Kenya's Lydia Cheromei lived up to her billing as the runaway favorite en route to a comfortable victory in the Yokohama Women's Marathon on Sunday.

The 35-year-old Cheromei ran uncontested after the 15 km-point and crossed the finish in a race record of 2 hours, 23 minutes, 7 seconds.

Mizuho Nasukawa managed second in 2:26:42 in the race that began and ended at Yamashita Park, but did not top the 2:23:59 necessary to automatically book a berth in next year's world championships in Moscow.

Mai Ito, who was 22nd at last year's worlds, had the second-best finish among Japanese runners in fifth place.