Kenyan James Koskei won the 38th running of the Wellstone's White Rock Marathon on Sunday in Dallas.

WFAA-TV (Channel 8) reported Koskei's official time was 2 hours, 15 minutes and 12 seconds.

With the victory, Koskei earned $35,000. He won $10,000 for the men's title and $25,000 for winning the Cooper Complete Gender Challenge.

Koskei, 39, outlasted three other Kenyans – Matthew Koskei, Stephen Biwott, and Edward Kiptum. The foursome was still running together when they passed women's winner, Emily Samoei, just after the 24-mile mark.

"When I reached [Mile] 24, I was confident," said Koskei. "I knew I was faster than the other guys."

Koskei said he trained to run a 2:09 in Chicago in October but dropped out when he developed a blister.

James Koskei had placed fourth in the Boston Marathon in April with a time of 2:15:05. This is his first marathon win. He has been a past champion at the Cooper River Bridge Run 10K, Vancouver Sun Run 10K, Bay to Breakers 12K and Bolder Boulder 10K.

ELIZABETH M. CLAFFEY / DMN

Overcast skies and a threat of rain greeted runners at the start of the marathon.

Samoei, who only received her visa on Tuesday, won the women's marathon in an unofficial time of 2:35:24. Samoei, who earned $10,000 for the win, said she began cramping up around Mile 23 and struggled to the finish. At that point, she realized her chances to win the gender challenge were gone.

"I was very relieved to get to the finish," Samoei said. "But by then, the big check was gone."

Ridouane Harroufi of Morocco won the men's half marathon in an unofficial time of 1:03:24. Harroufi, 26, said he was using the race as a training run for the Houston Marathon on Jan. 13.

Jacquline Nyetipei, of Kenya, won the women's half marathon in an unofficial time of 1:11:45. Nyetipei, 23, gave birth to her first child – a son – about six months ago.

GUY REYNOLDS / DMN

Nick Borrelli offered support for runners making their way through the Uptown neighborhood.

The weather regressed throughout the day and seemed to hamper times of the elite runners.

WFAA reported a temperature of 42 degrees as the half marathon winners crossed the finish line. Temperatures were at 48 degrees at the start of the marathon at 8 a.m. Winds from the north stayed between 10-15 mph the entire race, keeping wind chills in the upper 30s.

The heaviest rain did stay west of Dallas, giving the runners a break.

GUY REYNOLDS / DMN

Sporting a big hat, styrofoam thumb and rubber chicken, volunteer Doug Caldwell pointed the way at Ross Avenue and Central Expressway.

An estimated 15,000 runners were expected to take part in the event's marathon, half-marathon and marathon relays.

It took the last of the 5,000 registered marathoners about four minutes to reach the starting line after the race started at 8:03 a.m.

Weather canceled the planned flyover of F-18s from Carswell Air Force Base. Channel 8's two helicopters were grounded as well.