PORTLAND – Emily LeVan of Wiscasset smashed her own course record by more than seven minutes Sunday and ran the fastest marathon ever by a woman in Maine while winning the 13th annual Sportshoe Center Maine Marathon.

LeVan, 31, completed the 26.2-mile course from Portland’s Back Cove to Yarmouth and back in 2 hours, 39 minutes and 54 seconds. Running in her first marathon since giving birth to a daughter in January, LeVan easily broke the course record of 2:47:38 she set in 2002.

LeVan also became the first woman to run a sub-2:40 marathon in Maine. The previous state record was 2:41:03, set by Karen Dunn at the 1982 Paul Bunyan Marathon in Bangor.

The overall winner was Eric Lavigne, 28, of Burlington, Vt. Lavigne finished nearly eight minutes ahead of defending champion Casey Carroll of Dover, N.H., with a time of 2:31:01.

Michael Payson, 41, of Falmouth successfully defended his title in the half marathon, covering the 13.1-mile distance in 1:09:34. Amanda Labelle, 20, of Windham won the women’s division in 1:27:08.

The two races had a record total of almost 2,000 finishers, but the day was marred by the death of a runner, Julius Marzul, 78, of Gorham. Marzul, a veteran of numerous marathons, collapsed less than 100 yards from the finish line of the half marathon and died of apparent heart failure.