Veterans Ikangaa and Kristiansen Prevail in Tough New York Field : Marathon: Men’s winner sets course record in 2:08:01; women’s winner barely misses mark at 2:25:30. Second-place finishes by Ken Martin and Kim Jones return Americans to spotlight.

In Sunday’s New York City Marathon a torch was ignited and a light was sustained. Two wily veterans, Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway and Juma Ikangaa of Tanzania--runners for whom consistency is a hallmark--won their races and added another chapter to their already astonishing careers.

Two Americans--Kim Jones of Spokane, Wash. and Ken Martin of Santa Fe, N.M.--finished second in the women’s and men’s races, respectively, and at the same time offered hope to those who had mourned the decline of marathon excellence in this country.

It was a near-perfect day for the marathon’s 20th anniversary. The temperature at the start on Staten Island was 50 degrees, with no rain and little wind to hinder the 24,996 runners. That, plus a men’s field that may be one of the fastest assembled, gave promise of fast times and tactical racing.

The times came through but wicked racing materialized only in the men’s race. There, Ikangaa, who six times has run faster than 2 hours 8 minutes, sped away from a pack at 13 miles and won in 2:08:01, the second-best time of the year. Ikangaa also holds the fastest time of 1989. Kristiansen, who said she was only running to win, overcame stomach problems to finish first in the women’s race in 2:25:30, the 10th time she has run a marathon faster than 2:28.

Jones and Martin were huge surprises, as much because they are Americans as for reasons related to questions of talent. Jones’ performance was especially shocking--she has run, and won, the Twin Cities Marathon four weeks ago. At a time when most runners would have been recovering from that marathon, Jones was running in her second, and finishing second. Her time of 2:27:54 makes her the fourth-fastest U.S. woman in history. For another perspective on her performance, only six U.S. women have run faster than 2:30 and only Jones and Lisa Weidenbach have done it since 1985.

Martin, a former steeplechase runner, picked his way through the field and ran the last six miles in sight of the rapidly disappearing back of Ikangaa. Few believed Martin could sustain such a scorching pace, which was nearly two minutes faster than he had ever run. But Martin held on, finishing second in 2:09:38. To put that performance in perspective, Martin becomes the first U.S. man to break 2:10 since Alberto Salazar did it in 1983, and his mark is the 10th fastest time by an American.

He can thank Ikangaa for establishing a torturous pace. The 32-year-old Tanzanian ran the entire 26.2 miles hounded by both a tenacious pack and the haunting memory of holding the lead in three of his last four marathons, only to be overtaken in the final stages of the race.

“I was thinking about it, yes, I was,” Ikangaa said. “It is not my habit to look behind me when I am running, but I did that today.”

Behind him lay the waste of the most impressive men’s field in recent memory. Among the wreckage were:

--Gelindo Bordin of Italy, the reigning Olympic champion. Bordin, who is recovering from pneumonia, worked his way forward to finish third in 2:09:40.

--Belayneh Densimo of Ethiopia, the world record-holder. Densimo was never a factor and later revealed he was suffering from an ankle injury. He finished ninth.

--Steve Jones of Wales, the former world record-holder and defending champion. It was the gutty Jones who dared to hang with Ikangaa when the Tanzanian made his move coming off the Queensboro Bridge. Jones’ legs gave out and he finished eighth.

Ikangaa’s racing style is breathtakingly simple--run as hard as you can for as long as you can and hope that behind you the field is disheartened and disintegrated. It is a uniquely African approach. While other runners will frequently consult their watches as a pacing guide, African runners rarely wear running watches and would disregard splits and pacing, anyway.

It was this way Sunday with Ikangaa. He went through the half marathon mark at the Pulaksi Bridge at 1:03:44, only slightly behind world-record pace. The pack, which had been as large as 18 and as small as one, fell victim to Ikangaa’s deadly surges. This a practice that denies other runners a chance to establish a rhythm and also makes runners dip into energy reserves that are best saved for the last miles.

Some runners keep out of such tactical maneuvering. Jones elected to join in.

“I thought I’d make a few little surges and drop a few off the back of the pack,” Jones said. “Then I would duke it out with Juma. (But) It was me who dropped off.”

That battle took place at mile 13. After dispensing with Jones, Ikangaa had merely to glance back to assess his chances.

“I saw that he (Jones) was five meters back,” Ikangaa said. “I knew that they (the rest of the field) could not keep the pace.”

Jones faded while Bordin and fellow countryman Salvarore Bettiol made time. Bordin gained 41 seconds on Jones from 18 to 21 miles. Bettiol finished fourth.

Kristiansen had more trouble with her stomach than she had with other women in the field. As she has done countless times before, Kristiansen went out fast and dared anyone to catch her.

No one, who hoped to be around at the finish, tried.

Kristiansen, 33, breezed through the city streets where her countrywoman/rival Grete Waitz had been a crowd favorite. It was the first time Kristiansen has won here, and the victory edges her beyond Waitz, whose best running is behind her.

For Jones, who took up running at age 23, the best is surely ahead. And after accomplishing this astounding back-to-back marathon feat, her confidence has shot skyscraper-high.

“I took a chance,” she said. “I came here to run well. I guess it paid off. I can say, though, It’ll be a while before I run another marathon.”

Marathon Notes

Juma Ikangaa established a course record for the men and Ingrid Kristiansen was one second from equaling the course record for women. Ikangaa got $10,000 for bettering the course record. . . . Ikangaa and Kristiansen each won $26,385 in prize money and a car. Kim Jones’ husband is named Steve. She joked, “He’s not the Steve Jones, he’s a Steve Jones.” . . . Mark Nenow, who has been moving up from the 10,000 meters, ran well for 16 miles then dropped out. . . . Art Boileau of Canada, who won the Los Angeles Marathon this year, was 13th in 2:14:48. Zoya Ivanova of the Soviet Union who was the women’s winner at L.A., was sixth in 2:32:21.