Cheromei wins Yokohama marathon
Kenya’s Lydia Cheromei outpaced the field over the last 27 kilometres
to secure a comfortable win in the Yokohama international women’s
marathon on Sunday.
The 35-year-old overtook the pace-setters after passing the 14 km
mark and never faced a serious challenge afterwards, crossing the
finishing line in two hours, 23 minutes and seven seconds. Other runners
were forced to compete for the runner-up slot far behind Cheromei.
Kimberley Smith of New Zealand, Marisa Barros of Portugal and Japan’s
Mai Ito and Mizuho Nasukawa remained in contention when the last
pace-setter, Maria Konovalova of Russia, dropped out of the race at the
24 km point.
Nasukawa took the lead after passing the 40 km mark and held on to
finish second in 2:26:42, although she failed to qualify for the world
championships next year. Barros came in third in 2:26:51, followed by
Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia in 2:26:55.
AFP |