ATHLETICS/New York Marathon: Mark Carroll was reminded of the unforgiving nature of marathon running yesterday, writes Ian O'Riordan. The Corkman athlete returned to New York hoping to improve on his sixth-place finish of three years ago but dropped out with just over seven miles to go, complaining later of a hip injury.
It's hard to know how Carroll would have fared in the end - with Kenya's Paul Tergat out-leaning South Africa's Hendrick Ramaala for the victory - but for a while he did appear set for a place among the leading finishers.
Carroll in fact hit the front in the early stages, and led at halfway, which he passed in one hour four minutes and 57 seconds. At that stage though there were 18 other athletes on his shoulders, and it wasn't long before his problems started.
He got as far as 19-and-a-half miles before dropping out, just a little farther than he got in his last marathon, in London in April of last year.
"I was feeling quite comfortable in the early stages," explained Carroll, who ran 2:10:54 in 2002. "But then I started to feel a tightness in my hip.
"It's a problem I've had before, but I thought I had it sorted. The hills definitely didn't help, but I think I'd be a lot better off on the flatter marathon courses. And I will be looking for another marathon in the spring."
The race climaxed with one of the closest finishes in marathon history. Ramaala and Tergat ran stride for stride through Central Park toward the finish. Tergat briefly fell behind, but then drew level. Coming up to the line, both men lunged, but it was Tergat (36) who broke the tape as Ramaala tumbled to the pavement.
Both were given the same time, 2:09:31, but Tergat's time was later revised to 2:09.30 and he was given the verdict of the photo finish.
America's Meb Keflezighi was third in 2:09:57, with Kenya's Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot fourth in 2:11:00, and another American, Abdi Abdirahman, fifth in 2:11:24.
Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia produced a perfectly timed run to take the women's race in 2:24:41, breaking away from Kenya's Susan Chepkemei in the last half mile and forcing her into the runner-up position for the second year in a row.
The veteran Ethiopian Derartu Tulu was third in 2:25:12.
US-based Clare runner Marie Davenport pronounced herself satisfied with her 16th-place finish in 2:33:59, having run conservatively in the opening miles. Men
1 Paul Tergat (Ken) 2hrs 09mins 30secs, 2 Hendrick Ramaala (Rsa) 2:09:31, 3 Meb Keflezighi (USA) 2:09:56
Women
1 Jelena Prokopcuka (Lat) 2:24:41, 2 Susan Chepkemei (Ken) 2:24:55, 3 Derartu Tulu (Eth) 2:25:21.
