AP Photo

Everything was upside down. The favored Kenyan and the preferred American were both out of contention. And now an afterthought, a last-second replacement, was at the front of the New York City Marathon.

Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya had won the Boston Marathon four times and Chicago once, but he was 31, and many thought he had too many miles in his legs for another important victory. Plus, he was not fully recovered from the world championships in August in Berlin. Even his own coach did not give him much of a chance on Sunday.