(AP) -- A Kenyan living in Texas had to hop a bus to make it to Iowa, where he shattered the record at the Des Moines Marathon by more than 8 minutes.
The Des Moines Register says James Kirwa, of El Paso, ran the 26.2-mile course in 2 hours, 14 minutes, 20 seconds in his marathon debut Sunday.
Kirwa flew into Kansas City, where a friend was supposed to drive him to Des Moines. The friend never showed, so Kirwa paid $45 for a bus ticket and reached Des Moines late Saturday.
Because of heavy traffic Sunday morning, Kirwa arrived downtown about 10 minutes before the race started.
Alena Vinitskya, of Belarus, ran 2:41:23, trimming 9 seconds off the women's record set in 2009.
In last year's marathon, the two leaders were stopped by a freight train only a quarter mile from the finish. After waiting a minute, Kenyan Simon Sawe won the sprint to the finish.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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