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Running fans knew that going in the 2021 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon’s entry list was going to be deep. There were at least 25 competitors who have run sub-2:10 and 50-plus who have run faster than 2:12. Sunday in Otsu, Shiga, Japan the event provided a stunning display of depth.
Kengo Suzuki won the event in a new national record time of 2:04:56.
Hidekazu Hijikata and Kyohei Hosoya both finished sub-2:07 for second and third respectively. Hijikata clocked a 2:06:26 and Hosoya 2:06:35.
Suzuki’s previous best was 2:10:21 from Tokyo 2018. That’s an improvement of a colossal 5:25.
Big congrats to @Kengo_Suzuki_ 🎉
— Tokyo Marathon Foundation (@TokyoMarathon_E) February 28, 2021
Smashed the Japanese marathon record by clocking sub-2:05!
Such an impressive performance at the last Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon! https://t.co/DzdgWbgGuH
The previous Japanese record was 2:05:29 accomplished in March last year at the Tokyo Marathon by Suguru Osako. The course record was held by Kenyan Wilson Kipsang at 2:06:13 from his running in 2011.
Lake Biwa saw another strong performance by the ‘citizen runner’ Yuki Kawauchi. His best going into the race was 2:08:14. Kawauchi clocked a 2:07:27 to finish in 10th place.
Fifteen runners finished under 2:08. Twenty-eight clicked sub-2:09, 42 were under 2:10.
Records are not ratified immediately, the course will need to be re-measured.
This was the final edition of the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon before it moves to Osaka next year.