Japanese rivals spur Feng Peiyou to break He Jie’s Chinese record at Tokyo Marathon
China runner puts Asian Games rivals on notice at year’s first major race with a time that crushed previous mark set at Wuxi Marathon in 2024
Feng Peiyou knocked nearly a minute off the Chinese record at the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday, and threw down a huge challenge to Japan’s best ahead of this year’s Asian Games.
The 24-year-old was the first Asian athlete across the line, coming 11th in a time of two hours, five minutes and 58 seconds, crushing the previous best of 2:06:57 set by He Jie at the Wuxi Marathon in 2024.
Feng, who became the first Chinese runner to dip below two hours and six minutes, ran much of the race alongside Japan’s Suguru Osako and Kengo Suzuki.
In a thrilling final stretch, Feng pulled ahead of the home duo, with Osako finishing in 2:05:59 and Suzuki in 2:06:09.
Winning the year’s first major marathon was Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele, who beat Kenya’s Geoffrey Toroitich in a dash for the line, with both coming home in 2:03:37.
Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei won the women’s race in 2:14:29, more than two minutes ahead of Ethiopia’s Berukan Welde in second.