Future prospect Chika Horie coasted to victory in a meet record in the women's race of the Hokkaido Marathon on Sunday, while veteran Samson Kandie of Kenya took the men's title on his debut in Sapporo.
The 21-year-old Horie, competing in only her third marathon, pulled away from Hisae Yoshimatsu at the 27-km mark and never looked back, crossing the finish line at Nakajima Park in 2 hours, 26 minutes, 11 seconds.
Yoshimatsu finished more than two minutes behind in 2:28:49 while Chihiro Tanaka took third at 2:35:43.
Kandie, who has three top-10 finishes in the last seven marathons he has run since 1998, veered off course heading toward the finish line but still had five seconds to spare as he won in 2:15:12. Marathon debutante Yuki Yamamoto was second in 2:15:17 followed by Nobuhiko Matsunaga, who came home in 2:15:27.