Marilson Gomes dos Santos has become the first Brazilian to win the New York City Marathon.

In the women's race, Latvian Jelena Prokopcuka became only the fifth woman in history to repeat as champion.

The record 38,368 entrants in the marathon enjoyed a picturesque autumn morning with virtually no wind, ideal conditions that both Gomes dos Santos and Prokopcuka took full advantage of.

The top male runners remained in a tight pack for the first half of the race and stayed that way heading north on First Avenue in Manhattan.

Upon entering the Bronx via the Willis Avenue Bridge, Gomes dos Santos broke away from the traffic and set out to make history.

Despite seeing his lead slowly dwindle in the last two miles of the race, Gomes dos Santos was able to hold off a pair of Kenyans in Stephen Kiogora and last year's champion Paul Tergat.

Gomes dos Santos, 29, finished his debut performance in New York with a time of 2:09:58. Peter Gilmore was the top finishing American in 10th place.

Prokopcuka made a decision to go for the lead early on.

From the Verrazano Bridge to Central Park, Prokopcuka would not entertain the idea of giving up her title as NYC Marathon champion.

With several pundits predicting the first American woman to win since 1977 - in favourite Deena Kastor - Prokopcuka squashed any ideas of a patriotic party and squashed the rest of a field considered to be the best in the race's history.

Prokopcuka, 30, finished with a time of 2:25:05, becoming the first woman to repeat as champion since Kenya's Tegla Loroupe in 1994-95.

Ukranian Tatiana Hladyr, who went step-for-step with Prokopcuka until the 23rd mile, finished second.

Four-time Boston Marathon champion, Kenyan Catherine Ndereba was third and Kastor finished sixth.