NAGANO (Kyodo) Pre-race favorite Isaac Macharia of Kenya won his first men's crown in four years while Russian Irina Timofeeva tasted her first victory in the women's race at the Nagano Marathon on Sunday.
Macharia outpaced Ethiopian Girma Tolla to cross the line in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 21 seconds at Olympic Stadium in Minami Nagano Athletic Park.
Tolla clocked 2:12:11 and Kenya's Simon Wangai was third in 2:12:34, while Masaki Shimoju produced the best finish by a Japanese runner in finishing seventh in 2:15:57.
Timofeeva prevailed with a time of 2:30:07. Kenyan Irene Limika took the runnerup spot in 2:30:50 while Akemi Ozaki clinched third in 2:31:18.