Hot N’Deti Cools Field in Boston : Running: In his second marathon, 23-year-old Kenyan beats heat, strong field. Markova is women’s winner.

Cosmas N’Deti of Kenya gave his 4-day-old son a legacy Monday.

The new father said he approached the running of the Boston Marathon as a warrior would defend his family.

“When you are going to war, you must have a gun and bullets,” N’Deti said. “For me, this was like going to war. I must defend my family. When he grows, I will tell my son what I did and that he must also defend his family.”

As a warrior, N’Deti makes a great marathoner. Racing at the distance for only the second time, the 23-year-old postal clerk fought off all challengers and an unseasonal heat wave in winning the 97th Boston Marathon in 2 hours 9 minutes 33 seconds.

Kim Jae-Yong of Korea was second in 2:09:43, and Lucketz Swartbooi of Namibia was third in 2:09:57.

Olga Markova of Russia gained a measure of revenge for being left off her country’s Olympic team and easily repeated her women’s victory of last year. Her time was 2:25:27. Kim Jones of Spokane, Wash., was second in 2:30 and Carmen De Oliviera of Portugal was third in 2:31:18.

With temperatures hovering at 75 degrees at the finish line, the times were impressive. But the heat got to many top runners. Among the notable nonfinishers were Wanda Panfil of Poland, the 1991 world marathon champion; Abebe Mekonnen of Ethiopia, the former world record-holder; Stephan Freigang of Germany, the 1992 Olympic bronze medalist, and Valentina Egorova of Russia, the Olympic gold medalist.

N’Deti is one of the least-known winners of a major marathon in years. But he beat a stellar field that included eight of his countrymen, who are among the best distance runners in the world.

N’Deti tucked in with a pack of 18 runners that pulled out of the suburb of Hopkinton and wended its way the 26.2 miles to downtown Boston. The pace was conservative, in deference to the weather, and the race evolved into a tactical battle.

Despite his lack of experience at the distance, N’Deti’s tactics proved wisest: Keep contact with the lead pack, watch other runners to gauge their strength and be patient.

The pack began to string out at the halfway mark, where N’Deti was 11th. At 16 miles, another virtual unknown--Swartbooi--broke away, followed by Kim and Sammy Lelei of Kenya.

Behind them, N’Deti continued to move up, unnoticed. He overtook Kim at the 24th mile, then set off after an unsuspecting Swartbooi. Moments later, N’Deti took the lead. Kim mounted a surge of his own and passed Swartbooi in the last mile.

After the race, N’Deti was effusive but elusive.

When asked the correct spelling of his first name, N’Deti responded: “C-O-S-M-A-or U, if you prefer-S.”

“Which do you prefer?” N’Deti was asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” he replied, smiling.

N’Deti was also vague about the length of time he spent training in Japan, where he said his sponsors were too restrictive. He now trains in Southport, England, in between visits to his family in Kenya.

At first N’Deti said he hadn’t named his young warrior son, then said the boy’s name was the same as N’Deti’s father’s--Gideon.

N’Deti, who used to sell postage stamps part time in Machakos, in eastern Kenya, said his main concern Monday was to qualify for the Kenyan team for this summer’s World Championships. He did that and earned $65,000 for the victory, as did Markova.

Markova’s triumph lacked the drama of N’Deti’s. The 24-year-old led a pack of about five women until the halfway point, when she abruptly pulled away. In the receding pack was Egorova, who represented nothing but bitter memories for Markova.

Markova’s winning time last year was 2:23:43, the fastest in the world. But the Olympic selectors for the Commonwealth of Independent States snubbed her. When Egorova won the gold medal at Barcelona, Markova was watching on television.

Reporters tried again and again to elicit a response to revenge questions, but Markova proved to be fast with a cliche as well.

“Of course, it is every athlete’s dream to compete in the Olympic Games,” she said. “But that was in the past. I do not live in the past.”

One runner who looms in the United States’ future is Mark Plaatjes, who was sixth in 2:12:39. He would have counted as the first American male finisher, except that the former South African’s U.S. citizenship is still pending. Plaatjes, who applied for citizenship six years ago, is expected to get it in July.

Sentimental favorite Joan Benoit Samuelson was sixth among women in 2:35:43.

“This will keep me going,” she said. “I wanted to come and be a part of the race. I wanted to finish somewhere in the middle of a tough field.”