New York City Marathon | Armstrong adds star power

NEW YORK — A Brazilian man finished strong to stun the favored Africans, ending their decade-long hold on the New York City Marathon. A Latvian woman ran away from the field to win her second straight title, and later wondered why no one challenged her.

And, despite another day of disappointment for Americans, cycling legend Lance Armstrong — a marathon rookie — thrilled the crowds Sunday in what he called "without a doubt the hardest physical thing I have ever done."

Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil made a remarkable New York debut, breaking away from the lead pack in the last quarter of the race and holding off an all-star field of challengers to become the first South American to win the race, man or woman. Gomes finished in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 58 seconds.

Women's defending champion Jelena Prokopcuka sped away early and ran alone at the end, becoming the first woman in more than a decade to win two straight titles in New York. She won in 2:25:05.

Armstrong crossed the finish line in 2:59:36, barely meeting his goal of breaking three hours. The seven-time Tour de France champion struggled at times, but — as he has so many times on his bicycle in the Alps — found the energy to meet the challenge.

The retired cyclist was battling shin splints and had never before run farther than 16 miles.

"I didn't train enough for a marathon," he said, his right shin heavily taped as he shuffled into a postrace news conference. "In 20 years of pro sports and endurance sports, even the worst days on the Tour, nothing felt like that or left me the way I feel now."

Armstrong was 856th, and several other celebrities also finished, including mountain climber Ed Viesturs (3:15:25) of Bainbridge Island, ex-Olympic gold-medal gymnast Shannon Miller (4:17:47), model Kim Alexis (4:39:49) and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (5:33:43).

In the final mile, as the race headed back into Central Park, Gomes surrendered about half the 30-second margin he had built over the Kenyans. He glanced over his shoulder several times, at one point doing a double take when he saw a figure right behind him. But it was a woman runner, who had started a half-hour before the men.

"It wasn't a surprise, to win a marathon you have to have courage and today I had courage," Gomes said through an interpreter. "I pushed the pace to get less people in the [lead] group. I kept pushing and they kept staying behind."

It certainly was a surprise to defending champion Paul Tergat, who acknowledged later he didn't know much about Gomes. He and Kenyan compatriot Stephen Kiogora worked together to push Gomes at the end, but ran out of room. Kiogora was second in 2:10:06, while Tergat was third. Kenyan men also took the fourth, fifth and seventh spots, with Olympic champion Stefano Baldini of Italy in sixth.

It was the first time in 10 years that an African man didn't win the race.

"Gomes, I did not know exactly who he was. When he decided to break, I think for some reason nobody wanted to move. We waited to see who else was going to move," Tergat said. "The guy was motivated. To try to close at the last stages, it was too late."

The top American was Peter Gilmore, who finished 10th in 2:13:13. U.S. runner Dathan Ritzenhein, making his marathon debut, was 11th in 2:14:01. Meb Keflezighi, who was third and second the last two years, finished 21st while battling a case of food poisoning.

The women's race became little more than a coronation after Prokopcuka made her bold move away from the lead pack, crushing the hopes of Deena Kastor, the world's top-ranked marathoner, who was favored to become the first American woman to win the race since 1977.

Prokopcuka led nearly from start to finish on a perfect day for a marathon — cool, cloudy and little wind. Kastor finished sixth in 2:27:54. Prokopcuka is the first woman to win two straight titles since Tegla Loroupe of Kenya in 1994-95.

A record 38,368 runners started the race.

The U.S. drought grew by another year. No American has won the New York City Marathon since Alberto Salazar in 1982, and no woman has won since 1977. Until 1977, every New York race was won by an American man and woman.

"We will be competitive again," said Salazar, who helped pace Armstrong, "but it's unrealistic to think we will ever dominate marathoning again."

In the men's race, a pack of nine runners led for the first three-quarters of the race. Gomes made his move heading into the Bronx, quickly opening a half-minute lead and maintaining it for the next few miles.

Wearing black gloves and sleeves up over his biceps, a black cap and yellow tank top, Gomes came across the finish line with his arms raised, then made the sign of the cross. Wide smiles crossed the Kenyans' faces as they finished behind the winner and immediately embraced Gomes, who wore a pained look.

