NEW YORK -- The New York City Marathon returned after a one-year absence with big crowds, heightened security and a familiar champion. Authentic Theoren Fleury Jersey . Geoffrey Mutai successfully defended his title Sunday, while fellow Kenyan Priscah Jeptoo came from behind to win the womens race. Bronx resident Buzunesh Deba finished runner-up for the second straight time in her hometown event. Fans again packed the 26.2-mile course, undaunted by the events of the past year. The 2012 NYC Marathon was cancelled because of the devastation of Superstorm Sandy, but not before many New Yorkers were enraged by initial plans to hold the race. After the bombings at Aprils Boston Marathon, bomb-sniffing dogs roamed the course, and barricades limited access points to Central Park. A record 50,740 runners started the race through the five boroughs. Mutai pulled away around Mile 22 and beat Ethiopias Tsegaye Kebede by 52 seconds. On a windy morning, Mutais time of 2 hours, 8 minutes, 24 seconds was well off his course record of 2:05:06 set in nearly perfect conditions two years ago. Hes the first man to repeat in New York since Kenyas John Kagwe in 1997-98. Kebede, the London Marathon champ, clinched the $500,000 bonus for the World Marathon Majors title. South Africas Lusapho April was third. Jeptoo trailed Deba by nearly 3 1/2 minutes at the halfway point. But she started making her move as the race entered Manhattan and passed the Ethiopian with just over 2 miles to go. Jeptoo, the 2012 Olympic silver medallist and 2013 London Marathon Champ, won in 2:25:07 to clinch the $500,000 World Marathon Majors bonus. The womens race played out almost identically to the last NYC Marathon two years ago. But this time, Deba was the pursued, not the pursuer. In 2011, Mary Keitany pulled away to a big early lead, and Deba and countrywomen Firehiwot Dado chased her down. Dado, who won that day, was 14th Sunday as the defending champ. This time, Deba and training partner Tigist Tufa separated themselves right from the start. Deba wound up finishing 48 seconds behind Jeptoo, while Tufa fell back to eighth. Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia, the 2005-06 New York champ, placed third at age 37. Security was tight from the moment the runners arrived on Staten Island. They were corralled into long bag-check lines, and officers and volunteers repeatedly reminded them to keep cellphones out. "Security is 100 per cent tougher than what Ive seen at other races," said Chris Patterson of Rochester, N.Y., who was signed up for New York last year and ran Boston in April. Elizabeth Hutchinson of Seattle recalled the joy at the starting line in Boston this year. People were handing out sunscreen, Band-Aids and energy gels with a smile. On Staten Island, she said, "the machine-guns are very visible." "The atmosphere is so different," she said, "It kind of makes me sad." Charles Breslin, who lost his home in the storm and was volunteering at the marathon, welcomed the races return. "I dont know how the rest of Staten Island feels about, but it can only be a good thing," he said. "You have to get back to normalcy." As the professional women approached Central Park, only a sprinkling of onlookers stood at the police barricades. Ginny Smith, a Manhattan resident who comes to watch each year, said she felt "very frustrated." Three hours after she first arrived at the park, she was finally allowed to walk in. At Columbus Circle, near the 26th and last mile of the route, police kept her waiting for two hours. "It was difficult, it was horrible -- for something thats basically for the people," she said. "Its unbelievable; you would think there was a war in the city." Ashley OBrien of Brooklyn was ready with a bullhorn to cheer members of her running group, the Hudson Dusters. She got teary-eyed remembering the events of the past year. "Its a nice time to all come back together," she said. "You still remember why it was cancelled last year and you remember Boston. So its a little bittersweet." Authentic Mark Giordano Jersey . Raonic, the mens No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., needed more than three hours to overcome Frenchman Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 and become the first Canadian man into the fourth round at Roland Garros. Cheap Calgary Flames Gear .Corey Brewer had 19 points eight rebounds, five assists and five steals for the Timberwolves, who snapped a six-game losing streak and won for just the third time since Ricky Rubio went out with an injured ankle on Nov. http://www.cheapnhlflamesjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-matthew-tkachuk-jersey . Pressley missed all of last season with Cincinnati because of a knee injury, but the 5-foot-10, 249-pounder had been expected to fill a need on Clevelands roster.FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - The Atlanta Falcons are two games below .500.The Green Bay Packers might be playing as well as anyone in the league.But, as Falcons coach Mike Smith pointed out Monday, both teams are in identical spots in the standings heading to the final month of the regular season.Theyre playing for the same thing were playing for, Smith said. Theyre in first place in their division. Were in first place in our division. Its no different from this past week.Technically, that may be true.But the Falcons (5-7) will undoubtedly be making a big leap in competition when they head to Lambeau Field next Monday night to face Aaron Rodgers and the streaking Packers (9-3), who have won four straight and scored more than 50 points in two of their last three home games.Its a big challenge for us this week with Aaron Rodgers, Smith said. No doubt, hes playing the best of any quarterback in the NFL right now. Hes got a number of weapons he can get it to. Hes played extremely well at home. I dont think hes thrown an interception at home this season, and I dont even want to talk about how many points theyve scored.Atlanta remained tied with New Orleans atop the NFC South — and holding a tiebreaker edge over the Saints — after perhaps its most impressive performance of the season. Facing the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals, the Falcons raced to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, piled up 500 yards against one of the leagues better defences, and cruised to a 29-18 victory.But they caught the Cardinals at a good time, taking advantage of a team that lost starting quarterback Carson Palmer to a season-ending injury, didnt have top receiver Larry Fitzgerald because of a knee injury, and lost leading runner Andre Ellington to a hip injury early in the game.Arizona didnt score an offensive touchdown until just over a minute remained, ending a streak of moree than 11 quarters without getting to the end zone. Authentic Michael Stone Jersey. .Scoring has not been a problem for the Packers, who rank second in the league at 31.67 points a game.And its even tougher for opponents to win at Lambeau.Asked what kind of atmosphere he expected, Smith replied with one word: Cold.The Falcons secondary was bolstered by the return of safety William Moore, who forced a fumble against the Cardinals after missing seven games with a shoulder injury. Also, cornerback Robert Alford is being fitted with a special cast that might make it possible for him to play against the Packers; he sat out the last two games with a wrist injury, but could play a valuable role against the Packers high-flying offence.If nothing else, the Falcons are feeling a lot better about themselves after finally beating a team from outside their woeful division, and coming away with their first victory over a team with a winning record.Theyre still right in the thick of the playoff race despite that poor record.The same spot as the Packers, in fact.The goal, defensive tackle Corey Peters said, has always been to handle the NFC South, make the playoffs and go from there.Notes: Smith said the patched-together offensive line continues to make strides, a big reason the Falcons were able to rush for 142 yards — their second-best showing of the season. Atlanta has lost five linemen to season-ending injuries, leaving undrafted rookie James Stone at centre, undrafted second-year player Ryan Schraeder at right tackle, and rookie Jake Matthews at left tackle. ... WR Roddy White (ankle) was close to playing against Arizona, Smith said, and the coach is confident that hell be able to play at Green Bay. ... 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