Paula Radcliffe wins the New York Marathon...

NEW YORK--Paula Radcliffe, the current world record holder in the marathon, proved that she is well on her way back to elite world class form, winning Sunday's ING New York City Marathon in 2:23:09.

Radcliffe repelled the challenge of Ethiopia's Gete Wami, who won the real-Berlin Marathon a few weeks ago, over the final two kilometers.

The Brit had a one-second lead over Wami at 40 kilometers (2:15:40), and extended it for a 23-second advantage.

Wami finished second in 2:23:32, while defending NYC marathon champ Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia was third in 2:26:13.

Elva Dryer was the top American finisher, running 2:35:15 for sixth place.

In the men’s race, Kenya Martin Lel outkicked Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco, 2:09:04 to 2:09:16, surviving a war of attrition which cut the field from a group of 17 at the halfway point in 1:05:45.

The two had dueled similarly in April at London, when Lel sprinted past Goumri (in his first-ever marathon) to win by three seconds.

This time Lel didn’t wait for the last 50 metres. With 400m or so to go, he accelerated swiftly and opened an eight-meter lead which he held to the line. More than two minutes behind Lel’s 2:09:04 and Goumri’s 2:09:16, Ramaala straggled in 2:11:25, with Italy’s Olympic champion Stefano Baldini charging up from tenth at 30km to grab fourth in 2:11:58.

Chris Charles of Seattle was the top finisher from Washington state, running 2:34:53, for 48th place.

Seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong finished in 2:46:43.

The IAAF contibuted parts of this report.