Enlarge By Shannon Stapleton, Reuters American Meb Keflezighi celebrates his win at the New York City Marathon on Sunday. USA TODAY'S DICK PATRICK AT THE NYC MARATHON USA TODAY'S DICK PATRICK AT THE NYC MARATHON FOLLOW THE NEW YORK CITY MARATHON ON TWITTER FOLLOW THE NEW YORK CITY MARATHON ON TWITTER NEW YORK  The tears started after Meb Keflezighi raised his arms as he crossed the finish line in first place Sunday in the New York City Marathon. There was so much to absorb. RESULTS: Men RESULTS: Women •He was the first U.S. male to win the race since Alberto Salazar in 1982. •He had just won his first 26.2 mile race and his time — 2 hours, 9 minutes, 15 seconds — was a personal best, on a course considered slow, especially with headwinds for much of the day. •He took control near the spot in Central Park where Ryan Shay, his friend and ex-training partner, collapsed and later died with heart problems in the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2007. During that race, Keflezighi fractured his hip and feared his running career was over. "It was very emotional when I finished," said Keflezighi, who made the sign of the cross after the finish and when he passed the point where Shay had collapsed. "Part of it is just visualizing your dream and your dreams have become reality…The other part was Ryan Shay. That's what I was most crying about was that and how proud he would have been with me." RACE NOTES: Keflezighi's finish bodes well for U.S. Keflezighi, 34, in his fifth NYC Marathon, outlasted a men's field that race director Mary Wittenberg called the best in race history. There were 10 runners with faster personal bests than Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist. "To come out of top of that, you know, it was huge," said Keflezighi. Keflezighi, who has two daughters with a third due in late January, took a tip from his wife, Yordanos Asgedom, who doesn't run but told him to be patient and not make major moves before Central Park. Bob Larsen, his coach for 15 years, counseled the same strategy. Just after entering the park at about 24 miles, Keflezighi surged away from Kenya's Robert Cheruiyot, a four-time Boston Marathon champ, who wound up second (2:09:56). "I just prayed this would be my day," Keflezighi said. It was. And it was a payday worth $200,000, including a time bonus. "It just doesn't get any better," said Keflezighi, who also won his fifth U.S. title of the year, the 20th of his career. Keflezighi was feeling precisely the opposite two years ago during what he calls "the darkest of the dark times." The date of the Olympic trials, held in Central Park the day before the NYC Marathon, is seared in his memory — Nov. 3, 2007. He finished eighth in the race. His training indicated excellent fitness but he had gotten sick a few days before. He was dehydrated during the race and his calves cramped for the second half. Changing his running gait, he wound up with a stress fracture in his hip, though the injury was not detected for a couple of months. For the next day or two, he couldn't walk, crawling around his hotel room on all fours. His legs were so swollen he couldn't attend Shay's funeral. Keflezighi didn't fully recover until a year ago when he spent most of October and November at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, undergoing physical therapy on his right leg, from hip to toes. That's why Keflezighi received a heart-felt congratulations from fourth-place finisher Ryan Hall, a neighbor of Keflezighi in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., and a training partner. "Just seeing him go through those hard times, a lot of people were kind of writing him off, saying he'd older and he's had too many injuries and