At 5 foot 8 inches, Radcliffe has one of the longest strides on the roads, a reason why she says she always feels comfortable running out in front.

“I still feel it’s a strong field,” Radcliffe said before the race, referring to Kosgei and Kano and her track and cross country rival, Derartu Tulu. “I think always in the marathon, you have to be prepared for the new person,” Radcliffe said, “somebody who nobody has thought about, but going to go out and run well.”

SHOOT: Radcliffe's a great athlete. I just don't like that horsing movement of her head, but you never know, perhaps it helps her go faster.

clipped from www.nytimes.com The sky was a misty gray, but Radcliffe was dressed in cornflower blue and wearing sneakers lined with hot pink, a blur of intense color hitting the streets of Brooklyn. By the time the women hit the fourth mile, on Brooklyn’s Fourth Avenue, Radcliffe had to be pleased with her position. Especially because she herself was out of harm’s way. Her two toughest competitors, Salina Kosgei of Kenya, and Yuri Kano of Japan, became entangled on Fourth Avenue in that fourth mile, each hitting the asphalt hard. It was one of those freak marathon variables, a casual step causing a small domino effect. With a few grimaces, both women got up and continued, but Kano dropped back by eight seconds behind Radcliffe, the pack’s leader. Radcliffe was but a few feet ahead of Christelle Daunay, the 34-year-old French national marathon champion, and Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia, the Olympic gold medalist in the 10,000 meters. Radcliffe has not always cut a solitary figure on the streets of New York.