Tatiana Aryasova won the LA Marathon

Russian Tatiana Aryasova won the LA Marathon, and the $100,000 "Banco Popular Challenge" with an unofficial time of 2:09:32, beating out the top "elite" male runner, Laban Moiben of Kenya, who clocked in with an unofficial time of 2:13:50. The petite Aryasova is in peak shape; she recently gave birth and resumed her training rapidly.


2008 LA Marathon Tatiana Aryasova Mile 21

She made a smashing marathon debut Sunday, taking advantage of a head start on the male runners to capture the Los Angeles Marathon.

She held off a group of Kenyan men and finished in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 9 seconds. She gave little thought to the men in pursuit.

"It didn't matter to me," she said through a translator. "If I see the men behind me, it's not going to make me run faster."