THE HAGUE, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Marius Kipserem won the 39th edition of the Rotterdam marathon on Sunday in a new course record.
Under sunny circumstances and around 20 degrees Celsius, the 30-year-old Kenyan finished solo on the Coolsingel street in a time of 2:04:11, beating the course record of 2:04:27 set by his compatriot Duncan Kibet in 2009.
Kaan Ozbilen from Turkey finished second in 2:05:28 and Emanuel Saina from Kenya was third in 2:05:43. The latter was the last to stay with Kipserem in the final kilometers, but lost pace and was even passed by Ozbilen.
Ashete Bekere from Ethiopia won the women's race. Her winning time was 2:22:55. Stella Barsosio from Kenya finished second in 2:23:36.