Nov 5, 2006 12:53 pm US/Eastern
Gomes Wins Men's Title In NYC Marathon
NEW YORK (AP) ―
Brazil's Marilson Gomes dos Santos made a remarkable New York City Marathon 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.
Gomes finished in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 58 seconds. A pair of Kenyans, Stephen Kiogora and defending champion Paul Tergat, were second and third.
Defending women's champion Jelena Prokopcuka sped away from the other top contenders early in the race Sunday and ran by herself at the end, becoming the first woman in more than a decade to win two straight New York City Marathon titles.
The Latvian's bold move away from the lead pack turned the race into little more than a coronation and crushed 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.
"It was a star-studded field out there, and I knew it was going
to be a tough day," Kastor said. "And it was."
Among the men's racers, a pack of nine runners — including three Americans — led for the first three-quarters of the race. Gomes made his move heading into The Bronx, quickly opening a 30-second lead and maintaining it for the next few miles.
Tergat and Kiogora made a joint effort to catch the Brazilian as the race wound through Central Park. In the final mile, along Central Park South, Gomes looked over his shoulder several times as the Kenyans closed in. But then he pulled away for the victory.
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 crossed behind the winner and embraced Gomes, who wore a pained look.
Lance Armstrong was among the celebrities still on the course. The seven-time Tour de France champion was making his marathon debut, and he was on pace to meet his goal of finishing in less than 3 hours.
Prokopcuka led nearly from start to finish and won in 2 hours, 25 minutes and 5 seconds on a perfect day for a marathon - cool, cloudy and little wind.
She separated from the other favorites in the opening few strides of the race on the Verrazano Bridge, and joined Tatiana Hladyr of Ukraine in a breakaway as the race wound through Brooklyn. By the time the race reached Manhattan, the two Eastern European women 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 heading toward the finish line in Central Park.
Hladyr finished second in 2:26.05, exactly a minute behind Prokopcuka. A pair of Kenyans, four-time Boston Marathon winner Catherine Ndereba and 2006 Boston winner Rita Jeptoo, were third and fourth. Kastor finished sixth in 2:27.54. Another American, Katie McGregor, was ninth in her debut marathon.
Prokopcuka is the first woman to win two straight titles since Tegla Loroupe of Kenya in 1994-95.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
