Paula Radcliffe made a triumphant return to marathon racing and Martin Lel reprised his thrilling London victory to win at yesterday's New York City Marathon.

World record holder Radcliffe, running her first marathon in two years after taking a maternity break, beat Gete Wami after a race-long duel with a time of two hours, 23 minutes, nine seconds.

There was some consolation for Ethiopian Wami, whose runner-up finish clinched her a $500,000 prize for winning the women's World Marathon Majors title based on points accumulated in top marathons over the last two years.

Wami, winner of the Berlin Marathon 35 days ago, ran all the way with Radcliffe and nudged ahead of her briefly before the 2004 champion pulled away in the last few hundred metres in Central Park to win by 23 seconds.

Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia, winner of the last two New York races, finished third in 2:26:13.

In the men's race, Lel of Kenya pulled away from Moroccan Abderrahim Goumri in the last few hundred metres heading into Central Park for victory in 2:09:04.

The 2003 New York winner, who outsprinted Goumri to win in an exciting London finish earlier this year, was 12 seconds ahead of the Moroccan.

Goumri was shoulder to shoulder with the Kenyan but could not match his final kick.

The two New York marathon winners each collected a top prize of $130,000 in a race started by 39,085 runners.