Courtesy: USATF

Quotes from the Chicago Marathon

Each completing the greatest year of individual marathoning in history, Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain broke the women's world record with a time of 2:17:18 Sunday at the 25th LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, and American Khalid Khannouchi ran 2:05:56 to post the fourth- fastest marathon of all time and the fastest ever on North American soil.

Khannouchi crossed the finish line and broke into tears, celebrating his second major success of 2002 and his fourth Chicago crown, having won in 1997, '99 (when he ran a world record 2:05:42) and 2000.

On April 14 of this year, Khannouchi broke his own world record at the London Marathon with a time of 2:05:38. Radcliffe also won at London in her debut at the distance, running 2:18:56 for what was at the time the second-fastest women's marathon ever. With their performances in London and Chicago, Khannouchi and Radcliffe had the two fastest men's and women's races, respectively, ever in a single calendar year. Khannouchi now has run three of the top four fastest marathons of all time, while Radcliffe owns two of the three fastest women's times.

The Chicago wind that gusted up to 20 miles per hour on a 40- degree day was perhaps the only factor that kept another world record out of the slightly built Khannouchi's reach in Chicago, but he asserted his dominance by relegating Toshinari Takaoka of Japan to second (2:06:16) and Daniel Njenga of Kenya to third in 2:06:16. Paul Tergat of Kenya finished fourth in 2:06:18, Abdelkhader El Mouaziz of Morocco was fifth in 2:06:46, and American Alan Culpepper turned in an outstanding marathon debut, placing sixth in 2:09:41.

Khannouchi ran a controlled race with the lead pack, taking advantage of the taller runners surrounding him to avoid the Chicago breeze. The strategy paid off when the lead pack strung out at mile 17 after a blistering first half run in 1:02:22, Khannouchi hanging back in 1:02:29. He surged at 24 miles, erasing the 13-second lead of Takaoka and dropping El Mouaziz and Tergat. By mile 25, he was firmly in the lead and charging toward the finish.

Radcliffe seized the lead from the start and came through the half-way point in 1:09:01, running with the strength and determination that has become her trademark and that propelled her to annihilate Catherine Ndereba's world record of 2:17:47, set last year at the Chicago Marathon. Nderaba finished second on Sunday in a time of 2:19:26. Japan's Yoko Shibui was third in 2:21:22, and Deena Drossin was the top American, placing sixth in a personal-record time of 2:26:53.

For complete results from the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, visit the event web site, www.chicagomarathon.com.