For the first time since in the 33rd running of the event, the women started before the men. This was done to avoid the problems of women being paced by men and to give the ladies more television coverage. This was a little ironic since the race was only shown live in New York with the rest of America seeing a tape-delayed, condensed version. Pulling on heartstrings, the one-hour broadcast spent as much time showing stories of ordinary people completing the race for extraordinary reasons than treating it as an athletic event.

The weather was grand. Race time temperature was in the low 40's (Fahrenheit) and didn't get much warmer throughout the day. The Elite women began at 10.30 am with the men beginning 40 minutes later.

Sonia O'Sullivan wasted no time letting her presence be felt in what was touted as her 'serious' marathon (she ran 2.35.42 in the 2000 Dublin Marathon) debut reaching the mile mark at 5.37 running on the shoulder of pacesetter Silvia Skvortsova (Russia).

No doubt excited, she already had a 10-15 metre lead on the chase pack. Realising that it may be difficult to run a solo effort in the marathon, Sonia slowed just enough to allow the to pack to catch-up passing 2-miles in 11.36. O'Sullivan was in the lead or near the front for the first half of the race. She passed 5k in 17.52 and 5-miles in 28.34, 10k at 35.25, 15k at 52.44 and 10-miles in 56.40, all the time within arm's reach of the pacemaker.

The early splits translated to a 2.29 pace, much slower than Margaret Okayo's course record of 2.24.21 set in last year's event and nowhere near Paula Radcliffe's world best of 2.17.18 set in Chicago last month. The slower pace should favour Sonia who stressed at the pre-race conference, "It's much more important for me to win this than to get a fast time. To put yourself on the list of people who've won it is something you want to do."

Throughout the race, the defending champion and record holder Okayo (Kenya) had trouble reacting to subtle surges, fell adrift of the lead pack and at times her smooth gait labouring with a limp. Despite her apparent problems, her determination and experience carried her to a respectable time of 2.27.46 and a sixth place finish.

Sonia's escort for the half of the race, pacesetter Skvortsova dropped out and the surprise leader is American Milena Glusac who debuted in last year's New York Marathon running 2.34.46 surged to the lead passing Glusac 14-miles in 1.19.09 and 15-miles in 1.24.42. Glusac ended up in 10th place in 2:31:14.

O'Sullivan's effortless strides ceased shortly after the 14-mile mark and she faded, slowly but consistently away from the leaders. She was left to think about another day reaching 20-miles in 1.53.45 (11th place) and crossing the finish line in 2.32.06 in 12th position.

A somewhat pensive O'Sullivan spoke briefly with reporters after the race discussing her performance and strategy, "My legs were getting stiff as I'm not used to running that slow, even when training. I suppose inexperience did come into it. Now I'm thinking I should have gone off and run my own race. With hindsight, knowing what pace I can run at, I should have gone off much quicker."

Sonia's escort for the half of the race, pacesetter Skvortsova dropped out and the surprise leader is American Milena Glusac who debuted in last year's New York Marathon running 2.34.46 surged to the lead passing Glusac 14-miles in 1.19.09 and 15-miles in 1.24.42. Glusac ended up in 10th place in 2:31:14.

Joyce Chepchumba patiently ran most of the race anonymously ensconced in the pack but at mile 22, she literally threw down the gauntlet [her gloves] running a 5.18-mile creating a gap of more than 20-metres and a lead she would never relinquish. Her lead increased with every few strides while Denisova is hoped her medal would remain silver. It did as she placed second in 2:26:17 with Chepchumba winning in 2:25:56. The Kenyan victor is no stranger to success. She won the bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics Games, and the 2000 Tokyo Women's Marathon along with titles in the 1999 London and Chicago marathons.

Complete results of the 2002 NYC Marathon

Women's Top 15
1) Joyce Chepchumba (Kenya) 2:25:56; 2) Lyubov Denisova (Russia) 2:26:17; 3) Olivera Jevtic (Yugoslavia) 2:26:44; 4) Esther Kiplagat (Kenya) 2:27:00; 5) Marla Runyan (United States) 2:27:10; 6) Margaret Okayo (Kenya) 2:27:46; 7) Kerryn McCann (Australia) 2:27:51; 8) Lornah Kiplagat (Kenya) 2:28:41; 9) Ludmila Petrova (Russia) 2:29:00; 10) Milena Glusac (United States) 2:31:14; 11) Zinaida Semyonova (Russia) 2:31:39; 12) Sonia O'Sullivan (Ireland) 2:32:06; 13) Sylvia Mosqueda (United States) 2:33:47; 14) Kim Fitchen-Young (United States) 2:38:05; 15) Carol Howe (Canada) 2:38:37