Swiss Runner Wins Marathon in Japan
Bruno Lafranchi of Switzerland moved ahead of Japan’s Futoshi Shinohara about 100 meters from the finish line Sunday to win the 37th Beppu-Ohita Mainichi Marathon.
Lafranchi was clocked at 2 hours 11 minutes 58 seconds, two seconds ahead of Shinohara’s 2:12.00.
Shinohara entered the Ohita Municipal Track Field first, followed by Lafranchi, who then spurted ahead of Shinohara to cross the finish line first.
Koichi Takahashi finished third with a time of 2:12.14.
The race began at a slow pace as runners battled headwinds in 45-degree temperature. The speed picked up in the second half as the runners ran with the wind behind them.
Benji Durden of the United States withdrew during the race.
A field of 499 runners took part in the race, sponsored by the Mainichi Shimbun, one of Japan’s major newspapers.
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