Television watchers of the 19th annual New York City Marathon followed the step-by-step progress Sunday of the leaders, but many spectators on the course scanned the thousands of runners for a familar face. The winner in the field of 23,478 _ largest ever for a marathon _ was Steve Jones of Wales, who finished in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 20 seconds, only seven seconds off the course record. Grete Waitz of Norway won the women's division for a record ninth time in 2:28:07. Marybeth Torpe was hoping another runner would run fast _ her boyfriend Tony Giannelli. She and several others had staked out the corner table at a restaurant on First Avenue to get a good view of the runners as they romped off the Queensboro Bridge. Their hopes on seeing Giannelli depended on how fast the Yonkers native ran. ``We have to leave this table by 12:30. The manager's kicking us out,'' said one of Giannelli's friends, Pete Koogan. Torpe was eager for Giannelli to finish, too. ``I'm going to ask him to marry me today,'' she said, holding up the rose she planned to give him. Crowds cheered for the those in the lead packs and the also-rans on the warm, sunny autumn day. Lynne Avery, a sophomore at Morristown (N.J.) High School, waited on First Avenue near 60th Street hoping to catch a glimpse of her English teacher, Robert Paciorkowski. But she was not taking any chances on missing him. ``Mr. Paciorkowski told us if he saw a television camera, he'd wave to us,'' Avery said _ as she held a small portable television in her hand. All along the marathon route, volunteers handed drinks to runners, but Rick Fairlamb of Glen Rock, N.J., had prepared a special elixir of carrot juice. He handed them out to the 50 or so runners in the ``Natural Living'' running club who passed his table at 61st Street and First Avenue. ``Last night I went into Brooklyn and got 500 pounds of carrots from a food co-op. We juiced them starting at 5 this morning,'' he said. In Central Park, Richard Borrego stood on the railing with a bullhorn, waiting for his favorites in the race to pass. He didn't have any trouble finding them. ``I'm cheering for Grete and Steve Jones,'' Mr. Borrego said, referring to the winners. ``They're both so courteous, full of good sportsmanship. They always help other runners. They never knock other runners,'' Borrego said. ``And that's the way it should be.'' In Washington, D.C., more than 13,000 people from 23 countries and 49 states ran the Marine Corps Marathon, which offers no prize money and prides itself on being the ``people's race.'' Jim Hage, a lawyer from Lanham, Md., who had never won a major marathon, pulled away from two-time champion Brad Ingram in the last half mile to win in 2:21:58.
