Tanzanian Wins Tokyo Marathon
Tanzanian Juma Ikangaa ran the fifth fastest marathon of all time--2 hours 8 minutes 10 seconds--to win the Tokyo International for the second time.
Ikangaa, 28, broke away from Japan’s Takeyuki Nakayama just after the 24-mile mark to repeat his 1984 victory. His time beat the 2:08:38 race record set by Japan’s Toshihiko Seto in 1983.
Belayenh Densimo of Ethiopia, 23, was second in 2:08:29 and Abebe Mekonnen, also of Ethiopia, was third at 2:08:39. Nakayama, 26, who won last year’s World Cup marathon in Hiroshima, fell back and placed fourth at 2:08:43, and East Germany’s Michael Heilmann was fifth in 2:10:27.
World record-holder and pre-race favorite Carlos Lopes of Portugal, plagued by long-standing problems with his Achilles tendon, dropped out after 11.6 miles.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
