Ethiopia's Lilesa and Kenya's Kiprop win in Tokyo marathon

Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa has won the men’s title of the Tokyo Marathon after he clocked 2 hours 06 minutes and 56 seconds on Sunday.

2016 Tokyo Marathon Results – https://t.co/kkc8XbO8FR pic.twitter.com/TsgmSENmdt

— LetsRun.com (@letsrundotcom) February 28, 2016

Lilesa broke away from 2014 winner Dickson Chumba from Kenya and his compatriot Bernard Kiprop Kipyego to mark his first major marathon title.

“It was a tough course, but I am happy to win. Since my training went well, I knew I can come up with good results. Chumba was running fast from 30 to 35km (14:31) but I knew I have to stay with him…I feel like I have just bought a ticket to Rio,” a quote from Lilesa was shared in a post by Tokyo Marathon Foundation on Facebook

Kipyego came in second with 2 hours 07 minutes and 33 seconds after overtaking Chumba a few metres to the finish line.

Host Japan was able to clinch a spot in the top 10, a race dominated by athletes from Kenya. Japanese runner Yuki Takamiya came in eighth in under 2 hours 10 minutes and 57 seconds.

In the women’s race, Kenya’s Helah Kiprop scooped the title after finishing the race in 2 hours 21 minutes and 27 seconds surpassing her personal best.

“Last year I was second with the personal best (2:24:04). So this year’s goal was to set another personal best. I was surprised to run even faster to set a course record (old course record 2:23:23),” Kiprop said.

Helah Kiprop wins for the women Amane Gobena, KiplagatEdna 2-3 #TokyoMarathon #AbbottWMM pic.twitter.com/IvnsxnKTrQ

— Boston Marathon JH (jhboston26) February 28, 2016

Ethiopia’s Amane Gobena came in second 24 seconds behind Kiprop. Fellow Kenyan Edna Kiplagat came in third. Seeking to defend her title Ethiopia’s Birhane Dibaba came in fifth.

The marathon attracted more than 30,000 runners marking Its 10th edition in Tokyo.