Romanian runs away with Olympic women's marathon

BEIJING (AP) — Constantina Tomescu-Dita has run away from the competition to win the women's marathon.

The 38-year-old Romanian mother pulled away from the lead pack near the halfway mark Sunday and kept building her lead nearly to the finish. Reigning world champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya outsprinted China's Zhou Chunxiu for the silver to the disappointment of the roaring crowd at National Stadium.

Tomescu-Dita, bronze medalist at the 2005 world championships, blew kisses to the crowd and raised her arms in triumph as she crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 26 minutes, 44 seconds.