Tergat wins classic in New York

WORLD record holder Paul Tergat added the ING New York City Marathon to his long list of honours on Sunday but it needed a world record smallest winning margin to prise the title from defending champion Hendrick Ramaala.

After 26.2 miles of hard running it came down to the closest finish in marathon history as Tergat of Kenya and South African Ramaala duelled up the hill to the finish line in Central Park, sprinting side by side until the final strides when Tergat, debuting in New York, found that extra yard of speed to breast the tape first in two hours nine minutes 29.9 seconds as his rival fell to the ground on the finish line just 0.32 seconds behind.

There were mixed fortunes for the Irish contingent with Marie Davenport happy to claim 18th place on her marathon debut, just outside her target time of 2:32 with a time of 2:33:59, but Mark Carroll and debutant Vinny Mulvey both retired.