Sydney Olympic silver medalist Eric Wainaina of Kenya outpaced South Africa's Josiah Thugwane of South Africa on Sunday to win the Nagano Olympic memorial marathon.
Wainaina, who is based in Japan, posted a time of 2 hours, 12 minutes at the 42.195-km race, staged to commemorate the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano. Atlanta Olympic gold medalist Thugwane had a time of 2:14:18 for second while Japan's Noriyuki Mizuguchi took third in 2:14:26.
In the women's race, defending champion Madina Biktagirova of Russia finished first with a time of 2:28:23, almost a minute ahead of compatriot Alevtina Ivanova, who was second in 2:29:05. Ethiopia's Fatuma Roba was third with a time of 2:31:05.