Ramaala pipped in New York
Brad Morgan
7 November 2005
South Africa's Hendrick Ramaala narrowly missed out on back-to-back victories in the New York Marathon on Sunday as world record holder Paul Tergat outsprinted him for the line to win by one metre in the closest ever finish to the race.
The Kenyan clocked 2:09:30, and finished just a third of a second ahead of Ramaala.
It all came down to a sprint that covered well over 300 metres, with Tergat running with his teeth clenched and Ramaala gasping open-mouthed for air.
Crashed to the ground
With the finish line barely 25 metres away, the two runners could not be separated, but at the final post it was Tergat who claimed the edge as Ramaala crashed to the ground as he crossed the finish line.
Third place went to Athens Olympics silver medal winner Meb Keflezighi, who finished 26 seconds adrift. He finished second to Ramaala in 2004.
Throughout the race, Ramaala used surges to break up the field,
but Tergat stuck with him, showing patience, even though he at one stage fell off the pace of the leading runners.
The South African, a qualified lawyer, admitted afterwards that he thought he had broken Tergat at that point. However, the Kenyan superstar made up the ground once more to run side-by-side with the South African with about seven kilometres to go.
It was then, said Ramaala, that he knew he was in for a very difficult race.
Into Central Park
Heading into Central Park, Ramaala and Tergat dropped Robert Cheruiyot and Meb Keflezighi from the front pack of four, leaving the defending champion to battle the world record holder for the honours.
When Tergat crossed the line just ahead of Ramaala, he became the ninth African winner of the New York Marathon in succession. His victory was worth $125 000.
Asked about his crash across the line afterwards, Ramaala said he didn't remember whether he lunged for the finish or
whether he fell from exhaustion.
"You know," he said, "coming in second is not nice."
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