Yesterday morning, Briton Paula Radcliffe won the women's NYC Half Marathon, with a time of 1:09:45—her first race since winning last year's NYC Marathon. Tadese Tola of Ethiopia won the men's race, finishing at 1:01:06. Radcliffe, who had bunion surgery in March and is considering running a marathon in Berlin this weekend, decided to run in the race at the last minute. She told the New York Road Runners, "I needed to blow out some racing cobwebs. I’m the first to admit that this is an unorthodox way to test myself for a marathon—running a half-marathon a week out." more ›

Despite rising numbers of local participants running in its races, the New York Road Runners announced that will put caps on how many entrants they allow starting next year. The races in Central Park will now have a ceiling of 5,000 runners--a number surpassed by over a third of 27 its races this past year. The change is being made to enhance the overall experience of runners, not for any specific health or safety concerns. The 5,000 cap will not apply to the two biggest races--the New York City Marathon and NYC Half-Marathon, much bigger affairs--but those will now see limits as well. Mary Wittenberg, NYRR President, told the Times, “The biggest change is that it will force runners to decide early what races they want to run in. Up until now, they had the luxury of waiting basically until race day." more ›

With less than two weeks to go until the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Kenya's Catherine "The Great" Ndereba came into today's NYC Half Marathon for a final tuneup. She walked away with her 2nd victory in the three-year event, (she was 2nd in 2007) finishing in a time of 1:10:18. 20-year-old Tadesse Tola of Ethiopia won the men's race in a time of 1:00:58, saying afterwards that it was his "best performance ever." Dathan Ritzenhein, running for the the United States marathon team in Beijing said that the conditions in today's race are similar to what he expects in Beijing. The 13.1 mile course began in Central Park, down 7th Ave through Times Square, west across 42nd St, and down the West Side Highway to a finish in Battery Park. For their winning efforts, Ndereba and Tola each walk away with $10,000. more ›