Athletics: Kenyans make mark in New York

Kenya continued to exert its awesome power in road racing yesterday when John Kagwe won the New York marathon in near-record time.

Kagwe, running virtually alone in the rain for the final two miles of the 26.2 mile course, finished in 2hr 8min 12sec, 11sec off the course record set by Juma Ikangaa of Tanzania in 1983.

The victory was a natural progression for the 28-year-old Kenyan, who finished fifth in New York in 1995 and fourth last year. Another Kenyan, Joseph Chebet, came second in 2:09:27, four seconds ahead of Italy's Stefano Baldini.

The women's race was surprisingly won by Switzerland's Franziska Rochat- Moser in a time of 2:28:43.