Prokopcuka separated from the other favorites in the opening few strides of the race on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and joined Tatiana Hladyr of Ukraine in a breakaway as the race wound through Brooklyn. By the time the race reached Manhattan, they had built their lead to 40 seconds.

They kept pouring it on, extending their lead to nearly 90 seconds — more than a quarter-mile on the streets of New York — as they headed into the Bronx and then back into Manhattan, where Prokopcuka moved away from Hladyr for the final segment.

Prokopcuka broke the tape and kept on jogging for a few strides, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she pumped her fists in the air. She later said she had no idea why the other top runners didn't stay with her from the start.

"I didn't understand what was going on. It was a situation I couldn't understand," she said.

Hladyr finished second in 2:26:05, exactly a minute behind Prokopcuka. Two Kenyans who have won the Boston Marathon, four-time Boston winner Catherine Ndereba and 2006 winner Rita Jeptoo, were third and fourth.

Katie McGregor, an American making her marathon debut, was ninth.

The women's and men's winners of the race, whose primary sponsor is Dutch financial services company ING, earned $130,000 each.

Note

• Dean Karnazes, 44, of San Francisco completed his goal of running 50 marathons in 50 successive days.

"I feel really good. I feel like I got a little stronger over the 50 days," he said.

Karnazes said he had reached a goal of raising $100,000 for Karno Kids, a foundation he started to benefit youth-fitness programs.

New York City Marathon

At New York

MEN

Top 25 — 1. Marilson Gomes dos Santos, Brazil, 2 hours, 9 minutes, 58 seconds; 2. Stephen Kiogora, Kenya, 2:10:06; 3. Paul Tergat, Kenya, 2:10:10; 4. Daniel Yego, Kenya, 2:10:34; 5. Rodgers Rop, Kenya, 2:11:24; 6. Stefano Baldini, Italy, 2:11:33; 7. William Kipsang, Kenya, 2:11:54; 8. Hailu Negussie, Ethiopia, 2:12:12; 9. Hendrick Ramaala, South Africa, 2:13:04; 10. Peter Gilmore, San Mateo, Calif., 2:13:13; 11. Dathan Ritzenhein, Boulder, Colo., 2:14:01; 12. Youssef Galmin, Morocco, 2:14:54; 13. Thomas Nyariki, Kenya, 2:15:58; 14. Elias Kemboi, Kenya, 2:16:33; 15. Simon Wangai, Kenya, 2:16:59; 16. Francisco Bautista, Mexico, 2:17:30; 17. Joe Driscoll, Blowing Rock, N.C., 2:18:40; 18. Kassahun Kabiso, Ethiopia, 2:19:04; 19. Andrew Letherby, Australia, 2:19:53; 20. Matt Gabrielson, Apple Valley, Minn., 2:19:53; 21. Meb Keflezighi, San Diego, 2:22:02; 22. Doriano Bussolotto, Italy, 2:23:12; 23. Giovanni Auciello, Italy, 2:23:54; 24. Jonas Buud, Sweden, 2:23:55; 25. Christopher Zieman, Felton, Calif., 2:24:08.

WOMEN

Top 10 — 1. Jelena Prokopcuka, Latvia, 2:25:05; 2. Tatiana Hladyr, Ukraine, 2:26:05; 3. Catherine Ndereba, Kenya, 2:26:58; 4. Rita Jeptoo, Kenya, 2:26:59; 5. Lidiya Grigoryeva, Russia, 2:27:21; 6. Deena Kastor, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 2:27:54; 7. Nina Rillstone, New Zealand, 2:31:19; 8. Lornah Kiplagat, Netherlands, 2:32:31; 9. Katie McGregor, St. Louis Park, Minn., 2:32:36; 10. Susan Chepkemei, Kenya, 2:32:45.

