The men's marathon at the Beijing Olympics gave a number of countries reasons to be proud. First off, there was Kenya: Samuel Kamau Wanjiru became the first Kenyan to win an Olympic marathon, despite that country's numerous achievements in other distances. Better yet, his time of 2:06:32 was an Olympic record.< p>

(Full Olympic marathon results: http://www.iaaf.org/results/eventCode=3659/raceDate=08-24-2008/txtResults.html)

The Ethiopians didn't win the marathon this time, but they continued their strong showing in distance racing: Tsegay Kebede and Deriba Merga finished at number 3 and number 4, respectively, and another of their countrymen was number 7.

Despite the constant drumbeat about the lack of decent finishes by U.S. marathon runners, the Americans had two of their three entrants finish in the top 10. Dathan Ritzenhein came in at the number 9 position, while teammate Ryan Hall was just a half minute behind at number 10.

And Switzerland, a country not normally associated with distance running, had a runner come in at number 6... not bad for a country that's much better known for its prowess in the Winter Olympics.