updated 10:44 a.m. ET Nov. 6, 2006

NEW YORK - A Brazilian man finished strong to stun the favored Africans, ending their decade-long hold on the New York City Marathon. A Latvian woman ran away from the field to win her second straight title, and later wondered why no one challenged her.

And, despite another day of disappointment 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 to win the race, man or woman. Gomes finished in 2 hours, 9 minutes and 58 seconds.

Women’s defending champion Jelena Prokopcuka sped away early and ran alone at the end, becoming the first woman in more than a decade to win two straight titles in New York. She won in 2:25:05.

Armstrong crossed the finish line in 2:59:36 seconds, barely meeting his goal of breaking 3 hours. The seven-time Tour de France champion struggled at times, but — as he has so many times on his bicycle in the Alps — found the energy to meet the challenge.

He was battling shin splints and had never before run longer than 16 miles.

“I didn’t train enough for a marathon,” he said, his right shin heavily taped as he shuffled into a post-race news conference. “In 20 years of pro sports and endurance sports, even the worst days on the Tour, nothing felt like that or left me the way I feel now.”

In the final mile, as the race headed back into Central Park, Gomes surrendered about half the 30-second margin he had built over the Kenyans. He glanced over his shoulder several times, at one point doing a double-take when he saw a figure right behind him. But it was a woman runner, who had started a half-hour before the men.

“It wasn’t a surprise, to win a marathon you have to have courage and today I had courage,” Gomes said through an interpreter. “I pushed the pace to get less people in the (lead) group. I kept pushing and they kept staying behind.”

It certainly was a surprise to defending champion Paul Tergat, who acknowledged later he didn’t know much about Gomes. He and Kenyan compatriot Stephen Kiogora worked together to push Gomes at the end, but ran out of room. Kiogora was second in 2:10:06, while Tergat was third. Kenyan men also took the fourth, fifth and seventh spots, with Olympic champion Stefano Baldini of Italy in sixth.

It was the first time in 10 years that an African man didn’t win the race.

Kathy Willens / AP Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil crosses the finish line to win the New York City Marathon on Sunday. Gomes finished in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 58 seconds.

“Gomes, I did not know exactly who he was. When he decided to break, I think for some reason nobody wanted to move. We waited to see who else was going to move,” Tergat said. “The guy was motivated. To try to close at the last stages, it was too late.”

The top American was Peter Gilmore, who finished 10th in 2:13:13. U.S. runner Dathan Ritzenhein, making his marathon debut, was 11th in 2:14:01. Meb Keflezighi, who was third and second the last two years, finished 21st while battling a case of food poisoning.

The women’s race became little more than a coronation after Prokopcuka made her bold move away from the lead pack, crushing 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.

Prokopcuka led nearly from start to finish on a perfect day for a marathon — cool, cloudy and little wind. Kastor finished sixth in 2:27:54. Prokopcuka is the first woman to win two straight titles since Tegla Loroupe of Kenya in 1994-95.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Rough and tumble baseball, a grand golf finish, a driver captures the flag, and more. more photos

A record 38,368 runners started the race.

Armstrong was 856th, and several other celebrities also finished, including mountain climber Ed Viesturs (3:15:25), former Olympic gold-medal gymnast Shannon Miller (4:17:47), model Kim Alexis (4:39:49) and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (5:33:43).

The U.S. drought grew by another year. No American has won the New York City Marathon since Alberto Salazar in 1982, and no woman has won here since 1977. Until 1977, every New York race by won by an American man and woman.

MORE FROM OTHER SPORTS

Other sports Section Front

Chestnut downs 68 hot dogs to keep title World Series of Poker expects longer main event Mike Smith to pilot Mine That Bird Dry Martini wins Suburban Handicap at Belmont Presious Passion wins United Nations Stakes Amid downturn, a rally to save youth sports Moreno retains WBA bantamweight title Swiss unveil giant catamaran for Cup defense Mexican wrestlers drugged to death Big payday could help Mayweather fend off IRS Other sports Section Front   Add Other sports headlines to your news reader: