Martin Lel of Kenya won the men's title, making his kick in the final mile to edge Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 4 seconds in the first race without a pacesetter. Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa finished third in 2:11:25.

Radcliffe, the world-record holder, ran almost the entire race with Wami on her heels before pulling away over the last mile. She finished in 2:23:09 in cool, sunny conditions. It's her second NYC Marathon title, having won in 2004 after a dropping out of the Athens Olympics marathon.

Wami, running her second marathon in only 35 days, finished in 2:23:32 and won the inaugural $500,000 World Marathons Majors title.

Two-time defending champion Jelena Prokopcuka was a distant third in 2:26:13, a day after elite runner Ryan Shay collapsed and died at the U.S. men's marathon trails in Central Park. There was a moment of silence for Shay before the start of the men's race.

The 33-year-old Radcliffe was greeted by her husband Gary Lough and daughter Isla at the finish line. She hadn't run a marathon since the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, but ran during her pregnancy, including 12 days after she gave birth.

Radcliffe and Wami made it a two-woman race early. They extended their lead to 2 minutes at the 10-mile mark ahead of Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia, Catherine Ndereba of Kenya and Prokopcuka.