Cheromei Breaks Course Record In Yokohama

The Kenyan bettered it by 50 seconds.

She was the top-seeded athlete going into the Yokohama Women’s Marathon, and last weekend, Lydia Cheromei didn’t disappoint.

The Kenyan clocked a winning time of 2:23:07. The previous course record was 2:23:56.

Cheromei didn’t hesitate to make her move; she broke away early at the 15K mark. After that point, she was on her own.

“I am very happy to win the Yokohama marathon, the race was tough but I managed to win,” she said afterwards.

Mizuho Nasukawa of Japan put forth a solid effort, coming in second with a time of 2:26:42.

Marisa Barros of Portugal was the final runner to mount the podium with a 2:26:51 showing for third.

Fourth place went to Latvia’s Jelena Prokopcuka who came across the line in 2:26:55. Meanwhile Kim Smith of New Zealand, who had been planning to run in the New York City Marathon earlier this month, came in sixth at 2:27:35.

The Yokohama Women’s Marathon is an IAAF Silver Label Race. The previous course record that Cheromei broke belonged to Yoshimi Ozaki, the 2009 World Championships Marathon silver medallist.

For More: IAAF