WASHINGTON FINISHERS

357, Timothy King, Seattle, 2:49:43; 399, Ryan Rein, Mercer Island, 2:50:44; 457, Doug Jacobson, Pullman, 2:52:17; 822, Christopher Delgado, Bainbridge Island, 2:59:13; 955, Kevin Prentiss, Edmonds, 3:01:14; 1101, Dave Vanderhoff, Seattle, 3:03:59; 1374, Fred Wedam, Olympia, 3:08:02; 1641, Stephen Coller, Seattle, 3:11:16; 1692, Brent Biggar, Wenatchee, 3:11:45; 1734, David Murray, Maple Valley, 3:12:15; 1887, Trent Erickson, Federal Way, 3:13:47; 2061, Ed Viesturs, Seattle, 3:15:18; 2116, Sheldon Croden, Seattle, 3:15:43; 2399, Carl Krawitt, Seattle, 3:18:12; 2446, Matthew Kuzma, Seattle, 3:18:36; 2572, Rainer Leuschke, Seattle, 3:19:36; 2627, Ron Sielinski, Redmond, 3:20:05; 2684, Ross Wheeler, Kirkland, 3:20:37; 3123, Neal Potts, Seattle, 3:24:08; 3372, Debbie Smith, Bellevue, 3:25:40; 3826, Emily Newcomer, Seattle, 3:28:10; 3864, Mike Ogliore, Seattle, 3:28:23; 3866, Daniel Mendes, Mercer Island, 3:28:23; 4062, Quentin Ertel, Seattle, 3:29:20; 4158, David Levitsky, Wenatchee, 3:29:45; 4167, Jennifer Burtner, Olympia, 3:29:47; 4250, Peter Knowles, White Salmon, 3:30:10; 4261, Shari Brennecke, Everett, 3:30:13; 4281, Greg Boeh, Gig Harbor, 3:30:20; 4417, Stephen Lewis, Spokane, 3:31:00; 4471, Justin Pratt, Kirkland, 3:31:12; 4535, Terry Wong, Seattle, 3:31:35; 4559, Alicia Britt, Seattle, 3:31:41; 4715, Lincoln Davis, Seattle, 3:32:29; 4929, Todd Macdonald, Lynnwood, 3:33:39; 4961, Gary Blackbourn, Medina, 3:33:47; 5101, Greg Foster, Medina, 3:34:34; 5172, Cory Hilderbrand, Black Diamond, 3:34:54; 5186, Julie McAdoo, Seattle, 3:35:00; 5546, George Cooper, Seattle, 3:37:01; 5678, Olivia Gill, Seattle, 3:37:41; 5755, Joy Mendes, Mercer Island, 3:38:01; 5836, Michael Van Dijken, Seattle, 3:38:23; 5854, Blaise Buchowski, Seattle, 3:38:29; 6005, Raoul Jacquand, Issaquah, 3:39:03; 6038, Kerry Jones, Mount Vernon, 3:39:10; 6332, Dmitry Yermolayev, Seattle, 3:40:28; 6542, Timothy Byther, Graham, 3:41:26; 6622, Mark Kranwinkle, Seattle, 3:41:52; 7465, Maryanne Tomich, Fox Island, 3:45:18; 7684, Alicia Dower, Seattle, 3:46:10; 7718, Robin Secrist, Seattle, 3:46:19; 7859, Christopher Solomon, Seattle, 3:46:50; 8204, Kimberly Anderson, Kenmore, 3:48:10; 8784, Joel Glass, Bellevue, 3:50:04; 9022, Carl Philip, Monroe, 3:50:55; 9057, David Holm, Sammamish, 3:51:04; 9168, John Gayman, Seattle, 3:51:27; 9295, Janina Nye, Moses Lake, 3:51:54; 9508, Becky Santos, Olalla, 3:52:33; 10013, Ryan Narzisi, Seattle, 3:54:09; 10139, Stephanie Martin, Seattle, 3:54:31; 10410, Jeff Narver, Seattle, 3:55:17; 10443, Denise Hendrickson, Seattle, 3:55:21; 10779, Tine Colsted, Redmond, 3:56:19; 11060, Bryan Noyd, Wenatchee, 3:57:02; 11185, Jeffrey Moen, Bremerton, 3:57:23; 11237, Christopher Voss, Seattle, 3:57:30; 12260, Valerie Allison, Centralia, 4:00:11; 12431, Laverne Woods, Seattle, 