Russian best at Tokyo marathon

Russia's Tatiana Aryasova has won the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday with a time of 2 hours 27 minutes and 29 seconds.

The women’s race winner finished 1 minute 20 seconds ahead of Japan's Noriko Higuchi. Another Russian Tatiana Petrova was third in 2:28:56.Hailu Mekonnen of Finland came first in the men’s race. Mekonnen's time – 2 hours 7 minutes 35 seconds – was 11 seconds off the race record set by Switzerland's Viktor Rothlin in 2008. Kenyan Paul Biwott was second some 40 seconds behind the Finn, while Japan's Yuki Kawaguchi took third. World marathon record holder Haile Gebrselassie withdrew from the race on Thursday after the Ethiopian bruised both knees in training recently. The fifth running of the Tokyo Marathon had a total of 33,353 participants.