Kenyan, Ethiopian athletes win Riga Marathon

Joseph Kyengo Munywoki of Kenya won the men's race and Bekelech Dada Bedada of Ethiopia was the fastest woman at the Lattelecom Riga Marathon 2017 held here.

Munywoki crossed the finish line with a time of two hours 12 minutes and 14 seconds, ahead of Ethiopia's Gadisa Shumie (2.13:09) and Duncan Cheruiyot Koech (2.14:13) on Sunday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Valerijs Zolnerovics, the best Latvian distance runner, finished fourth in the men's competition with a new national record.

Zolnerovics bested his own Latvian record in the marathon by 10 seconds and finished at 2:14:23.

Bedada won the women's race in 2:31:22, beating Japan's Kikuyo Tsuzaki (2.32:32) and Ethiopia's Meseret Gebre Dekebo (2.33.28).

This year's Lattelecom Riga Marathon marks the 90th anniversary since Latvia's first national marathon championship, which was held back in 1927.

More than 2,000 distance runners registered to take part in the classical marathon distance, but the total number of people taking part in the mass sporting event in the Latvian capital exceeded 30,000, according to the marathon's chief organiser Airgars Nords.

--IANS

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