4:00:43; 12666, Dan Dake, Woodinville, 4:01:36; 12679, Andrea Leuschke, Seattle, 4:01:39; 12692, Margaret Becker, Camas, 4:01:43; 13334, Kevin Bazzell, Bremerton, 4:04:03; 13790, Stig Carlson, Coupeville, 4:05:35; 13851, Peter Han, Seattle, 4:05:45; 14106, Anna Frey, Seattle, 4:06:34; 14545, Randolph Elde, Stanwood, 4:08:01; 14634, Richard Hansen, Seattle, 4:08:17; 14765, Mark Pennington, Seatle, 4:08:44; 15146, Yvonne Lillebo, Snohomish, 4:09:55; 15291, Tracy Nordhoff, Bellevue, 4:10:24; 15310, Kelly Keydel, Seattle, 4:10:27; 15547, Paul Kirschner, Gig Harbor, 4:11:14; 15877, Maria Cahoon, Seattle, 4:12:20; 15905, Linda Chen, Seattle, 4:12:26; 15978, Kathryn Picanco, Spokane, 4:12:37; 16087, Tyler Tullock, Bothell, 4:12:59; 16119, Melissa Frank, Seattle, 4:13:04; 16184, Gary Pratt, Kirkland, 4:13:18; 16185, Laurel Fortin, Woodinville, 4:13:18; 16286, Mike Mahanay, Seattle, 4:13:38; 16793, Jay Furtick, Seattle, 4:15:20; 16805, Elizabeth Hogger, Bainbridge Island, 4:15:22; 16823, Jamieson McKenzie, Bellingham, 4:15:24; 16827, Jeff Poppe, Mercer Island, 4:15:25; 17939, Jennifer Tran, Kirkland, 4:19:03; 18129, Bill Henry, Redmond, 4:19:35; 18147, Peter Spear, Seattle, 4:19:41; 18221, Cameron Ferroni, Seattle, 4:19:54; 18554, Jaco Kruger, Seattle, 4:20:57; 18620, Michael Mahoney, Redmond, 4:21:11; 18903, Spencer Lee, Seattle, 4:22:03; 19053, Chris Carman, Spokane, 4:22:29; 19289, Jon Mastrude, Seattle, 4:23:21; 19343, Rory O'Dwyer, Woodinville, 4:23:30; 19365, Pete Hendrickson, Bellevue, 4:23:34; 19391, Joe Day, Seattle, 4:23:39; 19409, April Rettkowski, Seattle, 4:23:42; 19498, Matt Sosnow, Seattle, 4:24:02; 19850, Geralyn Reed, Chehalis, 4:24:59; 20385, Kirsten Roberts, Seattle, 4:26:41; 20413, Paul Mendez Iii, Seattle, 4:26:49; 20936, Raelyn Hovig, Longview, 4:28:25; 21038, Robert Miracle, Sammamish, 4:28:44; 21815, Kimberly Smith, Seattle, 4:31:03; 21829, Sharon Skitch, Blaine, 4:31:07; 22117, Brenda Glasgow, Seattle, 4:32:05; 22162, Tristan Cross, Seattle, 4:32:13; 22444, Tze Hou Tai, Auburn, 4:33:08; 22550, Ted Niedermeyer, Spokane, 4:33:32; 22915, Sydney Hartsock, Snohomish, 4:34:51; 22916, Patty Fleischmann, Seattle, 4:34:51; 22963, Mary Mueting, Seattle, 4:35:00; 23301, Tamara Mackey, Seattle, 4:36:10; 23385, Glenn Myers, Seattle, 4:36:28; 23586, Sharon A Schneider, Cathlamet, 4:37:10; 23587, Paul Schneider, Cathlamet, 4:37:10; 23728, Claire Angel Grinstein, Seattle, 4:37:39; 23855, Nancy Urner, Seattle, 4:38:06; 23860, Betsy Urner, Seattle, 4:38:06; 23906, Jeannie Trautmann, Seattle, 4:38:13; 23929, Rob Downing, Bellevue, 4:38:18; 23989, Janet Solan, Seattle, 4:38:28; 23997, Denise Bundow, Seattle, 4:38:30; 24468, Rosemary Wheeler, Kirkland, 4:40:06; 24876, Owen Chang, Sammmamish, 4:41:40; 25063, Ryan Nash, Seattle, 4:42:22; 25151, Monika Schlamminger, Burien, 