BIWA, Japan

Surging away from Spaniard Jose Rios, his final challenger, with 1.3km to go, Paul Tergat won the 64th Lake Biwa Marathon, an Iaaf Gold Label road race, with a relatively slow winning time by his illustrious standards of 2:10:22.

It was the third career marathon victory yesterday for Tergat, the former World record breaker, after his wins in the 2003 Berlin Marathon and 2005 New York City Marathon.

Rios, the two-time defending champion, who won in 2004 and 2006, finished second in 2:10:36, while Eritrea’s Yared Asmeron, who was fourth in the World Championships and eighth in the Olympics, was third (2:10:49), followed by Japan’s Masaya Shimizu who did most of the pace making after 30km finished fourth (2:10:50).

Former world marathon record holder Paul Tergat crosses the finish line to win the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon at Ojiyama stadium, Otsu, Japan, on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

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A total of 162 runners started under a sunny sky. A group of 39 runners passed five kilometres in 15:10. Shin-ichi Watanabe, a 2:09:32 marathon runner, was the first major casualty, losing contact with the leaders just before 10km, a point at which, a group of 33 runners passed in 30:13 (15:03).

By 15km (45:22) the head of the race was down to 25 runners, at which point Naosato Yoshimura, a pace maker who had been leading left the race, leaving three other pace makers. The pace picked up after the halfway mark as the wind was in the leaders’ favour.

Japan’s Tomoya Shimizu fell off the pace just before 27km.Five hundred metres later, Morocco’s Abderrahim Bouramdane fell behind. The lead pack was down to Paul Tergat, Jose Rios, Yared Asmeron, Abiyote Guta, Masaya Shimizu, Takeshi Makabe and three pace setters.

Took the lead

After 29km, Makabe also fell behind, leaving eight runners in front. With the three pace makers out at 30km, Masaya Shimizu took the lead pulling Asmeron, Rios, Guta and Tergat along with him. Soon Asmeron took the lead, .

The pack of five – Shimizu, Asmeron, Rios, Tergat and Guta – continued to run together with the hope of a fast time evaporating away.

Just before 40km, Tergat took the lead, as Asmeron fell away, turning the race it into a duel between Tergat and Rios. With about 1.3km left, Tergat surged and left Rios behind for the win.

Tergat, who tipped Shimizu in future races, said of the slow timing: "This is my first marathon of the year. I also had jet lag problem and there was lot of wind."

He was happy with his first marathon win in Japan, and said "I hope to run good time next time." —Iaaf