Jeļena Prokopčuka of Latvia, two-time winner of the New York City Marathon, added another impressive entry in her record book by repeating as the second-place finisher in the April 16 Boston Marathon.

Prokopčuka finished 40 seconds behind the winner of the marathon, Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia, who finished the race in a time of 2 hours, 29 minutes and 18 seconds. Last year, Prokopčuka ran a faster race, finishing second in a time of 2 hours, 23 minutes and 48 seconds.

The 30-year-old runner from Jūrmala was neck-in-neck with Grigoryeva for much of the race, according to the marathon’s official Web site run by the Boston Athletic Association, the event’s organizer. According to media reports, Prokopčuka fell behind in just the last mile of the 26-mile race.

The race was run in less than favorable questions as Boston and much of the northeast United States was still feeling the effects of a storm that brought heavy rain and snow to the region.

Winner of the men’s race was Robert K. Cheruiyot of Kenya, for whom this was the third consecutive Boston Marathon victory. His time was 2:14:13, about seven minutes off the course record of 2:07:14 he set last year.

Masazumi Soejima of Japan won the men’s wheelchair marathon, while Wakako Tsuchida of Japan won the women’s event.

The Canadian government apparently is considering closing its embassy in Latvia as a cost-cutting measure, according to an April 15 report by The Canadian Press citing unnamed sources. The embassy would be one of 19 embassies and consulates that could be shuttered as the Canadian foreign affairs department faces a shrinking budget.

The Latvian National Federation in Canada, which just held its annual meeting over the weekend, will send a letter of protest to the Canadian government, said Mārtiņš Sausiņš, president of the federation’s executive board. The federation also will urge the Baltic Federation in Canada—an umbrella group representing Latvians, Estonians and Lithuanians in Canada—to send a letter of protest, Sausiņš said in an e-mail.

The embassy opened in 1993 and also serves as Canada’s presence in Estonia and Lithuania. Canada recognized the renewed independence of Latvia on Aug. 26, 1991, and was the first of the G7 nations to do so. The embassy’s closure would come with a certain irony, because Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, who spent much of her life in Canada before being elected to her post, is serving out the last months of her second term.

According to The Canadian Press, the foreign affairs department faces a CAD 142.8 million cut in its budget this year. Other missions under consideration for closure are in Cambodia, the Balkan states and in some African countries. Late last year the Canadian government eliminated four consulates, including the one in St. Petersburg, Russia, which officially closed its doors on March 31.

Reaction from Canadian Ambassador Claire A. Poulin was not immediately available. However, on the embassy’s Web site, she writes, “Since the three states regained their independence in 1991, Canada has been maintaining and deepening strong bilateral relations, which unite us through the Baltic communities in Canada.”