4:42:42; 25154, Stephan Schlamminger, Burien, 4:42:42; 25409, Suzanne L McGill, Medina, 4:43:32; 25452, Krystal Werner, Redmond, 4:43:43; 25789, Greg Guise, Lynnwood, 4:44:52; 26324, Lisa Wissner-Slivka, Clyde Hill, 4:46:44; 26568, Amy O'Hara, Vancouver, 4:47:41; 26755, Richard Prologo, Sammamish, 4:48:22; 26887, Lynn Schnapp, Seattle, 4:48:49; 26970, Meri Lynn Rheinschmidt, Seattle, 4:49:10; 27013, Nichole Leigh, Seattle, 4:49:18; 27022, Michael Mayes, Seattle, 4:49:19; 27026, Carol Mayes, Seattle, 4:49:19; 27427, Candy Klein, Tacoma, 4:50:49; 27446, Paula Viesturs, Bainbridge Island, 4:50:52; 27669, Jeff Trudeau, Spokane, 4:51:43; 27708, Michael Raskin, Kirkland, 4:51:54; 28144, Whitney Leibow, Seattle, 4:53:33; 28457, Irene Klima, Kenmore, 4:54:56; 28510, Robert Frank, Langley, 4:55:08; 28763, Kristin Brouillard, Port Orchard, 4:56:10; 28997, Stacie Feinstein, Seattle, 4:57:13; 29395, Richard Ranta, Seattle, 4:58:52; 29515, Heidi Lenssen, Kenmore, 4:59:22; 29692, Danielle Walters, Renton, 5:00:20; 29694, Jessica Zahn, Renton, 5:00:20; 29695, Wendy Kahn, Seattle, 5:00:21; 29937, Sheila McLaren, Seattle, 5:01:47; 30015, Maria Berardo, Kirkland, 5:02:15; 30027, Robert Smothers, Seattle, 5:02:19; 30066, Tiffany McDermott, Seattle, 5:02:31; 30068, Elaine Wine, Seattle, 5:02:31; 30338, Christina Annest, Tacoma, 5:04:01; 30339, Carrie Tellefson, Gig Harbor, 5:04:01; 30400, Anna Hughes, Seattle, 5:04:30; 30476, Michelle Capuyan, Seattle, 5:05:02; 30707, Paul J Constantine, Seattle, 5:06:24; 30988, Doerte Mahanay, Seattle, 5:08:27; 31010, Linda Roundtree, Renton, 5:08:36; 31316, Alex Chung, Shoreline, 5:10:29; 31347, Nathalie Ascher, Seattle, 5:10:38; 31475, Michael Tedesco, Sammamish, 5:11:33; 31636, Kimberly Westerhof, Seattle, 5:12:41; 32364, Patricia Senner, Gig Harbor, 5:18:01; 32372, Edwin Diaz, Bellingham, 5:18:04; 32457, Gavin Tierney, Seattle, 5:18:41; 32458, Susan Knightly, Seattle, 5:18:41; 32664, David Senner, Gig Harbor, 5:20:13; 33253, Stephanie Bennett, Seattle, 5:25:00; 33637, Shalisan Foster, Medina, 5:28:12; 33682, Carmen Gonzalez, Redmond, 5:28:31; 34493, Richard Hanson, Monroe, 5:36:46; 34819, Heather Moss, Tacoma, 5:40:25; 34852, Marti Williamson, Seattle, 5:40:47; 34893, Seng-Lai Tan, Seattle, 5:41:21; 35253, Karen Einwalter, Everett, 5:46:19; 35926, Karena Schneider, Seattle, 5:57:47; 36210, Arthur Miller, Vancouver, 6:04:25; 36211, Tiffany Borchgrevink, Bellevue, 6:04:25; 36212, David Suskind, Seattle, 6:04:26; 36250, Ron Youmans, Seattle, 6:05:27; 36279, Linda Brown, Seattle, 6:06:15; 36886, Audie Wallace, Snohomish, 6:25:02; 37141, Kyle Herr, Shoreline, 6:37:13; 37236, Susan Walter, Seattle, 6:42:14; 37259, Kathy Biever, Seattle, 6:43:23; 37271, Carol Dellinger, Spokane, 6:44:03; 37611, Sarah Reinhardt, Spokane, 7:06:12; 37673, Tori Hanson, Monroe, 7:14:29.