By Lynn Zinser

Of all the American contenders to try and break the 27-year men’s drought in the New York City Marathon, Meb Keflezghi may have represented the American dream more than any of them. Born in war-torn Eritrea, one of 11 siblings in a village with no electricity, Keflezighi now wears his American citizenship on his chest. He was the one American contender who wore the letters U.S.A. on his running top Sunday.

And those letters crossed the finish line proudly and Keflezighi pointed to his jersey as the Central Park crowd roared, capturing the first American victory since Alberto Salazar last won it in 1982. Keflezighi tore away from Kenya’s Robert Cheruiyot as the two entered Central Park in a two-man race. He looked strong and kept pushing his lead in the final two miles, turning occasionally to make sure Cheruiyot, a five-time Boston Marathon winner, was not gaining on him.

He was not. Kefliezighi won in 2 hours, 9.15 minutes with Cheruiyot finishing in 2:09.56. Jaouad Gharib of Morroco finished third and Ryan Hall, the promising young American, rebounded to finish fourth.

Keflezighi doubled over to the ground after he crossed the line, crying.

As many as four Americans had hung in the lead back for a long while.But as the race turned down Fifth Avenue with four miles to go, it was the oldest and most experienced of them, Keflezighi holding the last hopes. He battled Cheruiyot of Kenya stride for stride, as the battle for the marathon title had whittled to the two men.

Cheruiyot a five-time winner of the Boston Marathon, is trying to win his first New York City Marathon. In his only previous race here, he finished fourth in 2005. Keflezighi, 34, has finished as high as second here (in 2004) but has never won a major marathon. He did, however, win a silver medal at the Athens Olympics.

A strong lead pack of 11 runners had surged off the Queensboro Bridge 16 miles into the race, with the huge crowd waiting on First Avenue in Manhattan, and to their amazement, four American runners were powering that pack.

But First Avenue quickly changed the race, with Keflezighi the only of the Americans surviving a major surge as the contending pack whittled to four runners as they made their quick turn through the Bronx. The pack was being paced by Kenyan training partners Cheruiyot and James Kwambai, along with Aberrahim Bouramdane of Morroco.

Hall, who won the United States Olympic trials marathon here in 2008, Abdi Abdirahman and Keflezighi, elite runners all harboring hopes of becoming the first American man since Alberto Salazar in 1982 to win this race, were joined by the marathon debutant Jorge Torres in that surge off the Queensboro Bridge. They quickly found themselves chasing 37-year-old Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa, who made his signature surge when seeing the crowds on First Avenue. The American contingent was hanging strong as the field began to string out a bit in the uphill portion of First Avenue.

It was the next surge, though, that separated the group. By Mile 19, Hall was 21 seconds back and Torres had fallen back 34 seconds.

The final surge was made by Keflezighi and Cheruiyot and they turned it into a two-man race down Fifth Avenue and into Central Park.

Bouramdane of Morocco had made the first move of the New York City Marathon, surging ahead on his own in the fourth mile of the 26.2-mile race, with a large pack of contenders running about seven seconds behind him, but by the 10th mile, the pack had pulled Bouramdane back in and 13 men ran comfortably together.

That pack included title contenders Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil, a two-time champion, Cheruiyot and Ramaala. Also joining the group for the first half of the race was Bolota Asmerom, a relatively unknown American who finished 10th in this race last year. He fell off the pace as the race crossed the Queensboro Bridge, which is also where dos Santos began to fall back.

Bouramdane, 31, tried to push the pace from the start of the race, but his first little breakaway was matched by Ramaala while still on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. After the first water station near the five-kilometer mark, Bouramdane pushed the pace again. The pack that included Ramaala and Patrick Makau of Kenya caught him before Bouramdane pulled away by himself again.

Bouramdane has won a single marathon in his career, a strange finish in the 2007 Ottawa Marathon, when two runners actually crossed the finish line ahead of him but were found to have taken a 400-meter shortcut. After a review, Bouramdane was declared the winner. He finished fifth in the New York Marathon last year.

The pack slowly reeled him in after his initial attempt to push the pace. The runners took turns at the front of the pack through 11 miles.

A year ago, dos Santos of Brazil pulled off a terrific victory, passing Morocco’s Abderrahim Goumri who suffered the effects of missing several drink stations and faltered in the final mile. Dos Santos took advantage and won his second New York City Marathon, having completely stunned the field in 2006. In that race, the big-name contenders had not followed a breakaway by dos Santos because, they said, they did not know who he was and did not believe he could win.

Source: New York Times

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(CBS) Meb Keflezighi has become the first American man to win the New York City Marathon since 1982.

Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist, earned his first major marathon title Sunday. Born in Eritrea, the 34-year-old became a U.S. citizen in 1998.

He was second in New York in 2004 and third in 2005. Keflezighi, wearing "USA on his chest, won in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 15 seconds.

Four-time Boston Marathon champ Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya was second. Morocco’s Jaouad Gharib finished third and American Ryan Hall was fourth. American Alberto Salazar won three straight NYC Marathons from 1980-82.

Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia was the women’s winner, with 41-year-old Russian Ludmila Petrova the runner-up for the second straight year.

Two-time defending champ Paula Radcliffe was fourth. The world record-holder from Britain fell back from the lead pack in the 22nd mile. She grabbed her left leg in pain after finishing.

The 37-year-old Tulu won Olympic gold medals on the track in the 10,000 meters in 1992 and 2000. She hadn’t won a major marathon since 2001 in London.

Christelle Daunay of France was third.

An estimated 40,000 people from around prepared to lace up for the New York City Marathon.

Runners began pounding the pavement Sunday morning on the Staten Island side of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The marathon also runs through Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan, reports CBS station WCBS-TV.  The race will then end in Central Park.

Columbus Circle, for thousands of marathoners, signals the homestretch – the finish line is just a few blocks away. The NYC Marathon is an amazing event, especially if you are running for a cause that is near and dear to your heart.

Such is the case for 29-year-old Matthew Reeve, an NYU graduate, documentary filmmaker, and the oldest son of late, famed actor Christopher Reeve.

"I haven’t run a marathon, haven’t run a half-marathon," Matthew says. "[I've] barely run a block."

But Matthew says he will run Sunday, and for a great cause: he’s running on behalf of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and spinal cord injury research.

"There’s nothing worse than seeing a child not able to walk, and I’ve seen far too many," Matthew says.

It was 1995 when a horse-riding accident left Matthew’s father, Christopher Reeve, paralyzed from the neck down. The actor best known as Superman would never walk again, but spent the rest of his life working passionately to raise money for paralysis research.

"Following my father’s injury, from a young age, I’ve always been aware and grateful for just the ability to move and not take it for granted, and do the simplest things," Matthew says.

Matthew’s goal is to raise $1,000 for every marathon mile.

"Even if I’m not raising millions of dollars, and it’s just a little bit, it’s going to help somewhere and I’m grateful for the opportunity," Matthew says.

Matthew Reeve was born in Great Britain. His mother is Gae Exton, Christopher Reeve’s former girlfriend.