The press leading up to this weekend’s race had all eyes on last year’s winner Paula Radcliff. But she finished fourth behind the two-time Olympic 10,000 meters champion Deratu Tulu of Ethiopia. Tulu finished with a time of 2:28.52, eight seconds ahead of runner-up Russian Ludmila Petrova. Third was Frenchwoman Christelle Daunay, 2:29.16, just 9 seconds before Paula, 2:29.27.
Due to health issues, this was Paula’s first race since winning last years NYC marathon and she began suffering from tendonitis about halfway through the race. “I knew I was fit coming in, it felt great, then at 11 miles it just went,” said Paula. “For the last miles I was just thinking ‘just hang in there’ as long as I could. Just try to stay with them.” Less than 40 seconds in a two and a half hour race separated Paula from her repeat victory.