Meb Keflezighi became the first American man to win the New York City Marathon since 1982 today. Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia won the women's race, with two-time defending champ Paula Radcliffe falling back to fourth then grabbing her left leg in pain after finishing. Wearing "USA" on his chest, Keflezighi won in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 15 seconds. "The USA gave me all the opportunities there is in education, sports and lifestyle," he said. "To be able to represent the USA is a big thing for me."
Keflezighi pulled away from Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya in the 23rd mile to beat the four-time Boston Marathon champ by 41 seconds. Russian Ludmila Petrova, 41, was the runner-up for the second straight year in the women's race, while Christelle Daunay of France was third. Radcliffe said she had tendinitis behind her knee. The world record-holder from Britain failed to win a marathon for just the third time in 11 starts. Nearly 44,000 runners started the 40th edition of the race. (More New York City Marathon stories.)