Mayorova Prevail in Yokohama Marathon

Albina Mayorova of Russia won the Yokohama Women's Marathon on Sundy in a time of 2hrs, 25mins and 55 secs, a convincing victory nearly three minutes faster than her closest rival.

The 36-year-old veteran, who finished ninth at the London Olympics, paced herself in the first half of the race.

But she staged an aggressive charge from around 25 kilometres, where she started overtaking leading Japanese runners.

By the 28-kilometre point, she led the race and started a solo journey until the finish line at 42.195 kilometre (26.2 miles).

She was followed by Japan's Azusa Nojiri who clocked 2:28:47.

South African Rene Kalmer finished sixth in her first 42km race in seven months.

Kalmer, chasing her personal best, crossed the line in two hours, 32 minutes, 39 seconds (2:32:39).

She was less than three minutes outside her career record of 2:29:59, set in Yokohama in 2011.

The only South African in the race, Kalmer was satisfied with her performance after overcoming a calf injury she picked up at the Boston Marathon in April.

"Not what I hoped for, but happy with a decent run," she posted on Twitter after the race.

Top 10 Finishers

1 Albina Mayorova (RUS) 2:25:55
2 Azusa Nojiri (JPN) 2:28:47
3 Jessica Augusto (POR) 2:29:11
4 Mizuho Nasukawa (JPN) 2:30:27
5 Philes Ongori (KEN) 2:31:21
6 Rene Kalmer (RSA) 2:32:39
7 Freya Ross (GBR) 2:35:19
8 Noriko Higuchi (JPN) 2:37:56
9 Eri Okubo (JPN) 2:40:02
10 Remi Nakazato (JPN) 2:42:14