A Race for Heart of New York

Arcs of red, white and blue balloons spanned the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and 50 doves fluttered overhead just before the race.

Off to their left, 25,000 runners, had a clear view of lower Manhattan--where the World Trade Center once stood. This New York City Marathon was unlike any other, and not simply because both winners set course records Sunday.

Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia and Margaret Okayo of Kenya pulled away for comfortable victories in an event dedicated to victims of Sept. 11 under the motto “United We Run.”

Jifar completed the 26.2 miles in 2 hours 7 minutes, 43 seconds; Okayo finished in 2:24:21.

Agoura Hills’ Deena Drossin, a two-time U.S. 10,000-meter champion competing in her first marathon, won the U.S. women’s title in 2:26:58 and was seventh overall. It was the first time the New York marathon was designated as the national championship. Scott Larson, of Boulder, Colo., clocked 2:15:26 to take the U.S. men’s title and finish 13th overall.

Drossin’s time was the fastest by an American woman in the history of this race, 56 seconds better than Kim Jones in 1989.

Yet this was more than about personal achievements. About 10 people ran in place of relatives killed Sept. 11, including Ralph Maerz, a 56-year-old whose 29-year-old son Noell died in Tower 2.

Also in the race were Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Claire Fletcher, CBS News anchor Dan Rather’s assistant. Fletcher tested positive for skin anthrax last month, among the first cases made public.

“It was very moving. Every time I went by a firehouse, I couldn’t help but tip my hat,” said 1984 Olympic champion Joan Benoit Samuelson, who finished 21st in the women’s division.

“The crowds were thicker than I can recall being along First Avenue and in the Park when I’ve run here before. I hope this will help in the healing process for the city.”

The number of participants was about 5,000 fewer than expected, which race organizers attributed to fears about safety.

Jifar was the first Ethiopian to win the race, and he broke the 12-year-old course record of 2:08:01 set by Tanzania’s Juma Ikangaa.

Okayo trimmed 19 seconds off the race record set by Australia’s Lisa Ondieki in 1992. It was the fourth time the men’s and women’s New York course records were broken on the same day.