Woods misses out on New York win

British Paralympian Shelly Woods had to settle for second place in the New York marathon behind an imperious Amanda McGrory who smashed the course record on her way to claiming her first New York title.

Woods, from Blackpool, pushed the American hard throughout the race but couldn’t overturn a lead that saw McGrory finish in 1:50.24. The 25-year-old was two minutes behind in 1:52.52.

McGrory, a four-time Paralympic medalist, also won the Paris and London Marathons earlier this year, with just a week’s break between the two.

In October, she finished second in a marathon in Japan.

“It’s tough,” she said.

“It’s one of those things that’s unfeasible for a runner to do, but a little bit more reasonable for a wheelchair racer.”

She described the victory as “fabulous.”

“I couldn’t ask for a better day weather-wise. The crowd was phenomenal as always. I felt great and pulled away at the halfway mark, was feeling strong and took it home,” she said.

In the men’s race, Masazumi Soejima picked up a surprise win, beating hot favourite Kurt Fearnley of Australia into second place.

GB star David Weir was missing from the race, opting to take time out to spend time with his newborn son and focus on training for the 2012 Paralympics back home in London.

Soejima, the first ever Japanese winner of the race, dedicated his win to the victims of the recent earthquake in his home country.

“I made a promise with the children athletes in Oita that I was going to win the New York City Marathon,” he said.

“I’m very happy that I kept that promise.”

Australian Kurt Fearnley suffered brake failure during his race, forcing him to race at greatly reduced speed for more than half of the 26 miles.

“Shattered, absolutely shattered,’’ said the Paralympic champion.

“I came here pushing quicker than I ever have before so to have things affected by my steering and not my arms is pretty disappointing.’’