all this," said Hall. "He's just one of those guys that you want to see do well." Keflezighi's journey has been a lot more than thousands of training miles. His father left Keflezighi's native Eritrea in 1981 because of the war of independence against Ethiopia. Four years later Meb and the rest of the family joined him in Italy for two years before coming to the United States in 1987. All 11 children have earned college degrees; the family celebrates its coming to America each October on the anniversary of their arrival. "Meb is the quintessential American immigrant story," said Wittenberg. "This couldn't have happened to a nicer guy." Kefezighi has come a long way since he won a mile race in seventh-grade physical-education class and later earned a scholarship to UCLA. He received a contract from Nike after writing an executive — none other than Salazar — following college graduation. He's experienced highs and lows in New York. He made his marathon debut in 2002, finishing ninth. He was second in '04 and third in '05. He was primed for a great race in 2006 but got food poisoning a couple of days before the race and finished 20th. "It's just not easy to pick up a win in a major marathon," said a disappointed Hall. "Everything's got to click right on the day… I've learned so much from Meb." Keflezighi hopes his story of persistence reaches others. "I hope to be an example. When the going gets tough, there is light at the end of the tunnel if you keep your hopes high." Derartu Tulu, 37, of Ethiopia won the women's race in 2:28:52. Ludmilla Petrova of Russia was second (2:29:00). World recordholder Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain, seeking a fourth NYC title and winner of eight of her previous 10 marathons, was fourth (2:29:27). She was cramping at the end of the race and had been dealing with left hamstring problems in her training. It was Tulu's first major marathon win since London in 2001. Christelle Daunay of France was third. Results: Men 1. Meb Keflezighi, Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 2 hours, 9 minutes, 15 seconds. 2. Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot , Kenya, 2:09:56. 3. Jaouad Gharib , Morocco, 2:10:25. 4. Ryan Hall , Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 2:10:36. 5. Abderrahime Bouramdane, Morocco, 2:12:14. 6. Hendrick Ramaala, South Africa, 2:12:31. 7. Jorge Torres, Boulder, Colo., 2:13:00. 8. Nick Arciniaga, Rochester Hills , Mich., 2:13:46. 9. Abdi Abdirahman, Tucson , Ariz., 2:14:00. 10. Jason Lehmkuhle, Minneapolis, 2:14:39. 11. Jackson Kotut Kipkoech, Kenya, 2:15:10. 12. Peter Gilmore, San Mateo, Calif., 2:15:22. 13. Migidio Bourifa, Italy, 2:16:01. 14. Mike Sayenko, Bellevue, Wash., 2:16:38. 15. Mike Reneau, Houlton, Wis., 2:16:45. 16. Jose Telles De Souza, Brazil, 2:17:28. 17. Allen Wagner, Huntington Valley, Pa., 2:17:49. 18. Max King, Bend, Ore., 2:19:11 19. Mohammed Awol, Ethiopia, 2:19:31. 20. Christopher Raabe, Washington, 2:19:49. 21. Pat Tarpy, Providence, R.I ., 2:20:43. 22. Antonio Liuzzo, Italy, 2:22:36. 23. Helder Ornelas, Portugal, 2:22:44. 24. Brett Winegar, Shoreline, Wash., 2:23:11. 25. Bryan Morseman, Addison, N.Y., 2:23:50. 26. Filippo Lo Piccolo, Italy, 2:24:04. 27. Josh Eberly, Gunnison, Colo., 2:24:10. 28. Nelson Laux, Arvada, Colo., 2:24:19. 29. Kassahun Kabiso, Ethiopia, 2:24:43. 30. Andrew Cloke, Newark, Del., 2:24:48. 31. Brian Sell, Rochester, Mich., 2:24:59. 32. Dan McGrath, Lynbrook, N.Y., 2:25:05. 33. Felipe Garcia, Mexico, 2:25:24. 34. Hermann Achmuller, Italy, 2:26:14. 35. Antonio Santi, Italy, 2:26:23. 36. Stuart Burton, Britain, 2:26:24. 37. Tito Fiorenzo Tiberti, Italy, 2:26:34. 38. Halefom Abebe Tsegaye, Ethiopia, 2:26:35. 39. Francisco Ribera, Spain, 2:26:48. 