Only less than 24 hours since the unfortunate event of the death of Ryan Shay in the Olympic Games trials Marathon on Saturday, another marathon took place, the New York City Marathon, won by Paula Radliffe.

The incident has cast a cloud over the Sunday’s marathon due to the fact that the athlete world of long distance running is like a big family, since the best athletes often meet and share many things, becoming more than friends.  Radliffe has reaffirmed her support for Shay’s family.

The marathon was the New York City Runners premier event, drawing more than 90.000 applicants, under the eyes of two million spectators and many more that see it televised. Besides the fact that the runners get the chance to be known by the wide public, the contest also has prizes of more than 600.000 dollars.

The contest gathered more than 70.000 runners, including two great athletes, two mothers, Gete Wami of Ethiopia and Paula Radcliffe.

Radliffee had given birth to a girl 11 months ago, while her last race over the distance was more than two years ago. Her daughter waited for her at the finish line. The runner had imposed her 2 hours, 23 minutes and 9 seconds victory on the threat that Gete Wami might have won the New York City Marathon for the second time.

The two women have dominated the entire race, running shoulder to shoulder as they left the platoon far behind until the British Radcliffe took the lead and finished on the first position. But her victory was not an easy one. The two run side by side for a long while, and even if Radcliffe tried several times to enhance the distance from the Ethiopian, who also has a 4 years old daughter, Gete seemed to keep up, the difference getting smaller and smaller.

However, Paula Radcliffe succeeded in taking the lead, winning the race with a 23 seconds advance. The two runners embraced after the race, showing no bad feelings.