NEW YORK -- Japhet Kosgei never experienced anything but victory in a marathon until he competed in this city a year ago.

	Ludmila Petrova is the defending women's champion.

That didn't deter him from taking another crack at the New York City Marathon, though, and he hopes Sunday's race is as much about personal triumph as it is about helping a community cope.

Kosgei wants to win, and he wants to hear enthusiasm from the expected turnout of 2 million spectators lining the 26.2-mile course through New York's five boroughs.

"The deep sorrow -- you have to face it. We can come together again," the Kenyan said. "When they are happy cheering, I will feel as if I am the one bringing them joy."

There will be reminders of Sept. 11 everywhere during the 32nd edition the race: about 10 relatives running in place of victims of the terrorist attacks, extra stringent security measures, a view of lower Manhattan as entrants cross a bridge at the 10:50 a.m. start, red and white stripes added to the traditional blue painted on the road to indicate the route as the finish approaches.

Cars will be banned from the lower level of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge during the race for the first time and also will be kept off the Staten Island ferry, and three bridges into Manhattan will be closed to trucks. Police screened the list of approximately 30,000 runners, while the Coast Guard and National Park Service also are involved in security efforts.

"The security level in New York is at an 8 normally, and now it's ratcheted up to a 10-plus," race director Allan Steinfeld said.

Any doubts about whether the race would go ahead this year were erased a week after the terrorist attacks.

"I made contact with the mayor's office," Steinfeld said. "They told me, 'We'll never get over this, but we've got to begin to move on.' "

Several elite runners said they never considered skipping the marathon.

"This was a year when it was necessary to be here more than other years," said Italy's Franca Fiacconi, the 1998 women's champion. "It seemed my duty to come even if I wasn't in top shape,"

"I saw what happened Sept. 11 live on TV in Italy and I cried a lot because I feel a strong tie to this city."

She has five straight top-four finishes in New York, including second last year to Ludmila Petrova, who will defend her title.

Two changes for this year's race: Total prize money rises from just over $300,000 to more than $500,000, and the marathon will serve as the U.S. national championship.

The 2000 New York men's champion, Abdelkhader El Mouaziz of Morocco, isn't entered, and that should make Kosgei feel better.

The Kenyan did not start running competitively until 1996 at age 28, when he needed money after his farming business fell apart.

He ran his first marathon two years later in Turin, Italy -- and won, in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 59 seconds. Later in 1998, he entered the race in Venice -- and won. His next race, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in 1999, he clocked a career-best time of 2:07:09 -- and won. The streak continued with a victory in Tokyo in January 2000.

Not bad: four career marathons, four victories. He entered the 1999 Lisbon Half-Marathon and won that, too.

Then Kosgei came to New York, could not catch up after El Mouaziz's early breakaway, and settled for second place. The margin of victory, 2:21, was the largest for the race in 12 years.

Kosgei hasn't won since. He was fifth in the London Marathon in April, but just one of the runners who finished ahead of him there is in Sunday's field.

That would be Tesfaye Jifar, an Ethiopian who was fourth in London and will be making his New York debut. His first race at any distance was just three years ago, but he owns the fastest marathon time, 2:06:49, of anyone here.

Jifar's older brother, Habte, is a world-class 10,000-meter runner and persuaded Tisfaye to try the sport.

"From the beginning I just ran with my brother. That made me good," said Jifar, who at 12 was blinded in his right eye by a bull's horn. "Now my hard work makes me a strong athlete."

Several Kenyans figure to challenge: Joseph Chebet, who pulled out sick last year, ending a streak in which he finished first ('99), second ('98), and second ('97) in New York; Shem Kororia, third the last two years; Ken Cheruiyot, who has two wins and a runner-up spot in the three marathons he's completed; and John Kagwe, the 1997-98 champion.

Chebet is dedicating this year's race to a close friend, Vincent Kimutai, who was killed in 1998 while in a building next to the United States embassy in Nairobi when it was bombed by members of Osama bin Laden's Al Queda group.

"We were close friends, and we used to go walking together," Chebet told the New York Post. "Yes, I will be thinking off him when I run. But I'm not worried. I'm happy with the security and everything will go well."

Britain's Jon Brown, fourth at the Sydney Olympics, and Ecuador's Silvio Guerra, second in the Boston Marathon twice, could contend.

Three Kenyan women should test Fiacconi and Petrova -- Joyce Chepchumba, Margaret Okayo and Susan Chepkemei.

Chepchumba, who won the Olympic bronze last year, led the 1996 New York City Marathon with about 2 miles left, before fading to third place. She hadn't returned until now.

Information from SportsTicker was used in this report.