by Brett Larner Cooler than usual temperatures helped two Kenyans, winner Francis Kibiwott and runner-up Silas Sang , take down double Olympic marathon medalist Erick Wainaina 's long-standing Nagano Marathon course record of 2:10:17 on April 15, Kibiwott setting a new mark of 2:09:05 and Sang just five seconds back in a new PB of 2:09:10. The women's race was a slower affair, but winner Pauline Wangui (Kenya) still managed a sizeable PB as she won in 2:34:22 by nearly a minute over Ethiopian Belainesh Gebre . Kibiwott, Sang, countryman Moses Kangogo , Russian Alexey Sokolov and ultramarathon specialist Kiyokatsu Hasegawa (Team JR Higashi Nihon) set off in a pack of five, but by 20 km it had whittled down to just the three Kenyans. The trio hit halfway in 1:04:28, with2:08 man Kangogo falling off after 25 km. Kibiwott and Sang were together until near the end, Kibiwott emerging on top in a hard push to the finish. Down 24 second...
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