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Rothlin Wins Tokyo Marathon in Swiss NR 2:07:23

by Brett Larner

Osaka World Championships bronze medalist Viktor Rothlin of Switzerland won the 2008 Tokyo Marathon in a Swiss national record of 2:07:23, aggressively frontrunning the later stages of the race to break apart the rest of the pack. Unknown individual entrant Arata Fujiwara of Team JR East Japan overcame severe leg cramps which almost forced him to stop in the last 6 km to run a massive PB of 2:08:40, finishing 2nd and putting his name on the shortlist for the Beijing Olympic team. Kenyan Olympian Julius Gitahi (Team Nissin Shokuhin) had a strong second marathon, running 2:08:57 to take 3rd place. His teammate Toshinari Suwa, the pre-race favorite to be top Japanese, conformed to his history and failed to take the top Japanese slot, settling for 4th in 2:09:16. Rounding out the top 5 was Helsinki World Championships marathoner Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo), who ran a PB of 2:09:40. All 5 runners broke last year's winning of time 2:09:45, set by Kenyan Daniel Njenga. Njenga had a disappointing run, finishing 13th in 2:14:11.

A complete list of top finishers is available here.
The IAAF's account of the race is here.

(c) 2008 Brett Larner
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