Rodney Pearson a Business School student and a tutor at Winthrop House, won the Mardi Grass Marathon on Sunday in New Orleans with a time of 2 23 41.

Pearson grabbed top honors from a field of more than 1000 racers, but he failed to best his top marathon time of 2 21 40.

Back in Cambridge yesterday, Pearson said he did not expect to win the race but he explained that the windy conditions "really affected the outcome," The favorite--world-class runner Rob Kinnunen--charged out against the wind too fast and after twenty-three miles became badly dehydrated, and eventually dropped out Pearson said that after twenty-one miles he had given up hopes of winning because Kinnunen was far ahead.

Pearson is now preparing for the Boston Marathon on April 18. He normally trains about eighty miles a week and has run in twenty-three marathons in the past five years.

Although the Mardi Gras ended last Tuesday, the marathon did not occur until the weekend to permit use of a twenty-one-mile bridge. "All you see is water--you don't see a soul," Pearson said.