For Steve Jones and Grete Waitz, the 19th New York City Marathon was vindication. For Joan Benoit Samuelson, it was a crashing, but not smashing, return to marathoning.

Jones and Waitz, recent disappointments after years of glory, were the men's and women's first-place finishers in Sunday's race, the largest marathon in history with 22,912 starters.Samuelson, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist who was running her first marathon in three years, was victimized by two collisions, one of which sent her sprawling to the ground, and an unexpected "pit stop," which she attributed to nervousness over her inactivity.

Although Samuelson, who had been unbeaten in five marathons since 1981, finished third among the women, she provided the most spectacular action in the heavily congested field, which at times resembled roller derby.

Near the 11-mile mark, she bumped into Laura Fogli of Italy as the two were chasing Waitz, but neither fell nor was injured.

At the 14-mile point, Samuelson left the course briefly to relieve herself after suffering "stomach cramps."

"I think it was a case of nerves," she said, "because I hadn't run a marathon since 1985."

And just past 21 miles, she was upended by a volunteer who came onto the course with a cup of water for another runner.

"I did a complete somersault, but I got right up," the stunned Samuelson said. "I was so dazed. I don't think I was helped up. I think I got up on my own."

At that juncture, she was running third behind Waitz and Fogli.

"I had Laura in sight," Samuelson said. "I was too focused on catching her, I guess (to notice the volunteer). When I grabbed the water, I planted myself between the man giving me the water ... I was stunned."

Samuelson blamed herself in part for the mishaps.

"I'm notorious for not looking at the course beforehand," she said. "I'll look at courses from now on. This one was a challenge."

Sidelined in recent years because of a series of injuries to her left leg, left hip and back, plus the birth of her first child last year, Samuelson said she was hurting and sore afterward.

"I won't wait three years before I run another marathon," said Samuelson, adding that the probably would run the Boston Marathon in April.

After the final crash, Samuelson, who said, "I lost about 30 seconds to get myself back in order," thought she could catch Waitz or Fogli, "but they were too strong."

Waitz had no difficulty with the course, one that she's run every year since 1978, except last year, when she was injured. She has won every time she started except in 1981, when she did not finish because of stomach cramps.