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''It was really bad. I went over her, capsized, and was lying on the side of the road. At that point, I wasn't really sure, should I go on? I worked hard for this. I asked, `Is she OK?' They said, `Yes, go.'

''It was really hard to get back in the race. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking, `Is she OK?' Eventually I decided, `I'm just going to do my best and push as hard as I can.'''

The accident happened around 12:30 p.m. near Mile 11. Schabort estimated he was traveling up to 19 miles per hour at the time. The girl, who is from Rhode Island, apparently was crossing the road to see her mother.

Police directed other wheelchair racers around the accident scene until an ambulance took the girl away.

''She seemed well for what she went through,'' said Mark Connelly, an off-duty firefighter who witnessed the collision.

Country clubbed

Not that anybody was expecting a victory, which hasn't happened here in 20 years. But when 42-year-old Eddy Hellebuyck was the top American finisher (10th, 2:17:18), it pointed out yet again how thin are the ranks of domestic men's marathoners.

Worse, no other US male even broke 2:30. The next American finisher, 37-year-old Ken Pliska of Littleton, placed 18th (2:30:12) and was beaten by four women.

For the record, there are faster Yanks out there, most notably world record-holder Khalid Khannouchi(2:05:38). But Khannouchi prefers pancake courses like London and Chicago, and the two guys behind him on the US list - Alan Culpepper(2:09:41) and Dan Browne(2:11:35) - are focusing on making this summer's world championships in Paris.

Golden oldies

When's the last time two over-40 runners placed in the top 10 here? Not since the Boston Athletic Association record book began listing them by age in 1978. Yesterday's sixth place by Russia's Fedor Ryzhov was the best masters effort since New Zealand's Jack Campbell placed fourth in 1990 at 41. In all, five masters finished among the top 17 ... He may have looked like a rabbit, quitting midway through after a course-record pace through 10 miles. But Kenya's Vincent Kipsos was simply a front-runner who couldn't get anyone to run with him. ''I was just looking for a fast time,'' said Kipsos. When the conditions grew warmer and windier and Kipsos passed the midway point still in the lead at 1:05:07 with a projected 2:10:50 finish, he decided to bag it ... One reason the Kenyans took eight of the top nine places was that most of their elite challengers ended up as road kill. Italy's Giacomo Leone, Estonia's Pavel Loskutov, and Tanzania's John Nada Saya were all DNFs, and Venezuela's Luis Fonseca staggered in at 2:57:07. Ecuador's Silvio Guerra, who was second here in 1999 and 2001, was 12th in 2:18:31.

Weekend update

Former ''Saturday Night Live'' cast member Will Ferrell finished in a personal-best 4:02:29 (though his ''chip time'' was 3:56:12, which accomplished his goal of breaking four hours). It was the third competitive marathon for Ferrell, who finished 9,283d overall. He ran with his training coach, Gary Kobat. Ferrell's wife, Viveca, ran just half the race, as planned. ''It's truly an amazing event, it's almost a bit of a blur,'' said Ferrell. ''Well, amazing except for hills. Heartbreak Hill is like a lovely summer day. And then you get hit on the head with a hammer.'' Ferrell had a final message to his fellow runners: ''I just want to apologize to all the people I passed gas in front of, which was a lot.'' ... The Dr. Thomas S. Durant Foundation, a nonprofit organization, was represented by 19 runners, including members of the Massachusetts General Hospital staff: Dr. Larry Ronan, Dr. Jack Purcell, and Dr. George Theodore. The organization was founded a year ago after the death of Durant, who practiced in Dorchester and was on the MGH staff. The foundation has raised nearly $300,000 to send doctors around the world to work with refugees. This year, Dr. Kris Olson, who recently studied tropical diseases in England, will go to Thailand for three months to assist refugees.

No-show Dept.

There were 20,223 entries into this year's marathon - the second-most in history - but the number starting the race was 17,567. Marathon officials said the difference was a little higher than usual and could have been due to the earlier entry date. Of those that started, 17,046 - 97 percent - finished ... It was 70 degrees when the wheelchair races started at 11:45 a.m. The wind was 3 miles per hour from the south. At the half-mile mark, it was 71 degrees and the wind was 5 miles per hour. When men's wheelchair winner Van Dyk crossed the finish line, it was 67 degrees and the wind was from the northwest at 5 miles per hour ... Boston University sports information director Ed Carpenter was the official announcer at media headquarters in the Copley Plaza ... Bomb-sniffing dogs worked the Fairmont Copley Plaza and Trinity Church area before the race.

C. Kalimah Redd, Susan Bickelhaupt, and Michael Smith of the Globe Staff and Globe correspondent Bob Monahan contributed to this report.