40. Victor Rodrigues, France, 2:26:56. 41. Oleksander Holovnytskyy, Ukraine, 2:27:39. 42. Deresse Deniboba, Ethiopia, 2:27:48. 43. Mirko Canaglia, Italy, 2:27:52. 44. Miguel Beltran Mendez, Spain, 2:27:59. 45. Benjamin Paredes, Mexico, 2:28:01. 46. Larry Contrella, New York, 2:28:11. 47. Francesco Duca, Italy, 2:28:15. 48. Sergey Kaledin, Russia, 2:28:17. 49. Stephen Littler, Britain, 2:28:42. 50. Michael Cassidy, Staten Island, N.Y., 2:28:57. 51. Giovanni Ruggiero, Italy, 2:29:02. 52. Tesfaye Girma, Ethiopia, 2:29:36. 53. Francisco Javier Rodriguez Tovar, Spain, 2:29:41. 54. Brian Wilder, Britain, 2:29:53. 55. C Fred Joslyn, Binghamton, N.Y., 2:29:54. 56. Didier Brocard, Switzerland, 2:30:14. 57. Fasil Bizuneh, Flagstaff, Ariz., 2:30:28. 58. Andrew Allstadt, Albany, N.Y., 2:30:33. 59. Veloso Francisco, Belgium, 2:30:46. 60. Alessandro Dilello, Italy, 2:31:06. 61. Michael Dixon, Fanwood, N.J., 2:31:22. 62. Brian Arreborg Hansen, Denmark, 2:31:26. 63. Daniel Whitt, New York, 2:31:37. 64. Michael Harbus, New York, 2:31:41. 65. Joe Mundt, Mission, Kan., 2:31:41. 66. Enrico Vivian, Italy, 2:31:57. 67. Steven Kinney, New York, 2:31:58. 68. Christoph Hubacher, Switzerland, 2:32:03. 69. Peter Vail, Canada, 2:32:05. 70. Rob Hampson, New York, 2:32:10 71. Adam Nevens, Santa Monica, Calif., 2:32:14. 72. Pierre Senac, France, 2:32:32. 73. Ryan Linden, Rochester Hills, Mich., 2:32:40. 74. Noreddine Khezzane, France, 2:32:41. 75. Chris Lundstrom, Minneapolis, 2:32:45. 76. Primoz Kobe, Slovenia, 2:33:02. 77. Tom Dichiara, New York, 2:33:13. 78. Gabriele Abate, Italy, 2:33:20. 79. Ulrich Fluhme, Germany, 2:33:31. 80. Miguel Angel Pulido Garcia, Spain, 2:33:33. 81. Aaron Hoover, Boulder, Colo., 2:33:43. 82. Ramon Maria Perea Hormigo, Spain, 2:33:46. 83. Jeremy Battles, New York, 2:33:54. 84. Orest Babyak, Ukraine, 2:34:21. 85. Francisco Roman Fernandez, Spain, 2:34:31. 86. Karl Byrne, Ireland, 2:34:43. 87. Andreas Groth, Denmark, 2:34:46. 88. Keith Forlenza, Whitestone, N.Y., 2:34:49. 89. Adam Siepiola, Long Beach, N.Y., 2:34:52. 90. Eric Larripa, France, 2:35:02. 91. Jerry Faulkner, Edmond, Okla., 2:35:09. 92. Frank Loeschner, Germany, 2:35:20. 93. Justin Nyberg, Santa Fe, 2:35:28. 94. Michael Arnstein, New York, 2:35:34. 95. Adam Mulia, Brooklyn, N.Y., 2:35:40. 96. Paolo Bravi, Italy, 2:35:47. 97. G. Casanova Alig, Princeton, N.J., 2:36:05. 98. Alemayehu Sitotaw, Norway, 2:36:14. 99. Pedro Espinosa, Freehold, N.J., 2:36:16. 100. Christopher Jordan, Britain, 2:36:22. -- Women 1. Derartu Tulu , Ethiopia, 2:28:52. 2. Ludmila Petrova, Russia, 2:29:00. 3. Christelle Daunay, France, 2:29:16. 4. Paula Radcliffe , Britain, 2:29:27. 5. Salina Kosgei, Kenya, 2:31:53. 6. Magdalena Lewy Boulet, Oakland, 2:32:17. 7. Buzunesh Deba, Bronx, N.Y., 2:35:54. 8. Serkalem Biset Abrha, Santa Fe, 2:37:20. 9. Yuri Kano, Japan, 2:39:05. 10. Desiree Ficker, Austin, Texas, 2:39:30. 11. Catha Mullen, New York, 2:43:13. 12. Christine Ramsey, Baltimore, 2:44:37. 13. Heidi Westover, Acworth, N.H., 2:44:59. 14. Sopagna Eap, McKinleyville, Calif., 2:45:15. 15. Hirut Mandefro, Ethiopia, 2:47:03. 16. Therese Hagersjo, Sweden, 2:49:02. 17. Joan Samuelson , Freeport, Maine, 2:49:09. 18. Lisa Huetthaler, Austria, 2:49:33. 19. Michelle Ross Cope, Britain, 2:49:48. 20. Rebecca Yau, New York, 2:51:22. 21. Felice Kelly, New York, 2:51:55. 22. Jenifer Martin, Clifton, N.J., 2:52:12. 23. Veronica Clemens, New York, 2:52:15. 24. Jill Hodgins, Ireland, 2:52:21. 25. Diane Petruzzelli, Lincroft, N.J., 2:53:03. — USA TODAY's Dick Patrick provided a live Twitter feed of the elite races, which can be seen to left. The following feed is from runners and spectators at the marathon. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more