Wilson Kipsang wins Lake Biwa in 2:06:13

The Lake Biwa Marathon in Japan was a two way battle between Kenyan Wilson Kipsang and Ethiopian Deriba Merga on Sunday. Coming into the race, Kipsang had a faster personal best, with his 2:04:57 run in Frankfurt last year. But Merga was the more experienced of the two, with wins in both the Boston and Houston marathons, as well as a fourth place finish at the Beijing Olympics.

A duel was expected between Kipsang and Merga, and that’s how it played out as the two runners traded surges until the final 5km, when Kipsang finally managed to pull away from Merga for the win. Once dropped, Merga slowed badly, losing a full three minutes to Kipsang over the final 4km.

Results, and an in-depth race report, are on Japan Running News