South America gets first New York marathon win

A Brazilian man stunned the favored Africans, ending their decade-long hold on the New York City Marathon, and a Latvian woman ran away from the field to win her second straight title.

And, despite another disappointing day for Americans, marathon rookie Lance Armstrong 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 winner in 2 hours 9 minutes 58 seconds. Kenya’s Stephen Kiogora was second in 2:10:06.

Women’s defending champion Jelena Prokopcuka ran alone at the end, finishing in 2:25:05 to become the first woman in more than a decade to win two straight New York titles.

Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France champion, finished 856th in 2:59:36.

The top American was Peter Gilmore, who finished 10th in 2:13:13. Rookie Dathan Ritzenhein was 11th in 2:14:01. Meb Keflezighi, third and second the last two years, finished 21st while battling food poisoning.

Deena Kastor was sixth in 2:27:54 in the women’s race.