assumed her front-running style, towing a group of some half dozen through splits that were more than a minute ahead of Margaret Okayo's 2:22:31 course record, set last year. As the group came off the Queensboro Bridge past 15 miles, Kastor, who admitted her body had not recovered quickly enough from Athens to allow her to prepare for this race the way she wanted, began to cramp up in many parts of her legs, and stepped off the course somewhere before 17 miles. The leaders slowed a bit in the final 10K, but the early pace had done in all Radcliffe's challengers except Susan Chepkemei, the hottest road racer on the American circuit this summer. The two matched strides down Fifth Avenue and through Central Park, with Radcliffe putting in her one final, and as it turned out, winning, move as the pair re-entered the Park at Columbus Circle. "I was confident I could beat Susan in a kick, since I've raced her several times before," said Radcliffe. More of a worry was a wave of nausea that hit her around 24 miles. "I just told myself to push through it, you can get sick after you finish. What mattered was coming here and winning the race." Known as much for her gutsiness as her speed, Radcliffe did just that, edging Chepkemei by four seconds in the closest women's finish in the race's history. Their times of 2:23:10 and 2:23:14 ranked number 3 and 4 on the all-time New York list, and the same positions for the world list for 2004. On a beautiful fall day in New York City with temperatures in the mid-50s and plenty of sun, a race record 37,257 started. 35th ING New York City
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