Lawrence Cherono won the TCS Amsterdam Marathon in 2:04:05, breaking his own course record (set last year) by more than a minute.

Do you have a lead on a newsworthy story? Share news tips with us here at Hivisasa!

Tadelech Bekele of Ethiopia also successfully defended her title in the women category, in a time of 2:23:07. 

Kenenisa Bekele, who was touted as a possible challenger to  Kipchoge’s world record set in Berlin last month, dropped out of the race with 1K left after falling behind quite early, appearing to be injured.

Last year Lawrence Cherono set a 12-second course record here, with a winning time of 2:05:09. He finished one place behind Bekele at the London Marathon in April.

Bekele won last year’s marathon in 2:21:54, finished third in the London Marathon in 2:21:40 in April. Shasho Insemu and Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia were in second and third place, with time of 2:23:13 and 2:23:31.

“The weather was good, the wind slow and we had to run faster than last year. I thank God for giving me this talent and I hope to be here once again next year,” Cherono said.

 TCS Amsterdam Marathon, which starts and finishes in Amsterdam’s historic Olympic stadium, is an IAAF Gold Label course.