Petrova, who became the first Russian woman to win the New York marathon in 2000, held off a strong finish by America's Kara Goucher in Sunday's race to cross the line in 2:25:43 to take second place, some two minutes behind Britain's Paula Radcliffe at 2:23:56.
Petrova, 40, also became the first woman over 40 to finish in the top two since 1987.
Petrova told Allsport.ru after the race, "I can't say it was my best success ever, but it was fantastic. Somewhere after 30 km Paula upped the pace and I couldn't stay with her... It wasn't a case of me being tired and needing a less tiring pace, no, she just managed to wind up the speed even higher. And I did everything I could."
Talking about her future plans, Petrova, whose husband was tragically killed in a car crash in 2005, said she had no plans to retire. "I'm a professional and provide for my family, and while I am at this level I see no reason to stop. And as you can see my results aren't bad."
The second-highest placed Russian to finish was Lyubov Morgunova, who came in ninth with a time of 2:30:38.
In the men's race Marilson Gomes Dos Santos from Brazil came first in 2:08:43, just ahead of Moroccan Abderrahim Goumri in 2:09:07. Kenya's Daniel Rono took third place in 2:11:12.
